Real Hope

Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope of the virtues. Faith, Hope and Love. His faith shines for all to see, he has given us his message of love, Deus Caratis Est and now we have his message of hope.

clipped from www.zenit.org Hope Is Real, Says Benedict XVI Christ “Has Gone Before Us” to Heaven VATICAN CITY, MAY 4, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Christian hope is not an illusion since in Christ, life has a firm anchor, says Benedict XVI. The Pope affirmed this before praying the Regina Caeli today with thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Today the solemnity of the Ascension of Christ into heaven is celebrated in Italy and in various other countries,” the Holy Father recalled. “After the Ascension the first disciples remain together in the cenacle around the Mother of Jesus in fervent expectation of the gift of the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus. “On this first Sunday of May, the month of Mary, we too relive this experience, more intensely feeling Mary’s spiritual presence.” A Primer on the theological virtues: “Sanctifying grace infuses in us the theological (Greek: theos, to God) virtues of faith, hope and charity. They enter our soul as permanent habits or dispositions. They are not acquired by repetition of an act; God pours them directly into our soul. These virtues adapt our human faculties for participation in the divine nature.”