Spe Salvi

Marriage is a very difficult thing for some of us. Be it a strong will or an overabundance of romantic ideation - the day to day acceptance of a life that has fallen short of my expectations is often hard to bear - feeling hopeless and pointless and a dozen other lesses.

When Dad passed away, I stopped going to church. I didn't blame God exactly, it is just that everything about the Mass reminded me of him. It took months before I could sit through Mass without tearing up.

I am going again - and God is hearing me a lot more often - but my heart still feels calloused - like I just can't take any more pain - like there is an aspect of staying married that I fear - well no kidding - I am afraid of getting hurt again. But fear is the absence of faith.

Last night I was doing some reading for CCD class and I came across a Papal Encyclical. I thought I'd post it here - as much for me as for anyone else - to remind me that in all things there is hope.


ENCYCLICAL LETTER SPE SALVI OF THE SUPREME PONTIFFBENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL ON CHRISTIAN HOPE

Introduction
1. “SPE SALVI facti sumus”—in hope we were saved, says Saint Paul to the Romans, and likewise to us (Rom 8:24). According to the Christian faith, “redemption”—salvation—is not simply a given. Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey. Now the question immediately arises: what sort of hope could ever justify the statement that, on the basis of that hope and simply because it exists, we are redeemed? And what sort of certainty is involved here?