Hope Is Being on the Way Home

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Are there times when you look at your life, and think, wow, this could all be better.

That is when we begin to get restless. We want absolute happiness, rest and order, because that is what we were made for. But it is not found here.

We are not perfectly happy and at rest because we are not home yet. Heaven is our home. This life is the wilderness we travel through on our way home.

Though we cannot have perfect fulfillment here, we can have a relative rest, the best happiness available in this life which is found by pursuing the ultimate rest and happiness of union with God and Heaven.

This is not our home. This is the wilderness. Heaven is our home. And we are supposed to be on our way home.

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Worldliness is being lost in the wilderness

Worldliness happens to us when we forget where home is.  

It’s like getting lost and trying to survive in the woods.

You try to make a home out of branches, keep a small fire going an eat a squirrel. That’s never satisfying. Being lost in the wilderness is deeply unsettling. 

So find which way is home and start walking. Then there is a certain happiness and peace knowing you’re on the right path and every step is bringing your closer to home.

And when you know you are on the way you can enjoy the beautiful as well as the arduous parts of the journey.

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The virtue of hope is to be on the way home.

In Latin, hope is to be a viator, a traveler, one who is on his way to something. We have hope if we are on our way to union with God in Heaven.

One who has hope, the traveler or pilgrim does not try to find his ultimate happiness and rest in the things along the way.

I lead a lot of international pilgrimages. I never try to make my home in the Newark Airport. It’s not a bad place as part of the journey. It makes for a very unsatisfying destination.

If you ever find yourself unsatisfied and restless, ask yourself:  Have I forgotten where my real home is? Have I become lost in the wilderness?  

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How do we know if we are on the way home?

Is a chunk of your day dedicated to being exclusively with God? Do we spend time with God in mediation, the Rosary, daily Mass, reading Scripture?

You can’t say union with God is what you want if you never spend time in union with God.

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If you are trying to get home as quickly as possible, you have to stop once in a while and check to see if you’re on the right path.  

That is what a daily examination of conscience is. We stop and look to see if we are on track or off track? What corrections do we need to make to get home – to union with God? Then make the necessary corrections and keep walking.

Worldliness is being lost in the wilderness, not knowing where home is. It’s hard to enjoy life when you are lost.

Home is heaven. Once you know where home is then you can delight in both the arduous and the pleasurable parts of the journey.

We know we are on the way if we spend time exclusively with God each day.

A daily examination of conscience keeps us going in the right direction.