Celebrating a wonderful weekend
I have had a wonderful, restful weekend.
I’ve enjoyed walking in the woods with my husband,
a lovely, late breakfast of crêpes,
And quiet time re-reading Pope Benedict’s “Spe Salvi.”
“Saved in Hope” is most appropriate for me right now because I have been aware of my great need for hope. It is funny, I naturally tend to think of hope as something which people simply have. Love is a virtue which one cultivates, but hope? Of course hope it is a virtue as well, and the obvious sister of faith, but somehow I forget quickly.
This particular encyclical1 is hard for me to get into, and I wish the translators cared more about style. Thankfully the concepts ultimately conveyed are great.
Pope Benedict describes eternity as “the supreme moment of satisfaction” which is like “plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time–the before and after–no longer exists.” He continues to say that “we can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever anew into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy.”
I love the fact that being “overwhelmed with joy” is not only a wonderful concept, Pope Benedict describes it as something we can only attempt to grasp. “Attempting to grasp” is enough of a task for me!
1. Just a fancy name for one of the ways that the Pope teaches. Basically a long letter to Catholics.
Mmm crepes and faith. Sounds wonderful!
I’m glad that you had such a wonderful weekend. Those crepes look really good. Perhaps you could share the recipe?
I just used this recipe and filled them with sour cream, powdered sugar and fresh strawberries. They’d have been great with fresh whipped cream, but we didn’t have any.
I love that eternity with God is going to mean that our joy will constantly be increasing forever. It will never get boring, and never stagnate!
Thank you for this post– it was exactly what I needed to hear today!
The crepes look wonderful! I haven’t read much of Pope Benedict, but I absolutely love his description of eternity!
Lovely post
I really love the look of those crepes. And, I really enjoyed your thoughts on hope. I think that like love, one sometimes has to choose to be hopeful. Real life can be so daunting. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the bad things in the world, and sometimes you just have to make up your mind to be hopeful. I find I am challenged by this everyday.