Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne

19. “I believe in eternal life”: [12] thus professes our faith. Christian hope finds a fundamental pillar in these words. It is indeed “the theological virtue by which we desire as happiness [...] eternal life.” [13] The Second Vatican Council affirms: “When divine support and the hope of eternal life are lacking, the dignity of man suffers a very serious wound, as is often seen today, and the enigma of life and death, of sin and suffering, remains unsolved. Thus, all too often, people are plunged into despair.” [14] We, on the other hand, by virtue of the hope in which we have been saved, looking at the passage of time, have the certainty that the history of humanity, and that of each individual, is not heading toward a dead end or a dark abyss, but rather toward an encounter with the Lord of glory. Let us therefore live in expectation of his return and in the hope of living forever in him. It is in this spirit that we make our own the moving invocation of the first Christians, with which Holy Scripture ends: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).