‘Without hope you have nothing.’ So says Graham Lee, a Grand National winning jockey after a late fall from a horse in which he was paralyzed from the neck down. The Jubilee Year of Hope is ending. The celebration passes but hope itself, a theological virtue, does not end; along with faith and charity, it is at the heart of Christian living. In the novitiate we learnt that the theological virtues, faith, hope and love, are God-given gifts. We cannot earn them, work for them or create them for ourselves (though we can dispose ourselves to receive them); they are entirely gift from God – and we need them. As virtues, drawing on the Latin origin of the word, they empower, give energy, strength, courage, so we can truly to live as Christians. Hope enables us to live in these troubled times.

Unusually for one who lives in a monastery, in recent months I have met several new-born babies. These little creatures on the brink of life generate wonderful hope (literally, hope full of wonder); we cannot but be filled with hope and joy at the miracle of their existence and at the prospect of their future.

At Christmas we celebrate the wondrous birth of God’s incarnate Son, an infant like all new-borns, weak and vulnerable, but already the world’s hope. ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to all of good will,’ proclaim the angels at his birth. This not an empty song, but a hymn of truth. Joy and hope are revived in us. We know where the child comes from, we know his future resurrection, ascension and sending of the Spirit, and so we know in faith our future too. ‘Let us hold fast to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful’ (Heb. 10.13). The surety of this hope is there for us all to see in the Child of Bethlehem – and our witness to this in faith is what we as Christians offer the Church and the world. Against all appearances and human odds, this is powerful – and effective.

Bishop Hugh Gilbert led our retreat this year. He reminded us of the gentle power, resilience and beauty of hope in quoting Emily Dickinson:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops at all.

 May you all have a blessed Christmas full of joy at the birth of the Child. As always, you will be remembered in our prayer over this Holy Season.