20 December

This Wave of Hope reflection for Advent comes from Fleur Dorrell, Biblical Apostolate Manager for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Fleur found hope in the hidden but important details that make up every stage of our lives – in family and friendships, in hospitality and community outreach in the places where we live.

“Biblical hope reminds me that the present is provisional and death is not the end. No system, knowledge, or power on this Earth can define the fullness of truth found in Jesus Christ. This has been my anchor throughout this year.”

Wave of Hope offers 25 short multimedia reflections for the season – one a day – as our contributors share a moment in 2025 that has led them to a place of hope.

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Transcript

I’m Fleur Dorrell, Biblical Apostolate Manager for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

This year, I have found hope at home in the often hidden but so important details that make up our lives – in family and friendships, in hospitality and community outreach where I live.

Hope is part of life and is cut off only by death. We hope for healing when sick, for protection and safety, for comfort when despairing, and for reunion when separated. What we hope for is God’s protection and blessing at all stages of our lives, including as we face dying. Yet when we see the world as it is, it can be hard to find these things in the plight of so many nations at war, in the scale of human suffering and trauma.

So we have to see hope through a new lens. The hope that is expressed in the New Testament is accomplished in Christ. Hope now becomes an everlasting blessing in a future beyond this Earth. It gives us a new confidence while living in the present reality right now. St Paul tells us in Romans Chapter 8, “From this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what we already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Biblical hope reminds me that the present is provisional and death is not the end. No system, knowledge, or power on this Earth can define the fullness of truth found in Jesus Christ. This has been my anchor throughout this year.

God of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, you have given us many signs and prophecies about your Son, Jesus Christ’s birth, and they have been fulfilled. So may we see from the past to the present, the present into the future, that your loving hand guides all things. Your glory is forever within our reach. Amen.

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