Photo StoryThe two sins against Hope are Despair and Presumption; and each results from the suppression of one, and the excess of the other element of the virtue hope and fear. Despair is an aversion from our final beatitude and ceasing to struggle for it, as if it were unattainable. Its malice consists in that it denies the goodness of God, His care for us, and fidelity to His promises. This was the sin of Cain and Judas. Forgiveness was ready for each, but they said, "My iniquity is greater than that I can deserve pardon" (Gen. iv. 13). There is another and less acute form of despair; it is the state of those who, having no faith, look forward to nothing beyond this life, strive for nothing, and therefore obtain nothing. A long course of sin and resistance to truth and grace leads to a state of practical irreligiousness; then belief in every revealed doctrine gradually ceases, and with it all higher hopes; and then such sinners pass into the ranks of those numerous ones "who, despairing, have given themselves up to the working of all uncleanness unto covetousness" (Eph. iv. 19). Despair is a foretaste of the hopeless misery of the lost. Never admit the fear that holy living is impossible, or temptation too strong, or that the means of salvation will fail you. Do not fear the insufficiency of your works or of your dispositions when you have done your best. Your works are all of necessity imperfect, but the merits of Our Lord compensate, and make them acceptable.
