Is There Hope in Today’s World?
There is so much that worries us. How will we survive financially this year? Will I get a job or pass my exam? Will I mend my relationships with others? Will the world end in nuclear war? What will happen to my health? These are just some of our concerns. The solutions we usually propose are scientific, ideological, medical, or personal in nature. Can AI give us hope regarding the questions we have, or is hope found elsewhere? By reading the Bible, we discover that hope has a name: Jesus Christ.
This was the topic of yesterday’s talk by our lecturer and Vice Dean for Students, Dr. David Kovačević, who participated in the second roundtable discussion, “What Can a Person Hope for Today and Why? Biblical and Less Biblical Answers.” The event took place on February 5, 2025, in the pastoral spaces of the Archdiocesan Vicariate in Osijek. It was organized by the Office for Biblical Pastoral Care of the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek and the Institute for New Evangelization St. John Paul II. The discussion included Rabbi Luciano Moše Prelević, representative of the Jewish Community of Zagreb; Damir Lajoš, president of the Jewish Community of Osijek; Priest Srđan Lukić, head of the Catechetical Office of the Osijek-Polje and Baranja Eparchy; and Rev. Dr. Ivan Benaković, professor of Sacred Scripture at the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Đakovo and head of the Office for Biblical Pastoral Care of the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek. The roundtable was moderated by Rev. Dr. Davor Vuković, head of the Institute for New Evangelization “St. John Paul II.”
David Kovačević spoke from the perspective of the disciples’ concerns, based on John 13:36, where their worry is summarized in the question, “Lord, where are you going?” This is a personal concern: will our Lord remain with us? Will we be left alone and abandoned? Jesus gives a promise in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans.” This promise—that humanity and the world will not be left alone, but rather that a personal relationship with Jesus assures us of God’s presence—is the foundation of our hope. According to the Bible, hope is rooted in the fact that humanity and the world have not been abandoned. On the contrary, God acted through Jesus Christ and has promised to act again for our good. As disciples of Jesus, we are encouraged today to act in the light of this hope, trusting in God’s promises that will be fulfilled.
