By Mick Soh
The first talk of the recent Embrace the Grace (ETG) conference was delivered by Notre Dame University philosopher and father of eight, Richard Sellwood.
Mr Sellwood’s talk was an introduction to the topic of hope, which was the theme of the five-day conference.
He spoke of hope being the second virtue of the three theological virtues and said he is confident the ETG participants will have a renewed appreciation of it, while also having a focus on Heaven.
“I hope that they really would have a good insight into an appreciation of the importance of the virtue of hope and how they need to keep their eyes fixed on Heaven as our ultimate home and our ultimate goal,” Mr Sellwood said.
“Fixing our eyes on Heaven helps us navigate through the many journeys and difficulties that we experience in our lives.”
Mr Sellwood spoke about the work of philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Viktor Frankl and Alastair McIntyre and also drew upon references from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Scripture.
During the talk, an anchor was used as a prop and it was explained as a Christian symbol of hope.
“The anchor is a common Christian image of the importance of being firm in our faith and being solid in our faith,” Mr Sellwood said.
He also spoke about two examples of how faith is tested, including his own personal experience.
Moving from the symbol of the anchor to boats and fishing, he reflected on how the organisers and participants of a fishing trip will have their faith tested.
“I thought the fishing trip is an example of an expectant experience where you are confidently hoping things are going to go well,” he said.
“You are looking for some sort of end and there is planning involved, there’s a bit of commitment, and that’s similar to faith.
“It can be challenging, the faith at times, so I used this analogy to capture some of the commitment that is needed in order to experience the hope and the joy at the end of the tunnel.”