（路加福音2:25-32）
中國有一句老話說，人生之哀，莫大於心死。什麼是哀莫大於心死呢？就是說當人在極大失望的時候，便失去了生存的動力與勇氣。
Viktor Frankl 經過集中營的苦難後，體會了讓人有頑強求生力量的乃是盼望。盼望讓人產生生活的意義，提供求生的勇氣和力量，使人可以熬過最艱難的時刻。
當一個人有愈深刻的盼望，並且愈能體會它的實在，對生命就有更大的意義感，使他能面對更大的壓力、挑戰和困難。奧古斯丁經過半生的思考和體驗，發現上帝是人類最深刻的盼望，也是最真實可體會旳盼望，能夠使人那顆無法用任何事物去滿足的心靈獲得最大的滿足，讓他的下半生活在最大、最高的意義感中，為人類的思想史作出最偉大的貢獻。
公元初是猶太歷史最黑暗的時代，社會動盪，人心不安。一位老人名叫西面，心中懷著一個盼望，並且深信這盼望必成事實，便與死亡作最頑強的鬥爭。他要等候那位彌賽亞，就是先知早在六、七百年前所宣告的上帝的應許。他知道這位救贖主是上帝應許給以色列人和全人類的救贖。這位救主要解決全人類自文明開始便一直想解決但卻無能為力的問題，因此西面稱他為世界之光，是為萬民預備的救恩。
耶穌自誕生到今天已兩千多年了，真的如西面所宣告的，為人類帶來最大、最真實又可體驗的盼望，並讓千千萬萬的人獲得最大和最高的生活意義。普世都在預備迎接聖誕節的來臨，並認為它是盼望的節日，因為在兩千多年前的那一夜，為全人類誕生了一位救主，乃是上帝的獨生子耶穌基督。
There is an old Chinese saying, and it says that the most miserable thing is hopelessness. What does this saying mean? It means that if a person loses all his hope, he will also lose his will to live.
After surviving the concentration camp, Viktor Frankl came up with an understanding of the power of the will to meaning in life struggles. He maintains that hope will give meaning to life and provide energy to overcome challenge and difficulty.
If a person has a more profound hope, and he believes that it is real, that hope will give more meaning to his life situation to motivate him to face challenge and overcome pressure and difficulty.
After laboring for half of his life in thinking and reflecting, Augustine had realized that God was his most profound hope, and it was the truth that he could experience, which gave him the greatest meaning to satisfy his restless heart. Because of this hope had given him the sense of highest meaning in life, he made an excellent contribution in philosophy and theology in human history.
In the beginning of the century Israel went into the darkest era, and the whole society was so restlessly that every body was confused. A man named Simeon had a hope and he believed that his hope was about to fulfill so that he was struggling very hard to keep himself alive in his very old age. He was waiting for the Messiah whom the prophets had promised seven hundred years ago that God would prepare a savior. A savior would be given to all mankind to once and for all solve the problem that we cannot settle for thousand years since the dawn of human civilizations. Therefore, Simeon called this Messiah was the light of the world and he was coming for all peoples.
Jesus had come for more than two thousand years and fulfilled the word of Simeon to bring the real hope to all people to allow them to live the most meaningful lives. December is the month of Christmas, and the whole world is preparing a celebration to welcome the hope of Christmas because Jesus was born two thousand years ago to be our redeemer, the only begotten Son of God!
