Hope is necessarily something imperfect. It implies that we lack something that we desire, and that we are not able to attain it. It only exists in virtue of expected blessings which are at present out of our reach. It is therefore the virtue of a state of transition, not of a permanent condition. It is unsatisfactory in itself, its value is only on account of something beyond and outside of itself to which it points. It is a virtue suitable for the earth or Purgatory, not for heaven.
But will hope never be perfected? It will be consummated, not perfected. Its consummation will consist in the step from the anticipation of a perfect joy to the full possession of the joy to which we have looked forward. Such a fulfillment of hope falls to the lot of the dying saint who knows that he will enter at once into the joy of his Lord; and the happy soul to whom its Angel Guardian has announced that the moment of its release draws nigh.
There will be hope even in heaven until the final Judgment shall arrive, for the souls of the redeemed do not attain the perfection of their reward until their bodies share their triumph. Amid their present joy in heaven they have still fresh joy to look forward to, when they will be united to their glorified bodies, and with them will reign forever in the presence of God. After this their happiness will be complete, and they will have nothing further to desire or hope for. May God grant to me this happy consummation of my hope, and my longing after Him!
- text from Beautiful Pearls of Catholic Truth; it has the Imprimatur of Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan, Diocese of New York, 6 October 1897