From the earliest times, the Church has summarized much of its doctrine under the three theological virtues, faith, hope and love. This is very clear from the earliest letters of St Paul. It can also be seen in today's second reading, where John speaks of love, hope and the knowledge of God. Our knowledge of God is first of all faith, but it must also become a loving knowledge, a knowledge which flows from love and enhances our experience of that love which "the Father has lavished upon us". Similarly, our knowledge of God must become a hopeful knowledge, a faith which gives foundation and substance to the hope which guides our lives towards the fullness of life in the Resurrection.

After the New Testament and the Apostolic age, the Church reflected on the hope which Jesus brought by recording the stories of the martyrs. They had died for Christ, and so the Church rightly understood that they had also died with Christ and in Christ. Therefore, their deaths were an affirmation of our Christian hope. Along similar lines, the reading from the Apocalypse provides us with an early reflection on the death of the saints.