A little while back, I wrote a post about the limitations of the English language, particularly for the word love. How is it possible that this rich verb can be used to describe the most beautiful union between man and women, while at the same time describing affection for a pair of shoes?!
It recently dawned on me, that the same goes for the word hope. This was the word I received for the new year, and the Lord keeps revealing to me how necessary hope is for the world- especially in these confusing times.

It’s funny though, how often we use this word for everyday, simple experiences.”I hope it doesn’t rain today”, “I hope we make it on time”, I hope she likes the gift”… you get the idea!
Yet in reality, hope is so much more than these simple desires we ascribe to it. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church writes about hope:
The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men’s activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.
CCC #1818
Isn’t that beautiful!? Hope is like the compass that points us to our heavenly home! It’s the antidote against discouragement, depression, despair. Hope leads us to happiness, opens our hearts, and reminds us that we are journeying towards Christ himself.
It is my prayer, that you, wherever you are, and whatever you might be going through, are renewed and strengthened by this promise of authentic hope. Let us all fix our eyes above the current situation, and hope in what is to come, and in He who is the source of our hope.
