Where to Find Hope When Hope Is Fading

There is something hope-filled in the knowledge that Jesus has sustained His Church especially in difficult times because that means He will sustain me if I remain in Him.

If I pursue holiness, seek truth, stay small, keep my life in Christ protected, nourished, and whole – I can hope in eternal life.

This is not empty hope. It is the kind of hope that waits for Easter’s resurrection morning. It is the kind of hope that buries a loved one and believes more conversations and hugs and precious moments may again be theirs. It is the kind of hope that waits on the mercy of the One who made us and loves us. It is the kind of hope that grows with our spiritual growth - or fades when we fail.

We do not walk through this life oblivious to the things of God. We are deliberate and purposeful in living the life of faith. The Sacramental life of the Church and the Liturgical Calendar bear this out. There can be no muddling through to the finish line. We cannot check out of the race. We cannot turn around and walk in the wrong direction.

We are deliberate and purposeful in the faith journey.

Now – in this season of Lent – the days can seem so long. Sometimes, I wonder if I can be strong in fulfilling my Lenten promises.

At times, life is so very difficult.

But, praise God, it is possible to not only get through, but to finish well.

If you are feeling particularly discouraged, get up, go to confession, relish the goodness of the Eucharist which you now receive with a clean heart, and complete the journey to Holy Week.

Together.

One Body in Christ.

Where to Find Hope When Hope Is Fading

Rhythm of the Seasons

I watch for it every year. Those first glimpses of green, so straight, so promising. And I feel a rightness about life. A rhythm. A plan.

The seasons have a cycle and all forms of life fall into step.

And that is one of the most beautiful aspects of the Church Calendar. There is a rightness about the liturgical rhythm. A plan. A cycle of seasons. And every soul falls into step with that cycle.

On Easter Vigil, we see it beginning. On Good Friday, a seed fell to the ground. But then, something amazing happened. Our Lord, the Lord of Life, brought life out of death.

And we are the new crop.

If you are blessed enough to call the Catholic Church your home, then you enjoy the rhyme and reason and rhythm of the liturgical calendar.

See the field - all green with promise - look closely. You are there. . . somewhere. And so am I.

Rhythm of the Seasons