Dear Parents and Friends,

“Now these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:13 

When “life happens,” people are tempted to give up hope. It must feel like that for many who are burdened by the current global health crisis and the loneliness, uncertainty and loss that lock down brings.

Last year,  UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said, “more than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and the political will to see this crisis through together. Calling for global solidarity, Mr. Guterres continued, “Our human family is stressed, and the social fabric is being torn. People are suffering, sick and scared, we need hope!”

As Catholics, we focus on faith in Jesus and loving God and our neighbours, but do we really value and nurture ‘hope’? Hope is what sustains us as we persevere, remaining steadfast in times of hardship and discouragement.

Hope is not wishful thinking or passive waiting. It means intentional, purposeful living; and it is something we experience before the “bad stuff” happens. We live hopeful lives.

Most of us have a GPS installed on our phones or in our cars. The GPS system shows us the path we want to go to. However, the system requires that we put in the right information about the end of the journey, our destination. The GPS knows our starting point. When we enter the destination, it calculates the route, a path for us to follow. And if we make a wrong turn, it will recalculate the route for us.

Similarly, we strive to discern our life’s path, knowing where we are and looking to our destination. This looking means making conscious, deliberate, intentional choices to move in the direction of our destination. When “life happens” and we get blown off course, however, we can make the necessary adjustments to get back on course. Or do we?

Thomas Merton was one of the more influential spiritual writers of the last century. He wrote a now-famous prayer that seems appropriate for those times when we are experiencing the despair of a global pandemic that has taken our lives off course of life and we are not sure which way things will turn.

“My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.”

Now that you’re thinking about hope, here are some questions to consider:

1. What is one area of your life that is marked by some degree of despair? 
2. What would it look like for you to upgrade from despair to hope?
3. What promise of God will help you maintain hope?
4. What can you do this week to remember further back so you can hope further ahead?

Hope is a gift we can give each other through our words and actions. Let it serve as the beacon of light that focuses us on the work ahead and navigates us through this moment of anxiety and despair. For in our post COVID-19 world, we will emerge stronger, better prepared and more united in our quest to serve the students of St Brigid's

Stay safe. Practice social distancing. Keep hope alive.

Yours in Faith, Justice and Learning