I had a dream the other night that spoke clearly to me of how I need to live the next four years. Instead of getting worked up about the various decisions the new President made right after the Inauguration that I disagree with, I am choosing just one on which to focus. This is the way I can keep hope alive in my heart. I choose immigration.

Pope Francis has chosen the virtue of hope for Jubilee 2025. He encourages all men and women to be pilgrims of hope.

For the Christian, hope finds its foundation in the resurrection of Jesus. In the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 1:3, we read: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

The hope our country needs right now is that which keeps us from being paralyzed by anxiety and fear; rather puts its emphasis on love for what we believe in and the courage to promote it. To paraphrase the wonderful hymn of Thomas H. Troeger, “The Rocks Would Shout If We Kept Still:”

“The rocks would shout if we kept still and failed to preach the Word. It is the Lord’s insistent will the truth be told and heard. We’re called to bear with grace the scorn of hearts so often bruised that when we tell of hope reborn”….we do so in spite of the news.

Hope and patient endurance go hand in hand. The late spiritual guide, Thomas Cullinan, put it this way: “Patient endurance is centered on Christian hope, which takes our present distress and puts it in the context of final triumph and joy. It enables us to work thoroughly at what must be done without anxiety.

Fr. Max frmaxolivasj@yahoo.com