Everybody Needs a Little Hope

“Hey Dad, let me give you a squeeze,” someone said in a very silly voice.It was one of my teenage boys.

“What? Why?” I asked, as I looked up from the computer. But I didn’t ask quickly enough. Before I knew what was happening, my son had wrapped his arms around me and had given me an affectionate, albeit comical, hug.

“What’s this for?” I asked, thankful though cautious as I fully expected a request to follow.

“Oh nothing. I just know that you won’t ask for one even though you need it.”

Now that’s insightful.

I prefer to focus on Jesus. I want my day to be about the mission He gave us. I want my nights to be filled with the kind of exhaustion that the disciples felt after leading many, many people to Him.

The world around us, and by that I mean people in your circle of grace—those you have been called to reach out to and care for—need something from you even though they rarely have the awareness to ask for it.

And what is it that they need?

Hope.

Someone to hear their story.

Someone to reveal God’s word for their life in a way that they can understand.

Now I don’t know about you …

But that message is becoming less and less popular today, even among Catholic organizations.

The focus seems to be on what’s wrong with the world.

And while that is obviously very important to know, I prefer to focus on something else entirely, something, or rather someone who can give us hope no matter how bad it gets out there.

Can you guess who I’m talking about?

Yes, you’re right.

I prefer to focus on Jesus.

I want my day to be about the mission He gave us.

I want my nights to be filled with the kind of exhaustion that the disciples felt after leading many, many people to Him.

I want to tell you and everyone I meet about what is right with the world:

The man-God Jesus Christ from Nazareth …

Because you and I need Him …

Even if we don’t know it or even if we don't know how to begin a life with Him.

So friend, reach out to others and remember that though it’s good to keep informed, we Christians have something that only we can give: “a reason for hope,” as St. Peter tells us in Scripture.

And boy, that hope is needed now more than ever.

in Christ,

patrick