“Hope is being able to see 
that there is a light 
despite all of the darkness.” 
~ Bishop Desmond Tutu

I once heard that the word HOPE is actually an acronym: Have Only Positive Expectations. I guess there’s something to be said for this. The dictionary tells us that hope is a feeling that what we want to achieve can actually be achieved, or that a situation confronting us will turn out for the best. Hope is also a virtue. It helps us navigate the rough waters of some of life’s most difficult times.

I hope to get myself back into good physical condition by the start of 2024. I hope to complete the manuscript of my next book by the end of this week. I hope the Golden State Warriors continue to work their magic in the NBA playoffs. I hope my two older sons, Tom and Steve, enjoy wonderful celebrations of their birthdays this week. I hope warmer weather return to the San Francisco Bay Area.

I hope for a peaceful and timely resolution to the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine. I hope that those who lack food and clean drinking water will soon find their needs being adequately met. I hope that people will soon realize that the fatherless epidemic in our country is one of the root causes of poverty and violence in our cities. I hope that government leaders can move beyond partisan politics to address the pressing issues of our day with a genuine concern for the common good.

I hope the Catholic Church recognizes the valuable contributions women make to the Church and allow them to assume greater responsibility in Church leadership, including ordained ministry. I hope that parish priests are called to the same level of accountability as lay teachers in Catholic schools when it comes to the preparation and presentation of their homilies. I hope that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops encourages the hiring of qualified lay pastoral leaders to serve as parish administrators, thus allowing priests, many of whom lack the desire and skills required for parish leadership, to do what they were ordained to do.

Today, May 1st, has been designated International Day of Hope. While it’s nice to devote this day to highlighting the importance of being hopeful in our world today, just one day out of the calendar year simply isn’t going to make a sufficient difference. We are called to be hopeful every day, despite what Bishop Tutu refers to in the quote above as “all of the darkness” we see in our world today. I am confident that previous generations, many of them, in fact, struggled with staying hopeful amid the chaos of the world around them at the time. We, too, are called to remain hopeful, confident that things will get better.