Hope is a difficut concept

Prayer for the Day

Glory and praise to You, Father, Son and Spirit, who so generously offer us new life. May we open ourselves fully to receive You and to fully share Your blessing with others. Amen!

Rosary Intentions

Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Pray for us who have recourse to thee!

For those who are experiencing a dryness of faith; Blessed Mother, remind them of the hope of a new life with your Son.

For the unemployed; St. Joseph, please help them find meaningful work at a fair wage.

For those struggling with hopelessness or grief; Blessed Pope John Paul II, please help them overcome their fears and sadness during this trying time.

Reflection

Hope is a difficult concept, as Paul mentions in Romans 8:24, “For who hopes for what one sees?” 

The idea of trusting something we cannot see is not a natural human characteristic.  As humans we are accustomed to only trust those things that we can see and touch.  This makes faith in Christ difficult because we can’t see him.  However, if we nurture our faith in Christ it is able to grow and produce incredible fruit.  The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, but when it is planted and nurtured it can grow to become a large bush. 

So too it is also with our faith.  When we first gain our faith in Christ it often starts as a small inclination, a mustard seed.  However, we watch our faith grow to become a magnificent thing.  As “birds of the sky dwelt in [the mustard bush’s] branches” people will also flock to those who have a high level of faith.  This is something that can be found to be true when we have our faith severely.  We usually find the people in our lives that have strong faith and we run to them with our challenges.  These people help to show us the importance of faith and how it can be applied in our lives. 

As my own faith increases, I hope that I can be a similar rock for my peers.  When they are having challenges in their life, I pray that I can be the one that helps them through and allows them to recognize God’s role in their lives.  This is the calling of Luke 13:18-22 when Jesus talks about the birds flocking to the mustard bush.  We must be there for our peers to help them recognize God in every aspect of their lives, especially when they are in challenging times.