What do we hope God
will provide in response to our spiritual longing? Even as we speak, we are
waging an "all hands on deck" war with COVID-19. A solemn reminder that a
virus 1,000 times smaller than a grain of sand can
bring entire populations and global economies
to their knees. When we have conquered
this, and we will, may we be equally committed
to freeing the world from the virus of
hunger, and freeing neighborhoods and nations
from the virus of poverty. May we hope for schools
where students are taught, not terrified they will be shot. And for the gift of personal
dignity for every child of God, unmarred by any form of racial,
ethnic, or religious prejudice. Undergirding all of this
is our relentless hope for greater devotion to the two
greatest of all commandments-- to love God by
keeping his counsel, and to love our neighbors by
showing kindness, compassion, patience, and forgiveness. We all need to believe that
what we desire in righteousness can someday, some way,
somehow yet be ours. Indeed, if we
finally lose hope, we lose our last
sustaining possession. It was over the
very gate of hell that Dante wrote a
warning to all those traveling through
his divina commedia. "Abandon all hope," he
said, "ye who enter here." Truly, when hope is
gone, what we have left is the flame of the inferno
raging on every side. We can hope. We should hope. Even when facing the
most insurmountable odds. So, when our backs
are to the wall, and as the hymn says, "other
helpers fail and comforts flee," among our most
indispensable virtues will be this precious
gift of hope, linked inextricably to our
faith in God and our charity to others. I testify that the
future is going to be as miracle-filled
and bountifully blessed as the past has been. We have every reason to hope
for blessings even greater than those we've
already received. [MUSIC PLAYING]