Your family needs the virtue of Hope, now more than ever. There is no doubt that you are raising your family in tumultuous times. Confusion and chaos abound in both the culture and the Church. It would be easy to throw our hands up in despair and cry out, “Why even bother? What’s the use?” Yet, through all of this, the wisest voices are telling us to stay calm and to rely on God. This isn’t just a platitude. It’s great advice – for your own sanity and for the good of your family.

The virtue of Hope is one of the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity). These theological virtues are infused into our souls at Baptism. They directly empower us to have a relationship with God. Like any virtue, and any relationship, they need to be exercised if they are to be strengthened. 

To exercise Hope means to trust God and in His promises regarding salvation. Practically, this means that we believe in God’s mercy and forgiveness when we repent of our sin through the Sacrament of Penance. It also means that we put our cares, worries and needs into His capable hands through daily prayer. Trust in God also means accepting our present struggles because they are part of God’s will for us.

Let’s be clear here. Jesus never promised any of His followers (this includes us) that He would protect them from trouble. Quite the contrary. Jesus promises us that we will experience trials, persecutions, and suffering. But He also promises that He will never leave us. He promises that the Holy Spirit will guide and strengthen us, and that if we take up our cross and follow Him, we will experience the Resurrection. The strongest expression of Hope within our daily lives is called “abandonment to Divine Providence,” expressed in the Lord’s Prayer in the words, “Thy will be done.” 

When we trust in God, we can navigate trials, confusion, uncertainty, and suffering with peace. Think of the joy with which the martyrs of the early Church met their death. They would often face the lion, the fire, or the sword singing joyful hymns. They weren’t expecting God to rescue them from martyrdom. They had firm hope in the Resurrection. One gospel song puts it really well: “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future!” As we face trials, confusion, uncertainty, and even suffering, 

Living in Hope benefits your family. For young children, Hope grows when the world is stable and safe. Children need to know that the world makes sense. They need the security of knowing that someone is looking out for them. Parents are the first people children learn to trust. If parents face the challenges of life with calm confidence, they communicate to their children that the world is in control. This trust can then expand to embrace God as their relationship with the Holy Trinity grows. 

How well parents live in Hope also determines how older children handle life’s stresses and struggles. If parents freak out and show a lack of trust that God can make sense of things, their children are more likely to react the same way. Worse yet, they won’t see the value of placing their trust in God and peacefully accepting the trials they face. But if parents are drawing their strength from God, even if they visibly struggle through the trials, their children will see the value of abandoning themselves to the Divine Will. 

So how do you strengthen the virtue of Hope? Begin by meditating on and living the prayer below, adapted from the prayer by Saint Jane Frances De Chantal.

0 my loving God
I abandon myself forever to Your arms.
Whether gentle or severe,
lead me wherever You will;
I will not worry about the journey,
but keep my eyes fixed upon You,
my God, who guides me. 

I resolve with the help of your grace to follow Your desires and Your commands,
without doubting because You lead me this way rather than that way;
but I will blindly follow You
according to Your Divine will,
without seeking my own inclinations.
Amen.