“And I thank Him for that.”
If you missed Witnesses to Hope this week, you missed an outstanding night. But you can still hear Marion’s story! Sit back and enjoy.
Category: Witnesses to Hope
“We need witnesses to hope . . .”
“In a culture often dominated by technology, sadness and loneliness appear to be on the rise, not least among young people. The future seems prey to an uncertainty that does not make for stability. This often gives rise to depression, sadness and boredom, which can gradually lead to despair. We need witnesses to hope and true joy if we are to dispel the illusions that promise quick and easy happiness through artificial paradises. The profound sense of emptiness felt by so many people can be overcome by the hope we bear in our hearts and by the joy that it gives. We need to acknowledge the joy that rises up in a heart touched by mercy. Let us keep in mind, then, the words of the Apostle: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’. (Pope Francis)
Seeing with the eyes of your heart
At our Witnesses to Hope meeting this week, Sr. Dorcee spoke about the importance of seeing goodness and beauty in the other and gives tips about how to do that. If you would like to see or hear the talk, you can go here. A number of people asked her for this quote, so here it is:
To see that someone is good and to say so is a creative act–one of the great creative acts. There may be some few individuals who are inescapably evil, but they are few. Within almost all of us is something positive and unique, but which is all too easily injured, and which only grows when exposed to the sunlight of someone else’s recognition and praise. To see the good in others and let them see themselves in the mirror of our regard is to help someone grow to become the best they can be. ‘Greater,’ says the Talmud, ‘is one who causes others to do good than one who does good himself.’ To help others become what they can be is to give birth to creativity in someone else’s soul. This is done not by criticism or negativity but by searching out the good in others, and helping them to see it, recognize it, own it, and live it.
‘And God saw that it was good’–this too is part of the work of creation, the subtlest and most beautiful of all. When we recognize the goodness in someone, we do more than create it, we help it to become creative. This is what God does for us, and what He calls us to do for others. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks)
Teach me to seek You
If you’re interested in listening to Sr. Sarah’s fine talk that she gave at Witnesses to Hope last week, here you go: “Teach me to seek You.”
Latest Witnesses to Hope Talk
You can find–and listen to–the latest talk from Witnesses to Hope by going here.
Withstanding the storms
One of the symbols for Witnesses to Hope is a lighthouse. Our hope is to be a light in the darkness and the storms, speaking hope to the world. Love these photos:
You can see 26 more photos here.
Storytime
Sr. Ann, the scheduled speaker for last night’s Witnesses to Hope, got stranded in New York due to a snowstorm, so Sr. Dorcee and Sr. Sarah teamed up to read out loud some of their favorite stories. Get yourself a cup of tea, snuggle up, and let yourself be read to. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and hopefully you’ll be inspired. Just click below.
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The reason for this blog
Thank you, Pope Francis, for underscoring my hopes for this blog:
Pope Francis on Saturday met with the participants of the 26th Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, meeting under the theme “Proclaiming Christ in the digital age.”
Pope Francis said the rise and development of the internet raises the question of the relationship between faith and culture.
Looking back to the first centuries of Christianity, the Pope pointed out Christians encountered the “extraordinary legacy” of Greek culture.
“Faced with philosophies of great profundity and educational methods of great value – although steeped in pagan elements, the Fathers did not shut them out, nor on the other hand, did they compromise with ideas contrary to the Faith,” Pope Francis said. “Instead, they learned to recognize and assimilate these higher concepts and transform them in the light of God’s Word, actually implementing what Saint Paul asks: Test all things and hold fast to that which is good.”
He said this also applies to the internet.
“You must test everything, knowing that you will surely find counterfeits, illusions and dangerous traps to avoid,” Pope Francis said. “But, guided by the Holy Spirit, we will discover valuable opportunities to lead people to the luminous face of the Lord. Among the possibilities offered by digital communication, the most important is the proclamation of the Gospel.”
He said it is not enough to acquire technological skills, however important. He said the internet must be used to meet “often hurting or lost” real people and offer them “real reasons for hope.”
“The announcement [of the Gospel] requires authentic human relationships and leads along the path to a personal encounter with the Lord,” he said.
“Therefore, the internet is not enough; technology is not enough,” Pope Francis continued. “This, however, does not mean that the Church’s presence online is useless; on the contrary, it is essential to be present, always in an evangelical way, in what, for many, especially young people, has become a sort of living environment; to awaken the irrepressible questions of the heart about the meaning of existence; and to show the way that leads to Him who is the answer, the Divine Mercy made flesh, the Lord Jesus.”
Michele’s story
Last night at Witnesses to Hope, Michele Hufnagel shared her very inspiring story of finding grace amid the many losses in her life, grace she found through the power of the rosary. (Unknown to me, I scheduled her for last night, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary with absolutely no knowledge of how significant the rosary is to her story.) If you want to listen, you can go here to find the links. Thank you, Michele, for your transparency and for being such a witness to hope!
May God . . .
Witnesses to Hope 