This week, at the end of a confession, a man asked me a question. Although I could not see the man, I could tell that his question was cloaked in the weighty garments of despair. His question was one that has been on my mind and I suspect on the minds of most of us these days. He simply asked; with all that is going on in this world what is the point of even trying? While the question was simple the sentiments were anything but. Without faith I would not have been able to offer any answer.

Because we are people of faith, we hope. Our hope is not empty pie in the sky, I hope I win the lottery type of hope. Instead our hope is based in the knowledge, revealed to us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that evil will never prevail over good. Just as the viciousness of the cross and the darkness of the tomb could not win over Jesus nor will the evil of our day overcome the good. So, while we may watch what is going on with anxiety and perhaps even fear, we do not lose hope for we know what the outcome will eventually be.

We are not alone in this time of chaos. Jesus tells us that he will not leave us orphaned, that he will not allow us to flounder in the pit of opinion but will send us the Holy Spirit to help us keep a firm grasp on the truth. Thus, we are not afraid because while we know all things on this earth are temporary, we belong to a kingdom that always has been and always will be.

Finally, and probably most importantly, as people of faith, as people of hope, as people of the truth we express our gratitude that even in the midst of what looks like overwhelming hardship Jesus is with us. Gratitude is, as I think I wrote about a few weeks ago, the foundation on which we build a life of joy. A joy filled life does not ignore what is going on in the world, instead a joy filled life helps us to remain focused on God’s plan for our well-being and our good.

Many of us find ourselves wearing the garments of fear, anger, despair, and just plain sadness these days. These garments are heavy and cumbersome and prevent us from seeing and putting on the much more freeing and uplifting garments of faith, hope, truth, gratitude, joy, and love. We are not looking to come out of the other end of this unprecedented time of upheaval and change satisfied with whatever we are told is the new normal (yuck). Instead in the midst of this trial or any trial that comes our way, we seek Jesus, we seek His way, His Cross, His teaching, and with joy we go out and we do our little part to reveal the only power that is able to change heaven into earth, the power of Divine Love, given to each of us by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.