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Monday, April 20, 2009

Hope is a Virtue

It's an odd thing these days but people (like me) seem to forget that hope is a virtue. That means that it must be something that is cultivated. Sure we may be presented with a sign that things are getting better and that helps. But also hope is an act of will, much like charity and faith. It requires a conscious act on our part to cling to hope.

Another odd thing about hope is that it is so logical if one believes in God. The creator of the universe. The all powerful. He who made everything. His victory is assured and His will invariably will carry the day in the end. Duh. And yet it seems all too easy to forget. We are so easily frightened. We cling instead to money, sex, power. Or just yield up into despair.

But Easter is the time of renewal of hope. God has conquered death. Death no longer has power over us. Hope wins out.