By Father Kevin Cullen, S.J.
How do I live in hope? Autumn is the perfect season to reflect upon the practice of living the virtue of hope. It is incredible when hope is our “default” in life. Something happens and we find ourselves filled with hope. Leaves are changing colors and temperatures are cooling, which offers hope for a new season that is less humid and more comfortable. But what is the difference for when something happens, and we find ourselves filled with despair?
Some institutions and people thrive on despair as it introduces fear and doubt, which fosters mistrust. We know the effects of economic, political, religious, social, and personal confusion when we live in despair. As people of faith, we also know how Jesus enters those places and invites us to join in creating this new world of hope. That Gospel experience is lived by many people, in many ways, throughout the world.
Good conversation is a practice of the Sisters of Charity that integrates what one believes about the world into how one acts and speaks. As a way of life, it engages both the topics (the content) and the process (the way to live). And we, those living in the world, discover we have options on how to act and how to speak.
We conclude September as the month of prayer “To Hope and Act with Creation” during the Season of Creation. St. Francis de Sales Parish in Lansing gathers the local community on Sunday, October 6, following the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, to bless pets and the native garden at the St. Francis Shrine, as we live the grace of the fullness of God’s presence in all creation.
We enter October with a final international gathering for Synodality 2021-2024 in Rome. Pope Francis invites us to live the common themes of communion, participation, and mission as we “adapt listening and dialogue as a lifestyle at every level — which allow us to be guided by the Holy Spirit toward the peripheries of the world.”
We enter October aware of growing older and the desire to age gracefully. Sister Susan Chase, SCL, invites us to gather and reflect upon how during these elder years our inner selves can grow stronger, which strengthens us as who we really are.
Next month holds elections in our nation and offers us a place of faithful participation in our democracy. Some voices encourage us to use the tools of reflection and discernment. We must act in ways that promote the common good.
And woven through all these autumn days are the rumblings coming from the Chiefs’ Nation. Honestly, it took me a while for the idea of a “three-peat” to catch up to the experience of what that means.
How to live in hope … a way of life that helps us deepen in our faith and act in love? Charity practiced in word and deed is our transformation. Living in hope allows the Spirit to move in us, overcoming fears that paralyze us and mending the hurts that divide us. The Holy Spirit frees us to welcome, hear, receive, reflect, and live in hope — changing our world into a better home for all.
Join Us for Upcoming Events
Consider joining us during our autumn journey at Marillac Center for one of the following events:
On Aging Gracefully
Tuesday, Oct. 15
9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Our elder years can be a graced time for “our inner selves to grow strong,” to become more fully who we really are. Come for a time to ponder the graces available to us from our loving God.
