7 Days of Virtue; Day 6 – Hope.

Think of virtues like your muscles.  You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed.  Virtue is the same way.  You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.

Day 6 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 6 – HOPE.

Hope – the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of Heaven as our happiness.  Because of hope, we trust in God’s promise to help us.  Hope is the bridge between faith and love.  Hope allows us to keep our eyes on our goal of Heaven.  Hope keeps us going, especially when times are tough, because of the promise of Heaven. 

Despair is the opposing vice to hope.  Despair is the belief that God will not forgive me for my sins.  It is, simply put, giving up.  When you give up (on God or on yourself) you believe that God can’t really help you.  There’s also something that can appear to be hope, which we call a counterfeit vice, called presumption.  When we presume, we believe that we’ll get to our goal without God’s help.  This is not depending on God and not seeing the need to.

Hope is the unending desire to see God, to know God and to be with God.  Never lose hope, never give up, never give in.  Living a good life, striving for excellence, serving our neighbor… that is living a hopeful life.  You have the power to pass on hope to those around you who are in despair.  More than ever, people are despairing because they lose the belief that God cares about them.  When you go it alone, you will despair.  Stay strong, our hope is in the Lord!

Man up!