The spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen was once asked: "Are you an optimist?" His reply: "No, not naturally, but that isn't important. I live in hope, not optimism." At first, the difference between hope and optimism may seem rather vague, but it is very real. An
optimistic person is one who is usually cheerful,
upbeat, always looking at the positive side of any situation. It's often pleasant to be around this kind of person, but occasionally they can get on your nerves when they constantly refuse to see that some things don't have a positive side to them.
 
The great theologian Karl Rahner once defined hope this way: A woman sees the tiny stream of her life and fears that it might not mean anything, that it might die out completely. Yet she somehow still believes it will flow significantly into the great ocean, despite the
immeasurably huge, dry sand-dunes it must cross to get to an ocean it cannot even see.
 

Hope is believing in a God who believes in us. It is living with the spiritual conviction that God loves whatever God has created, and that God loves me in a way beyond my wildest dreams, and that God will never let go of this love for me. Hope is seeing beyond the dryness of the deserts of my life, and believing that God is calling me to life that is full and never-ending.
 
If we want to keep our hope alive and strong, we need the support of a community. If we have made a choice not to be closely connected to any
supportive community, we may soon find ourselves weighed down by a spirit of negativity and focused on what is wrong in our lives. Our Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is meant to give us the strength we need by calling us together around the table of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is here that we are
reminded there is more to life than meets the eye.
                                            
    Peace,  Fr. John