Hoping Out Loud (6/27/2023)

I do it all the time! I hope out loud. I say what it is that I need; I share what it is that I know needs to happen. And it does because of the goodness within others.

When there is a funeral in our parish for one of our members, I write a note to the women of the parish sharing the need for specific foods and help, and the women respond. It’s not always the same ones. It’s not always the same way. But the need is met with grace and abundance because of the goodness within those who hear the need and the hoped for response.

When our beloved pastoral administrator was being transferred to another assignment, I wrote a note to the parish sharing his dream of a trip to Rome in his lifetime and asking the members of the parish to share just a minimum amount to help that dream become a reality as a show of our gratitude. I hoped out loud. And the people of the parish heard because of the goodness within them. And this last Sunday, we gave him his dream, the means to make that trip.

When I am in the grocery store trying to shop for a church event or even a special family dinner, I find that the essential ingredients are beyond my reach (the good stuff is always beyond my reach alone). And so I hope out loud to the tall person who crosses my path. And in all my years of shopping, I have never left without the essential ingredients. Hoping out loud helps me because of the goodness within those who hear my need and because of the goodness within them.

And the wonderful thing I have noticed is that those who open themselves and give to the cause, give of their resources, give of their time usually do so with joy. I’ve never had another respond begrudgingly. That tells me not only that there is goodness within others but that we are often hoping someone will invite us to spend it.

My patron saint is St. Catherine of Siena. In her famous spiritual treatise, “The Dialogue of Divine Providence,” Catherine, an independent woman, struggles with the LORD’s message that she will need to work with others, to seek their help and their gifts, that she is not meant to make the journey alone. I used to struggle with that same issue. “I can do it myself” is not only arrogant, but also foolish and it denies the other the opportunity to use their gifts. Catherine learned to hope out loud as have I.

We’re in this journey together. We all have gifts to share, gifts of time, talent and treasures. When we hope out loud, we give one another the opportunity to join with us in doing good or to help another on their individual journey.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.