What Is Hope and Why Do You Need It?

Hope, in the Christian sense, is often misunderstood. It is not the same as optimism or presumption. It is not the blind faith that we will go to heaven or the escapist way to avoid the troubles of this world. It’s not the virtue we need to see the present moment with more positivity. It’s more personal than that. In this video, Fr. Mike Schmitz explains exactly why.
Fr. Mike is also a presenter in these faith formation programs from Ascension:
Belonging: Baptism in the Family of God (bit.ly/2rdOFy7)
Chosen: This is Your Catholic Faith (bit.ly/2r32vUK)
Altaration: The Mystery of the Mass Revealed (bit.ly/2rIYjfE)
YOU: Life, Love and the Theology of the Body (bit.ly/2nKLug5)
Get 18 of Fr. Mike’s best Ascension Presents videos in this exclusive DVD from Ascension:
Ascension Presents … Fr. Mike Schmitz (bit.ly/2sKUnJN)
Fr. Mike spoke at the Ascension Cafe during the World Meeting of Families. Watch him and other speakers get fired up over the gospel in the Ascension Cafe DVD (bit.ly/2sYtQaW).

[@johnwatchorn6548]

Dear Fr. Mike and all who watch this. About a month or so ago, I posted a comment on here about my struggle against despair because of how I could not find a job. Well, that struggle is over. I am now working full-time as a Youth Group leader in Virginia, and I wanted to thank you Fr. Mike, and everyone who was praying for me. God bless you all.

[@ruthnoelmarie...9061]

🎺Felicitations🎺 @John Watchorn 🎺

[@sm5098]

Pray for me please. I am a little depressed too and no job. I feel I have a religious vocation

[@KevinMakins]

Hope is tough in a world where media constantly tries to beat us down with darkness. Thanks for the good word.

[@giovannii5759]

Kevin Makins - Pastor / Storyteller / Video Maker We can withstand the storm with Him 🙏🏼

[@poweredbypizza3689]

Dear father Mike, So a few months ago I was Christian, but I didn't realise for what and why and so I have a Catholic friend that explained so much to me and I went to church with her,started watching your videos, started reading the bible everyday and praying everyday, and now I feel like a completely different person. ( also in starting catacism classes this week and in so exited) Thank you for everything, god bless💚

[@margaretcannizzaro2992]

Yay!!!!!!

[@katebo2061]

welcome home!

[@MSoc1op]

Congratulations and welcome home!! You and your friend are awesome. 😁 Just for clarification, by being a prior "Christian" I think you meant a non-denominational Protestant Christian. Unfortunately, a good number of Protestants want to monopolize on the term and refuse to accept Catholics as such (I've personally experienced this before). Catholics are in fact the first Christians before Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Welcome to the One True Faith as a Catholic Christian and God Bless!

[@shunmingdavidlin7915]

Powered By Pizza 👍🏼

[@angiejd13]

That’s awesome!! ❤️

[@andrewj.4648]

Please pray for me.

[@DynamicFalafels]

Andrew J. By Jesus' stripes you are healed. (From literally everything)

[@marinorawmos9759]

I'll pray for you Andrew!

[@dogpit1000]

I am

[@briankelly85]

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope...

[@johnwatchorn6548]

Thank you so much Fr. Mike. As I'm watching this, I've been struggling against despair. I've just graduated from college this past May, and I've been struggling to find work. Even though I keep trying to entrust myself to God throughout this, I keep falling again and again into despair and depression. Please, pray for me. God bless you.

[@Medietos]

John Watchorn: How did it go with you and yur life, 4 years later? Might the 12-step program ACA be of any help, or an other of them? AA is built upon open christianity, but one has to have some alcohol problem as the entrance ticket.

[@UnratedAwesomeness]

2 things. 1. A realist would see the good and bad equally in the world. 2. I always do a thank-you prayer before bed for every little thing. It's a good way to focus on the good and resulted in a lot of happiness in my life

[@UnratedAwesomeness]

But yes great video

[@mariamacia1151]

UnratedAwesomeness onl

[@abelj5145]

@@mariamacia1151 you're loved more than you could ever know. Jesus loves you!

[@ramonapaselio]

Thank you Fr Mike I needed this. This really spoke directly to the situation I am in. God bless you praise God

[@kimfleury]

[Uploaded 12 minutes ago and there are 23 "Likes" already. I guess this is kind of a big deal now.] {Now that I've watched it I can actually comment} Thanks for clarifying the sin of presumption in this. I come across the "Once Saved Always Saved" claim a LOT, so now I've got a new response that might help others to understand why that is offensive to God -- namely, that it treats Him like He's a doormat, and that's rudely presumptuous.

[@bill7778]

KA Fleury 178 likes now

[@lanettefouche-ic5fn]

Your words remind me of the hope God gives all of us. Keep your eyes upward to heaven and Hope in the Lord, always.

[@ericleffingwell8617]

Fr. Mike, would you do a video on the dangers of presumption and how to deal with it? Thank you.

[@heyycoach7853]

This channel is so impacting. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Incredible. Thank you 🙏🏽

[@davidhammond4024]

#askfrmike can you make a video or guide me to one for an explanation of the pope for a non-catholic?

[@benjaminvmobile]

David Hammond He's the successor of Peter. There's a history of popes all the way back to Peter. Currently the Pope appoints bishops and names some of them cardinals. When the Pope dies or resigns, the cardinals elect a new one under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is a list of all the popes in wikipedia with articles about almost all of them. I hope that gets you started. Keep seeking! New Advent is also a good website with information, like a Catholic Encyclopedia. I can't think of a book right off hand that is just about the pope. The Catechism of the Catholic Church may have some good points, and you can trust the source. Just check the index for "pope." (I have not done it, but now I want to.)

[@LoveeeeelyM]

You always discuss things I'm going through. Please never stop. Thank you ❤️

[@perzonne6302]

Jon Hamm is really devoted to his new character...

[@ABB14-11]

😆

[@RealLife888-x9s]

Method acting!

[@briankelly85]

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness...

[@tomislavzuzak3086]

Thank you, fr. Mike! Praise the Lord!

[@gill426]

The video was very nice as usual but ehh...God wasn't anywhere to be found in my misery, so no, I know that He's not there with me. It's a nice idea and I'd love it to be that way. But God has proven time and time again that He's not there when I need(ed) Him the most.

[@patrickruiz6181]

fr Mike you are truly truly blessed! How beautiful it is to watch the Holy Spirit speak thru you! May God continue to bless you, the whole Ascension team, and all of us who get to share in these videos :)

[@miguelalvarez4]

then I must pray for an increase in hope. if you can, please pray for me that I may continue to have hope during this upcoming time of college applications, deciding on my major, and gaining more control of my emotions. Thank you! God bless you 😊

[@MatandEst]

GREAT explanation! agree :)

[@LizardLvr981]

Can you do a video about modernism

[@kharma101]

LizardLvr981 Yes!!!;) modernism is a problem. He should also do a video about Illuminism and Mason's.

[@jpg101363]

You may be the only one who gets this, Fr Mike! Lois: So what does the "S" stand for? Superman: It's not an "S"........

[@zencombatinstitute]

"Hope does not disappoint." Romans 5.5 Thank you, Father Mike. Hope has become an anchor for me - for my wife and I. It has pulled us through some very dark valleys. Never give up. Trust in God. Hope.

[@michaelcorbalis9860]

I'm so glad I watched this video, I was just praying a Rosary when I was suddenly struck by the fact that, while I do a lot of external devotions, I don't really have much interior life. I asked the Holy Spirit what I should do, and i "heard" the Antiphon "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Thank you so much Father!

[@jimn1968]

But essentially, isn’t hope merely admitting that you do not possess that which you desire and motivating it with the power of human emotion? And therefore maintaining the lack of it as reality….?

[@jonathangoodwin646]

Hope minstrest Whether it's everything is going wrong or not Jesus christ wants to know what's going on with us . When I have a problem I pray to mary and say can you talk to your son for me and tell her what's going on And I know jesus christ is in the interests each and every one of us.

[@littlelulu5675]

everything is crashing today despairs hot breathe on my neck.....just the word I needed

[@katyarn3751]

Without hope, wouldn't you just give up? Because, meh. What would be the point?

[@m.v.sudeshnadevi5983]

99% of the people watching this video are not christians they are also from other religions . so, u better dont speak on behalf of religion

[@nagitokomaeda6389]

Hope is so beautiful! (♡ω♡ )

[@NotMemeCat]

I know, right?!

[@elizabethseiden9938]

It’s strange, but I think my narcissistic father is diabolical!

[@nicholasmargagliano1833]

“Having faith means to keep on walking even though you’re not sure” - Aha Gazelle

[@HELLH0WND]

Hope has no place in a God who is almighty. Hope denotes uncertainty of outcome.

[@marcoferreira0223]

I would say I definitely need help with this, hoping in the Lord because most of my life I've been living in despair and I need to train myself to start having faith that God will look after me and take the wheel if only I let Him. To see past my weaknesses and sins and believe salvation is possible, that I can have a relationship with God and a future with Him in Heaven.

[@kathleenodriscoll4112]

I know this has been a few years since you put this post up and I was wondering if you have managed to do this. If so then how as I am having the same struggles? Thank you

[@elizabethseiden9938]

Do demons move through people? How do Demons work? Does God ignore my demons?

[@ronkarana2467]

I am going to Write about this

[@BibleIllustrated]

Hope is essential. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. ;-)

[@nathanericschwabenland88888]

My parents complain to me about my pessimism is that ugly

[@kingsolo6241]

As men search and seek for hope. As men turn every rock over in search for hope; I keep none for myself. People always think fear is opposite of love. I believe it goes like this. The opposite of love is indifference. Not even knowing that person or that they even exist. If God had indifference with us that would mean he doesn’t know who we even are. That’s scary. Back to fear; I believe the opposite of fear is ‘Hope’ (yes the H is capitalized). If the face of fear you can be distraught, defeated, no end but utter demise. All it takes is a sprinkle of Hope and fear is shattered. Knowing not to have Hope in myself but Hope in God is the key. Hope can make fear seem little. Hope destroys fear at the very root of its foundation. In Hope we can’t be afraid of the battle. No matter what front you’re facing, it is Hope that lets you see, that no matter what ending you see the outcome is always a victory. In God it should always be this way. Jesus remains girded beside you. What does this mean... girded is a military term. It means you are dressed for battle with the sword in hand. Don’t believe me, Psalm 93:1 “The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.” If God is with us who can stand against us. It is in Hope that you see the victory at hand. As fear wears you out. As fear is trying to beat you on all sides it is in Hope fear is destroyed. Hope is victory in the most impossible scenario you come across. Yet you must not be afraid of the battle. Lord Jesus bring me to my next battle that I may overcome which you put before me. Bring on the next mountain that I must climb. Make every mountain after each even harder than the last. For it is in you Lord Jesus that I have victory. As you give Hope to men Lord Jesus I keep none for myself. May you give it to those who are in desperate need. For I will grab for you Lord Jesus. With or without hope I earnestly reach out to you Lord, hear my cries. For this world is stricken with fear. There is a strong spirit of the anti-Christ putting a stronghold of fear on the world. Lord Jesus I pray you give Hope where it is needed in these days. I keep none for myself. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

[@angelgirl976]

I don't think I realised how much I needed to hear this.

[@sofiacastillo2272]

this is what I needed to hear...

[@lenorecatalogna9752]

I have to shAre this too. Two younger peiple with disabilities died here recently. One on Christmas Eve, whom I really ever knew. But the other one, named Debbie died on Christmas Day. She was very short and crippled,had strokes and this and that. I did not know till now. I heAerd about it from someone. Ok. The woman from Puerto Rico,who told me lived on the first floor near, who she remembers wAs very badly devloped. Well, she never knew him really anyway,but he was the saint the world claims did nothing foir God except for stArt movements to help the poor. This is not the life the first or second time of that French saint,who after he died here and was buried near Dorney Park in a ce4metary for unknown people. Anyway, she said,you know I remember her very well too because she was the gitlfriend of that malcriado,who lived on my floor. ThTS HOW OUR CHURCH DOES TEACH HIM IS NOT TRUE ANYWAY OF HIS FIRST LIFE IN fRANCE OR HIS SECOND TIME AROUND.

[@franh8043]

Thank you, Fr. Mike! I needed this.

[@Kotjek]

:/ im not bealiving any of gods but i know that hope is the best thing this really changing us this makes us better ... we just have to bealive in our work and this hope can give us optimistic feelings... 5555 seeya i wonder if somebody know what i just had written in here...

[@DanielVB04]

Is this for Christians only? or for Catholics too

[@Medietos]

Thank you for your definition of hope. I'll listen to this again.I am pessimistic, negative and complaining because of very bad Liver energy stagnation and more, many blockages, a difficult life so far, and loneliness, failure, lack and mistreatment by many. Realism apparently means taking thins and reality as they are without expecting, believeing or hoping them to be or become better or transform. Father Mike, do you have some advice for someone like me, - I need other people in my life too, can't develop good christianity on my own by yself, and having mostly suffering, pain, outsiderdom, disease, insomnia. Or do you reckon one always should manage this, no matter what? The thought of it only adds to the burden, and I hardly walk anymore, being punished for my good initiatives and forced activities in the vain wait for help, treatment, fellowship, work. I'd be very grateful and glad if you'd address this in a talk. God bless you for your positive honest talks, I just came across you here.

[@lenorecatalogna9752]

aND HE SHOWED HIMSELF TO ME DIFFERENTLY AT TIMES. bUT ANYWAY, HE IS STILL Alive and living in Canada.

[@lp28487]

Thank you. I needed to hear this today. After many years my husband has asked for a divorce. I have been struggling with what am I going to do. I was told to put my trust in Jesus and it truly has been helping.

[@francismausley7239]

Praying for hope... "O Lord, enlighten my sight by beholding Thy lights in this dark night, and make me happy by the wine of Thy love in this wonderful age. O Lord, make me hear Thy call, and open before my face the doors of Thy heaven, so that I may see the light of Thy glory and become attracted to Thy beauty." ~ Baha'i Prayer

[@serban6995]

Please do a video about LOVE - the most important theological virtue. It's a virtue. What does it meas? How can we grow in these virtues? Also if you can, please cover each moral virtue with a video. I'd like to meditate about> prudence, righteousness, strength and temperance. It is easier to put in practice what you understand in these vivid way! So, I gave to you a little work to do... :) But also I have a lot of work myself... Thank you father Mike!

[@chazcazz2764]

Thanks mmike you're a bro xx

[@anthonystars8933]

A STORY OF HOPE A long time ago, there was an Inuit family high up in the Arctic. It was a terrible year for hunting, and for months the weather was extremely cold. There were very few animals to hunt in the area, and so the family decided they would have to travel south in search of better hunting grounds. When they started their journey south, the walk became long and hard, and they had very little food to eat. Their grandmother was very old and slowing them down. It was a tradition in those days to leave the old folks behind in hopes that the rest of the family might survive. So they said their goodbyes and left her standing alone on the ice. Later that day, a polar bear saw her and started to hunt her down, but she was too slow to escape. As the polar bear got close to her, she took off her big fur mitt and put it on the end of her narwhal walking stick. She then stood there very still and quiet, making no sound or movement. As the polar bear got within feet of her, it opened its mouth to bite her, and at that very moment, she shoved the mitten down the polar bear’s throat choking him. It wasn’t able to breathe, and it died. She walked all day and through the night and was able to catch up with her family, and she told them what had happened. They went back to the polar bear, and it gave them enough food to survive until the spring. So you see, there is always hope, even in the very last moments of certain death, there is always a chance things can get better. There is always hope because there is always God. ... There is a book written by Tony Tymstra titled: What is possible? What is impossible? And What is probable? Proof that God exits. Here is a small chapter you might find interesting....the book is on amazon

[@venvilhenrydsilva8354]

Hope is deeply rooted in faith. Similarly faith is deeply rooted in Love. Only when when there's love there can be faith, and when there's faith having a hope in them makes sense even in the worst and darkest scenarios. . . . That's all because God loved us first.

[@dogpit1000]

Will someone prey for me I need hope badly

[@czotter2011]

Hope is usually accompanied with a promise from God, faith leads us to the fulfillment of the promise. Most have forgotten the promise God gave them at the origin of salvation, do to sin redemption is out of the faith and forgiveness is all we can hope for. Sadly in the process of maturing most fell away, before their Character matched the requirements for God' Will to manifold in ones life. Jesus walked a straight line to God' Will and recieved God' estate, we are bipolar in our faith, hope, and obedience ( love) for God is one day to the next, we are on the nerrow path one day, the next we could be on the verge of making our life a ship wreck, we all want to have hope, but hopelessness is right around the corner. If I bet on things getting better or worse I would put my money on getting worse, why? Because you can always count on that, but Hebrew 11 shows that I may not receive any thing. Preparedness is better in this world than hope, be ready for temptation, evil, and lose more than waiting for help, blessings, and the good life.

[@obilobi2]

Could you do a video explaining the difference between hope and faith, to answer maybe if faith is stronger than hope?? Thank you, forever grateful for all your teachings

[@czotter2011]

Most are seeking forgiveness but we should be seeking redemption. We need to regain all that was lost our time, Freinds, family, money, partners, jobs, peace, energy. Once we start to benefit from faith, hope , instead of losing and sacrifing all we have for it maybe hope and faith will be something to go after.

[@ParttimeMultiplayerGamer]

what does that mean "to be called"

[@codystone9454]

Father, i know that you are a very busy man. I am a new Catholic and if it is possible would you consider making a video on the book of revelation and what it will be like for us today. A big part of my question is what if i am left behind and die during tribulation, will i go to heaven or hell? if someone could help answer this i would greatly appreciate it. #askfrmike

[@DjJEeejay]

Your video topics are awesome. I'd like to give a suggestion.. Would it be possible for you to be a foot or two further away from the camera? I watch your videos on my TV and I feel like you are almost pressed against the screen. You have an intense persona and it becomes distracting to watching and taking in your explanations. Thank you.

[@erikserafin7886]

Hope a makes suffering worth while, and it can make it so you actually want your sufferings even more because you know in God's providence it is being allowed because it is benefitting yourself and others in a way that will only be realized in eternity. Once you understand it, life doesn't necessarily get easier, but it becomes more purposeful.

[@AjaxNixon]

Wow, thank you Fr. Schmitz. I have been thinking about this a lot aswell. My motto as of late has been, 'Think short, trust God, and hope for the best.' I was thinking about what this means and how life is just such a struggle. But that I bear my cross with Jesus and ascend up the hill with Trust in God and hope that at the top of the hill will be heaven. I realize that so many times I sin or give way to despair it's because my learned pessimism associated with the countless let downs I've had in this life gets extended to me losing hope that the journey will be worth the suffering. I lose Trust in God and his word. I lose hope for heaven. In this state of despair, vice and virtue seems to fade away and life just becomes about seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, and there is no meaning beyond that. Around in an infinite circle that rat race goes. Then in this despair of hopelessness, a psuchological release is presenting in detaching from any hope as to avoid the suffering of being let down, and the despair digs deeper into the pit of apathy. One can find himself saying, "what is even the point of bearing this cross or carrying it up this hill? Why not just sit here forever and just give up this false hope that motivates me up to the hill?" Obviously, this mindset is dellusion for many reasons, but one is the reality that you can't sit in place on a hill. There is only up or down. And apathy gives into the force of gravity that takes you down the hill. I see these mindsets in philosophies such as Buddhism and Stoicism. These philosphies of psychology are now sneakily the predominant philosophy of our society as the cross has given way to the circle, and the church is replaced by yoga, meditation, giving up desire, etc. Niether aimed not at transcending through suffering, but to cope with suffering. I don't mean to paint a such wide and negative brush on either, as both so have some elements that can and are compatible with Christianity. But by themselves, there really does exist that despair that does not even seek to climb the hill, but just to bear the pain of falling down the hill that comes about by the unfightable force of gravity. This despair isn't the same as giving up entirely, as it still seeks to exist and maybe even virtuous in some regards, but it's just that same sort of rugged nihilism that has lost purpose without faith, and seeks to create it's own purpose.

[@truegirl2anna]

Basekitball did you steal a page from my journal? Wow...I've dealt with the same psychological torment ever since I graduated from high school about 5 years ago. Once I entered into college his spiral of hopelessness and unbelievable pessimism infiltrated my very being. Everything was so hopeless. Fortunately now God has really worked with me and through me (by the grace of going to mass, confession, and adoration as much as possible). This video captured everything I needed to hear and all that God wants to tell us....I don't understand people like Fr. Mike Schmitz-his gift of speaking and evangelization is so beautiful, I envy it (in a healthy way haha) but man. How your comment touched my heart. Just thought I'd let you know....May God's amazing peace be with you, even in the greatest of life's disappointments and disparities.

[@AjaxNixon]

Thank you for the kind words. May God bless you as well. It is always good to remember that none of us are going through a unique battle, or are battling alone. This is some deep stuff. Ven. Sheen has a great talk on this aswell. Search 'ven sheen psychology of rat race' if you are interested.

[@AjaxNixon]

Fox Mcloud Is it though? Generally you trust many things throughout the day. You trust other people who are driving in deathmachines won't make a flick of the wrist and kill you both. You trust the laws of physics. You trust a doctor is trying to look out for your health. Obviously, blind trust (atleast in people) is a foolish thing, and we should be cautious, but none the less, the default setting is trust, or the stress of even driving down the street would be too much to bear. The trust you build with someone in a relationship is key to the relationship. Obviously, the trust is earned - and again blind trust is a bit silly, especially if the person has untrustworthy tendencies. The question then is, how trustworthy are Jesus, and even Peter for that matter. What is their character lile and what were their actions? It seems to me, if I can't trust them, then I can't trust anyone, and that's not something I know from experience. No one is perfectly trustworthy, and that's to be expected, but when you go shooting with friends, you trust that your friends aren't psychopathic enough to turn a deadly weapon on you and kill you in an instant. Without trust, we can't have love or friendship.

[@AjaxNixon]

I'm sorry, you are perverting terms here to try to make a counter point that just lacks integrity - as far as you trying to refute that trust is for fools - it's not. The question at hand, which you alluded to, is IF the teachings with the Bible merit trust. That is the question. I have reached a point where I trust the teachings inside it, in the same way that a man would come to trust a woman he is marrying through her merits. I have come to see natural law and platonic idealism as fundamentally true. I've seen how the bible has very strong correlations to those philosophies. I know how mythology is the key to seeing the truth of reality, that the 3 dimensions, 4 walls, and the 5 senses of the material prison is a lie and mythology is the key to seeing that lie by recognizing virtue and ideas of perfect forms being more real than reality itself. It just so happens that I see the Christian myth as the ultimate myth, and that I have come to accept it as true. I see Jesus as being a great person and great moral teacher, who could not be those things unless he was flesh of logos, because if he wasn't he would be a lunatic and/or a treacherous liar, which makes no sense given what he did and how he so graciously died on the cross. I know the stories of the apostles and of their supreme dedication to the memory of Christ, and how virtuous those people where, and it just doesn't make sense to me unless they really did see miracles, to include the miracles of all miracles. I believe in the law of physics and I believe in science. But I also think that this world is just a stage, and we are all pursuing virtue - which ultimately come from logos. I see evolution as true, but something that can only happen around the idea of a perfect form. Creatures evolve and/or devolve from the idea of their perfect form. Nature has laws, and thats what makes the miracles - miracles. Because they defied the laws of nature, of which would only be possible if the consciousness that was the source of the code of physics, allowed for it to be suspended in certain instances - or allowed himself to suspend those laws when he made himself flesh. Whether or not you agree with Christianity - I employer you to look into Platonic Idealism, Natural Law, and mythology and try to tie all those things together in any way that is more coherent than the Christian story.... it just so happens that I also think Christ DID rise from the dead. If he didn't - I wouldn't be a Christian and would just look exclusively in the things I pointed out above. God is real, it's just a question if Christ was fully God and fully man - the son of the father. Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, the cynics, etc. etc. all believed in god. Whether or not God is real isn't really the right question. It's that if we trust in his promises (said through Moses, and Jesus(most especially), and Peter of eternal salvation in Paradise. It has become so evidently clear that God does exist. Cosmological argument, moral argument, etc. etc. We actually KNOW God exists, and that has nothing to do with TRUSTING certain promises. You can only KNOW that your friend exists, but you can TRUST or not trust in a promise... you can't know. that is to muddy definitions just to try to win an argument.

[@AjaxNixon]

Just because something is good in one way, doesn't mean it isn't also good in another. Being a moral person (a virtuous person) can be considered a good in of it's self, if for no other reason that it fulfills the drive of people in pursuing the perfect forms. Being a social mammal, it follows that these virtues would also have a social nature. Also, I would read more on the Church doctrine on slavery. Your presenting a very skewed view. The point wasn't pro-slavery. The point was the proper way to be a person that so happens to find themselves in the immoral practice of slavery (that was prevalent at the time). There were many slaves in ancient Athens, but we're not burning the books of Plato and Aristotle.

[@bunnylarue4252]

I don’t want to go through the valley of shadow and death. My mom is sick with cancer and I need hope but instead my faith is strongly shaken. I need her to LIVE not to die. In Jesus’ name amen.

[@elizabethseiden9938]

Bad advice means bad choices.

[@momthree789]

Excellent as usual, Father!

[@davidalexander5495]

Unfortunately, I can't afford this hope. It sounds nice, however.

[@raba650]

Love how you mentioned the two opposites of hope. Just confirmed for me what I was thinking as well!

[@dradnozklongtime3147]

Also where did you get that picture of the Virgin Mary (is it the Virgin Mary?) and for how much, it's cool.

[@diannetics18]

OMG! This is so timely. Lately I have been asking if the optimism I feel is hope. And you just gave me the answer Fr. Mike. Thank you!

[@seanstephen7495]

#askfrmike Through our Lord Jesus Christ we are all made a child of God so do we not share his authority, does this mean we can make the prayer for deliverence?

[@leoncaruthers]

Hope is the hardest virtue for me, and I sometimes think that I must be the only person who regularly goes to confession for sloth (long "o", the vice opposed to hope).

[@beardan76]

You explain things very well and i really enjoy your videos Fr.Mike!

[@ariella2828]

lol i watched this at school

[@chanellefarrugia2635]

you need a hope is be safe and happy

[@TheBaseballChick]

Great video and a timely reminder - Always look forward to your videos each week. Thank you Father Mike, I will keep you in my prayers ~ Hope

[@lukefalcon3086]

You said that "presumption is saying we don't really need Him or He doesn't really need us" why does God need us?

[@Densmith43]

Had A Miracale . The ANGELS were there with me, Please know that it was all in my. self mind 1st .

[@dradnozklongtime3147]

Are those grey eyes blindness or a gift from the Holy Father, The Son, your eyes after reading the Bible or all or two of the above?

[@ajas.7014]

I love your videos. They are precise and straight to the point :) God bless you, Fr. Mike.

[@fenandomarin9766]

I have a question. This morning I woke up and my mother notice something out in front corner of our house on the dirt. She found a cross made out of slat or sugar. We are confused

[@monocyte2210]

I still could not fully comprehend hope or when to be positive or a realist. Thank you for this father mike

[@kennethroe2311]

I really needed that

[@1080sunil]

Great video Father, could you do videos on the subject of catholism for people who are new to the catholic faith. I am in the process of converting to the catholic faith

[@carloss7162]

Explain if you kill someone but if it was for your safety will god forgive you or is it still a sin Please help me understand this

[@FreedomandBaconHomestead]

You really spoke to me. Thank you and may God bless you and your ministry.

[@maurad5378]

Thank you

[@isaacchin6930]

:)

[@rosexavier7883]

Always a great speech that makes me look at life with a different prospect. Thank you father.

[@KB_Grimweaver]

Hope is telling God you trust Him, even when things seem hopeless.

[@jakecrystal1983]

Hope's a good thing, "perhaps the best of things. And all good things never die."

[@mariasibisi5366]

I don't think you understand what you are talking about.

[@dawnmireles2912]

July 26, 2022

[@familiadedios2443]

Hi Father Mike, I am an ex Catholic after reading the catechism and the Bible and seeing so many inconsistencies I couldn't help the walk away from the Catholic church. I have some very serious questions and in commentary I don't think I'll be able to put it all ou. Is there anyway that I can email you?

[@musicsavantaccountant5856]

Please try to go to catholic.com for the answers you need. You can also go to ewtn.com, you can ask a question there.

[@Trini2DeBone]

Such wisdom...thanks Fr. Mike

[@furofficial6919]

Hope means to desire positive things.

[@jimmcintyre4390]

Are you from Midwest? If so it is cultural.

[@paulinekahn5225]

Sharing this! Amen! Jesus I trust in You!

[@amberb071]

I'm trying to change my thinking to the positive

[@greypilgrim9967]

Thank you Father Mike. I needed to hear that