“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

I am sharing a slightly modified version of a letter I provided to our Catholic School faculty and staff for the annual Faith Formation Day. It is also a slightly shorter version of a talk I gave to a group of 40 young adults at our Faith Ascending program. I hope that this musing on St. Paul’s guide to life helps us all when life goes a bit sideways.

Persevere in Prayer: As Catholics, regardless of our age, profession, or vocation, we must always begin our days with prayer. While some of us may be less comfortable than others in praying, or aren’t sure how to pray, this call to prayer invites us all into a deeper personal relationship with God. Even if our prayer is simply a brief reading from scripture, or a quote from one of the saints this will remind us that we are all invited into a personal relationship with the God who loves us. A life of faith is impossible without daily turning to the Lord, we must persevere and not abandon prayer even if it seems that our prayer goes unanswered. We must remember that God’s ways are not our ways and that God’s timeline may not be ours.

Endure in Affliction: While we all would love to have a life that goes along with no problems or unexpected obstacles, I think we’re all too experienced in life to believe the unexpected and unfortunate won’t occur. I believe that we best exhibit our faith not when everything is going along smoothly, but when life throws us a curve and we are faced with difficulties. In illness, a family crisis, or perhaps even a pandemic, but how we embrace these challenges will convey our own willingness to believe God can sustain us. We must believe that difficulties invite us, not to give up, but to say the course. When “afflictions” arise during the year for all of us, we need to call out to God for the grace to keep going.

Rejoice in Hope: I saved this admonition for last because it ties in beautifully with the upcoming Holy Year of Hope proclaimed by our Holy Father, Pope Francis. When I consider hope, it challenges me to consider how God has sustained me throughout my life, even in very challenging situations. When I look back on my life, I can see how God has led me even when at sometimes, I did not really have a clear idea of where I was going. Hope is a call to trust in the goodness of God who has sustained us throughout our lives. We can even extend this review of God’s activity and guidance by considering all of salvation history. From creation, to the fall, to the slavery in Egypt, the exiles, etc., through all of these events God’s promise to save his people is constant and we know that it was fulfilled in Christ.

In our lives it means to look back at all of the times we have been sustained by God in the ups and downs of life and remember that if He sustained us then, He will sustain us now. We have hope because God is always faithful to His promise to be with us always even to the end of the age.

So, I invite us all to embrace St. Paul’s words today and throughout the coming days – Rejoice in Hope! Endure in Affliction! Persevere in Prayer!

United in prayer, and in the conviction that God alone suffices, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend John J. McDermott

Bishop of Burlington