“Perhaps you’re short on hope today. It may be that your life is complicated, and that you’re facing insurmountable obstacles. It may be that your world is a tangled mess. There is no denying the suffering and pain that are part of our human condition. But today we are given reason to hope even in the face of difficulties. Today we are encouraged not only to bear our sufferings, but to give thanks in the midst of them. Today, we are exhorted to 'rejoice in the Lord always.'”

Br. David Vryhof dares us to hope, to rejoice even, because we have an unshakeable confidence that in the end the purposes of God will prevail.