helpless or filled with hope

Right now, I feel helpless.

And this is exactly how the actions of the new administration are designed to make me feel. If people feel helpless, they begin to feel hopeless. If people feel hopeless, they give up or give in.

But Catholics have a secret weapon. Our entire faith is built upon Hope. We hope for a life that is filled with God’s love. We hope to be a part of communities who hold God’s love as their highest mission. We hope that our actions represent the love God has for the world.

We’ve been trained to look evil in the eye and find a way to love anyway. Love is what I’m here to do. Love is what we’re here to do.

Love is action. Loving is standing with Jesus and listening to those who are being targeted, empathizing with their situation, and helping to find a way through.

Loving is not submitting to a person just because they hold power. Love is not sitting by silently when hatred is on display. Love is not a performative act.

Love is patient, love is kind, love is….everything. And love is hard.

Love is also worth it. Our Hope for a life founded on love is greater than anything money or power can give us.

And yet Hope without action can leave us feeling helpless. It is in these moments that we turn back to the life of Jesus and look at what he taught us about love. Jesus taught us to call out the unjust actions of the powerful. Jesus taught us to join people over a meal to talk about life. Jesus taught us that those abandoned by society deserve to be seen and loved.

We can do all of these things Jesus taught us, even in the midst of the chaos this new administration intends to bring.

We always have a choice in how we treat people. Nobody can take that away from us.

Hoping is going to be hard for awhile, maybe a long while, but what I’m feeling most strongly is a need to love the people right here in my community.

The chaos of the news cycle is meant to paralyze us in place so that we will stop loving and turn inward to protect ourselves. But Catholic Christians do not protect only our own. We protect everybody God calls us to protect, especially those who are most vulnerable.

We get to love freely, no matter what anybody tells us.

Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash