My Favorite Virtue

By Sr. Hope Therese

Hope is my favorite virtue.  It has literally been with me my whole life.  In order to explain just how important the virtue of hope is to me I will need to give a little of my background.  I was born and baptized Dianna Hope Maring.  Mainly because my parents had hoped they would have another child.  Little did my parents know just how much I would need that virtue.  From the time I was born I have had several various medical issues.  My family and I hoped and prayed that everything would turn out fine.  Through the grace of God all of these issues have been resolved.  In college I had to do fieldwork placements to become an occupational therapist assistant.  I thought I wanted to work with children because I had occupational therapy as a child.  Playing with children is fun.  Working with them is difficult and complicated.  The children had Individualized Education Plans that I did not find holistic or realistic.  I dropped out of one fieldwork placement with children and failed another.  Clearly God was telling me to go in another direction.  I was despairing over what to do with my life.  I could not figure out God’s plan for me.  With a heavy heart and lack of confidence, I decided to do two more fieldwork placements.  Both of them were in nursing homes.  One was with a COTA.  The other was with an activity director.  My favorite was with the activity director.  I did very well in both of these placements.  After graduation I worked as a COTA for six months.  I left this job because I wasn’t succeeding and because my mom had just been diagnosed with stage 3 invasive breast cancer.  This was yet another opportunity for our family to pray and hope.  My mom is now two years in remission and doing great!  After my mom got well I was again despairing over what to do with my life.  Then my mom reminded me of my childhood dream.  She asked, “Do you still think about being a nun?”  The answer was a strong yes.  I had never rejected the idea of being a sister.  The thought had never gone away completely.  The rest, as they say, is history.  I have complete hope and trust in God’s plan for me.  I know from experience that if things don’t work out there is no need to worry because God has a plan.  Failure in one endeavor is an opportunity for success in another.  Some people may think it’s strange that I chose a word for my name, but Hope has been used as a name for centuries in various languages.  I have received much affirmation and reinforcement of my name since becoming a novice.   I learned that Mother Angeline kept a statue of Our Lady of Hope on her desk at all times.  I found a small cutout picture of Our Lady of Hope packed with the novices’ advent wreath.  Not to mention the numerous times that “hope” is mentioned in the Divine Office and scripture.   After everything I’ve been through I feel I am hope incarnate and the name is perfect for me.  No one can live without hope.  Hope is as necessary as air.  It is an important virtue to have and to give.  We should never overlook hope.  Especially in this precious advent season when we await with joyful hope, the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.      

Hope

Hope is a newborn baby’s cry

Hope is believing you can fly

Hope is wishful expectation

Hope is silent resignation

Hope is grace from the holy dove

Hope is a heart on fire with love

Hope is a seed under the ground

Something lost that will soon be found

Hope is looking to the future

With a past that’s full of sutures

Hope is a shoulder you cry on

A faithful friend you rely on

Hope is supposing that you can

Even when you’re an also ran

Hope is given to all who ask

Knowing God is up to the task

Hope is a virtue that will last

After everything else has past

Hope is a candle burning bright

When all around is dark as night

Hope is that one eternal spring

That will relieve our suffering

Hope is the filling of a well

God’s promise to within us dwell

God will give us living water

We will be his sons and daughters

If you dwell in hope you will find

That you have heaven on your mind

As impossible as things seem

You need to begin with a dream

Caterpillars hope they will be

Butterflies flying wild and free

There are rainbows after the storm

The good Lord’s love will keep you warm

We all have someone who would care

If we gave in to our despair

If you gave up and didn’t pull through

They would have much more pain than you

We do not know what’s best for us

So in God we will need to trust

You will never need to inquire

If you will receive your desire

If it was never meant to be

Let that useless desire go free

Put everything in the Lord’s hands

And someday you will understand

 God answers all prayers in his time

Just remember this little rhyme

When life is on a downward slope

And you do not know how to cope

Answers to all your prayers are “Nope.”

All you can do is sit and mope

Do not be foolish like a dope

Do not ever give up your hope