Fifth and sixth grade girls participate in a low elements activity at Expedition 2 Camp on July 2, 2024 at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in Bowling Green. RILEY GREIF | WKC
Pilgrims of Hope: Growing in Hope, Little By Little
Editor’s note: In celebration of the Jubilee of Hope, The Western Kentucky Catholic has launched Pilgrims of Hope, a yearlong blog series inspired by Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025: “My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches.” Blog reflections will be written by individuals from across the Diocese of Owensboro, sharing their unique perspectives on the virtue of hope in a world that so greatly needs it.
BY OLIVIA ROMERO
I wouldn’t describe myself as a hopeful person.
Prior to this year, if you had asked me why, I would have said that I don’t think my brain is wired for hope. I am a realist through and through. When presented with a challenge, I am quick to think of all the potential pitfalls rather than the possibilities. And while it is often helpful in my job to see all the ways things could go wrong, it can lead to a rather bleak outlook on life.
Prior to this year, I would have told you that some people are naturally hopeful, and I am not one of those people. Hope is something you have or don’t have, and I don’t seem to have it. Like I said: bleak.
An incredible and unexpected part of living in relationship with God is the way He lovingly heals things within our hearts or minds that we did not even know needed attention. He sees the potential within us and patiently works to bring it to the surface. While I was content living in this rather dreary mindset, the Lord was not content to leave me there. In His goodness, He, the source of all hope, wanted me to share in and live in His hope. What a good Father we have. So He set to work.
The concept of hope has been front and center in my life the past several months. In following with the Jubilee this year, we have focused our Christmas and summer camp teachings on hope at Gasper River. I have spent many hours reading and learning about hope in order to teach our campers about it. The main thing I have learned: I completely misunderstood what hope is.
The Catechism defines hope as “the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1817). Desiring heaven, placing our trust in Christ, relying on the Holy Spirit – these are all actions. It finally clicked for me one day: Hope isn’t something you have. It’s something you do.
Seeing it in writing, it seems obvious that hope is an action. After all, the word “hope” is both a verb and a noun. However, this shift in mindset has been incredibly impactful for me. If hope is an action, then it is a choice. If it is something you do, it’s something you can practice. This way of thinking has made me realize that I am not doomed to live without hope forever. Like any skill, it will take work, but it is something I can get better at doing.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a hopeful person. Now, however, I would describe myself as a person to whom hope may not come naturally, but who is determined, with God’s help, to grow in hope little by little.
Olivia Romero is a parishioner at Holy Spirit Catholic Church and the Program Director at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp & Retreat Center. She loves working with young people, cooking, reading historical fiction, and listening to musicals.
To learn more about the Diocese of Owensboro’s celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 visit https://owensborodiocese.org/jubilee-year-pilgrims-of-hope/.
