Witness of Hope - Finding Hope in Youth

Lately, I feel tears well up in my eyes and my heart inflame within me when I come across yet another heroic story in the news. I find myself struck by the profound hope contained within each story at the moment I hear it—but admittedly, that is often as far as it goes.

At times, I may recount their stories to others. I may also bring their stories to God in prayer, expressing gratitude for the hope they bring me. But too often, I stop short of asking God what is mine to do in response. Ignatian Spirituality has taught me to both pay attention to the emotions I experience and to recognize them as signs of God at work in me. I know that these emotions I experience in the moment are God inviting me to do more—so why do I not ask God what that “more” is?

Am I afraid God might answer me?

What if I lack the courage necessary to follow through on the invitation?

Lately, the heroic and hope-filled stories that move me most have been about young people. Their ability to keep faith in the most dire circumstances, to continue to find comfort in the Lord, and to maintain a sense of humility about their extraordinary actions never fails to be a beacon of light for me in a world that can often feel very dark.

• Like the young camp counselor who carried several young girls at a time up a hill this summer to save them from raging floodwaters. When she told her story, she said being called a hero felt strange: “I do not feel like a hero. I just did what anyone … would have done.”
• Or the middle schoolers who dove over their younger “buddies” to protect them from the spray of bullets raining through stained glass during their first Mass of the school year. Though the buddy system was enacted to help younger children participate more fully in mass, the older students did not hesitate to see it as something more—and put their lives between their buddies and imminent danger.
• Or the young man recently canonized a saint. Despite his youth and his suffering from leukemia, he never failed to be a witness of hope to his family, friends, and wider community—offering comfort to those who needed a shoulder to lean on, defending others from bullying and hate, and serving those in need. Now, he stands as a witness of hope to the global Church as well.

Listening to my seniors speak excitedly about the connections they are forming at their Wednesday service sites, or to my boys at home expressing compassion for one of their classmates, I am acutely aware of the countless young witnesses of hope in my own community as well. But if I’m honest, I think I rely on them to be my source and summit of hope a little too much.

“One day, you young people will change things, right?” Isn’t that what we adults often say? I know I both covet the resilience of young people, and long for their hopeful witness to impart real change in this world.

But I think God is inviting me to ponder why I rest so much on their shoulders. I think God is inviting me to ask the question: “God, what is mine to do in response?”

And I think God is inviting me not to stop there. David Orr wrote, “Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up.” I think God is inviting me to roll up my sleeves and work for the real change I desire.

Is God inviting you to do the same?

Going Deeper:

• Read more about the witness of Carlos Acutis here.

• Sometimes we need hope to get started, pray with this Examen of Hope as you ask God: What are the signs of hope in my life?

• How do we figure out what is ours to do? Try praying with this poem about finding your Magis and going “All In.”

Photo by Reyazul Haque on Unsplash.

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Gretchen Crowder

Gretchen Crowder has served as a campus minister and Ignatian educator for the Jesuit Dallas community for the last fifteen years and counting. She is also a freelance writer and speaker. She has a B.S. in mathematics and a M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame as well as an M.T.S. from the University of Dallas. She resides in Dallas, TX with her husband, three boys, and an ever-growing number of pets.