As we fast approach the end of this remarkable year of being Pilgrims of Hope, the month of November is very suitable time to stop and look back – to reflect on what has been a “sign of hope” and what, in another respect, has been a difficult journey. Many of us will note the same thing: ongoing wars, violence and for some, climate changes as recent as a week ago in the Caribbean that has caused so much destruction and loss of life, livelihoods and even the alienation of villages and places that they once called home! Where then is the hope of this year?
Pope Francis in his vision for the world taught us to look beyond the everyday events – In his powerful text: Laudato Si’ he states: May our struggles and our concern for the planet never take away the joy and our hope. Throughout this text we see that it is our attitude and how we personally approach the planet- that piece of earth that we dwell and walk upon – that will make the changes for the good. These sad events shouldn’t make me negative and feeling lack of hope.
Today as you read this sentence, “God, don’t change my circumstances, change me.”
Let us pray
God, instead of asking you
to change the outer world,
today I simply request:
guide me within, to the perfect interior
of my heart where you live.
When I find you,
it changes me,
because I trust you more fully.
Change me.
Taken from Franciscan Media: Pause + Pray, by Maureen O’Brien, Oct, 2025.
November then is a time when we can pause and look back and view the world with our loved ones, especially those who have gone before us and remembering those who died to give us hope. It is also a time to reflect on ourselves, here and now, in our preparation to accept change and the new life that we will experience over the Advent, Christmas and New Year period. This is for us HOPE that something will change, within ourselves and within our world.
