5 Reasons to Be Hopeful in the New Year

Friends, what is hope? How does it differ from a secularized wishful thinking, ordering our lives toward a properly supernatural end? This week on the Word on Fire Show, we discuss the meaning of hope, its value in both the Christian life and the wider culture, and five reasons to be hopeful today. A listener asks: How can prayer get someone out of spiritual darkness? 00:00 | Intro 01:14 | Bishop Barron’s 2024 highlights 02:47 | The Christian concept of hope 04:15 | Hope’s relationship to reason 05:12 | Hope’s practical value in life 06:24 | Distinguishing hope from faith 08:27 | Distinguishing hope from optimism 10:21 | Responding to critiques of hope 15:37 | Reason 1: Bible sales increase while “nones” appear to have peaked 19:53 | Reason 2: Woke ideology is losing its grip on the culture 23:27 | Reason 3: Protestants and Catholics have increased cooperation 25:36 | Reason 4: The public response to the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral 30:01 | Reason 5: The Church continues to grow 31:27 | Listener question 33:53 | Join the Word on Fire Institute ———SHOW NOTES——— - Article on Bible sales: - Word on Fire Institute: ———WATCH——— Subscribe to this Channel: Word on Fire Institute Channel: Word on Fire en Español Channel: ———WORD ON FIRE——— Word on Fire: Word on Fire Institute: FREE Daily Gospel Reflections (English or Español): ———SOCIAL MEDIA——— Bishop Barron Instagram: Bishop Barron Facebook: Bishop Barron Twitter: Word on Fire Instagram: Word on Fire Facebook: Word on Fire Twitter: Word on Fire en Español Instagram: Word on Fire en Español Facebook: Word on Fire en Español Twitter: ———SUPPORT WORD ON FIRE——— Donate: Word on Fire Store: Pray: