I'm René's father Mike Schmitz and this is Ascension Presents.

So I know that it's really interesting whenever we get around Holy Week, whenever we get

around Easter, there's this topic of the reality of the need for hope comes up again and

again and again.

Actually, in all of our lives, the need for hope comes up so often.

I think one of the reasons why we need hope is because our lives can be marked by these two,

like just, hmm, villains maybe, of fear and discouragement.

Like that sense of, I mean, most likely you're facing something or you have faced something

or you will face something that causes you a great amount of fear or maybe you're facing it

to such a degree that you realize like, I can't think I can handle this on my own and you

find yourself discouraged.

Hope is something really phenomenal because in the midst of fear and in the midst of discouragement,

hope speaks something that cannot be spoken by almost anything else.

So what's, let's define hope quickly.

Here's my definition of hope and I, I, because I think, here's what it is.

There's better definitions that are given by the church.

Sometimes, the quietness, the same time as quietness does that, the catechism does that,

here's what I say, I say hope is trust in another extended into the future.

So trust in another extended into the future.

Hope is not optimism.

I don't need someone else.

Optimism is just, well, I kind of hope this.

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