Act of Hope in God

Lord, give me hope in You.

Grow this seed in me.

Make it surpass all my expectations

even in this earthly life.

Give me hope in You as my good Father,

desirous and capable of bringing me to perfect union with You in eternal life.

Give me a most confident hope that by holding Your hand

I will infallibly obtain eternal life.

Give me courage knowing that You have written my name in heaven.

Give me a hope bold enough to obtain the largesse of Your graces,

so that I and others will exclaim God is too good.

Make my hope strong enough to keep me from sin,

simply because I’m too enamoured by You to turn elsewhere.

Make me confident that You will care for my loved ones more than I ever could.

Strengthen my hope

to repel every negative thought about Your absolute care for me.

Lord let me never fall into despair or its beginnings.

That beginning known as doubt by which I waver in the truth You’ve set in my heart.

That beginning known as mistrust by which I want to verify Your reliability.

That beginning known as fear by which I feel consumed.

That beginning known as dread by which I assume my future will be bad.

That beginning known as an anxious heart by which I refuse to let go of my worries.

That beginning known as perfectionism by which I blame myself.

That beginning known as dejection by which I fall into myself.

That beginning known as despondent prayer by which I turn away from Your open arms.

Help me to mortify above food and drink all of these beginnings.

Save me from the despairing Satan who is called the accuser.

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit who is called the consoler.

May the Eucharist be my sacrament of hope.

May Saint Peter not Judas be my example in getting up from any fall.

May confession be my sacrament of blessed opportunity.

May our mother Mary be my example of hope.

May she be my star of the sea to whom I look in distress.

Lord let me be an instrument of hope in You,

so that the whole world may experience Your surpassing goodness.

Amen.

The Good Shepherd, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, c. 1660

Immaculate Queen of Peace, pray for us.