Hope & Death

Hope and love are the most abused words in the modern vocabulary. Too often, hope is mere optimism; love is mere sentiment. The writer Georges Bernanos captured the real meaning of hope when he described it as 'despair overcome'; overcome through an encounter with the Love that breaks into our lives from beyond this world, a Love that gives meaning to suffering and death. That love, God's love, is the heart of the Christian Gospel. The essays collected in this volume deal with our mortality and its implications. But all of them ultimately lead in the same direction: to a trust in the God who made us and saved us, because he loves us." - Charles J. Chaput, OFM, CAP. Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia

"The hopes of our present secular culture concern this world only—dreams that can never be fully achieved and even if they are, they do not bring the joys they promised. Then, there is death—the termination of all earthly hope. Despair triumphs. The present volume, Hope%Death: Christian Responses, offers a much-needed antidote to the world's despair. The essays that compose this book are written by admirable Catholic scholars who academically and pastorally address real life issues. First, they address the nature of God and his providential work within the world. Second, they demonstrate how authentic Christian hope, founded upon faith in Jesus Christ, triumphs over suffering and death. Third, they demonstrate how Christian hope reaches its fulfillment not in this world, but by everlastingly abiding in the risen Christ, in communion the Holy Spirit as the Father's beloved sons and daughters. This book, and the truth contained within, is a marvelous aid in evangelizing a world deprived of hope." - Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, CAP. Former member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission

"The Christian faith teaches that death, the last enemy, has truly been defeated by Christ. In trying times such as these, the Church needs faithful Catholic academics such as the contributors to this work to engage contemporary problems with the enduring wisdom of the faith. This volume offers a timely message of hope to the ever-vexing problem of death. Priests and religious, students, and the lay faithful alike will find in these penetrating essays profound and clear answers to many common problems and objections to the faith that arise from the problems of death and suffering." - Frank J. Dewane Bishop of the Diocese of Venice in Florida