Never Too Much

One Who Has Hope

A Future Full of Hope

'I know well the plans I have 
for you, says the Lord, plans for 
your welfare, not for woe! 
Plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call to Me, when you go 
to pray to Me, I will listen to you.  
When you look for Me, 
you will find Me. 
Yes, when you seek Me
with all your heart.'

Jeremiah 29:11-13















Painting: William Adolphe Bouguereau

The Hope of That Country

"The present life is given to us only to earn eternal life.  If we forget this, we tend to concentrate all our affections on the things of this world....

Believe me, if we want to live as happy pilgrims, we must have in our hearts the hope of that country where we will settle down forever.  But at the same time we must believe, and believe with all our hearts (this is a sacred truth!), that God keeps a loving eye on us as we walk toward Him, and never lets anything happen to us that is not for our greater good."

St. Francis de Sales, Letter 1502

Painting: Swieszewski W Alpach

My Only Hope

O Lord, my God, my only hope,

hear me,

lest through weariness

I should not wish to seek You... 

Give me the strength to seek, 

You who have caused me to find You,

and have given me the hope 

of finding You more and more.

                                                    

St. Augustine

Painting in the Manner of Jean Baptiste Santerre; in US public domain

The Triumph of Light

 

"God is light; in Him here is no darkness." 

1 John 1:5

"The Light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it."

John 1:5

"The darkness is over, and the real Light begins to shine."

1 John 2:8

"There was a time when you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord."

Ephesians 5:8

"I am the Light of the world.

  No follower of Mine shall ever walk in darkness;

no, he shall possess the Light of life."  

John 8:12 

Painting: Hope in a Prison of Despair, Evelyn De Morgan

Tune our Hearts to Brave Music

"God of our life,
there are days
when the burdens we carry chafe
our shoulders and weigh us down; 
when the road seems dreary and
endless, the skies gray and threatening;
when our lives have no music in them, 
and our hearts are lonely, and 
our souls have lost their courage. 

"Flood the path with light,
turn our eyes to where the skies
are full of promise.
Tune our hearts to brave music; 
give us the sense of comradeship
with saints and heroes of every age;
and so quicken our spirits that we
may be able to encourage the souls 
of all who journey with us on 
the road of life,
to Your honor and glory."
                 (St. Augustine)



(painting: The Fern Gatherer by Charles Lidderdale, 1877)