“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the Spring of hope, it was the Winter of despair…” These powerful words, although penned by Charles Dickens in his 1859 description of life in Europe as told in THE TALE OF TWO CITIES, might closely resemble our own observation and perception of events in our own time in history, the early 21st century in the world, in our country and, indeed, of our Church.

In a world that seems to be spiraling into darkness and where choosing prestige, power and privilege has become almost a norm, we as Dominican Sisters of HOPE are called and chosen to be beacons of HOPE, choosing to stand in solidarity with those who are broken and without HOPE and through our charism of preaching to bring the Good News to those who cannot speak for themselves. God’s invitation is for us in these turbulent times to deepen our commitment to heed the voice of the Spirit evolving among us.

Cataract surgery, if successful, gives a new way of seeing. Applied to our current chaos is it possible to envision the scene from the eyes of God? How consoling the promise of our faithful God: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you…plans to give you a future full of HOPE. (Jeremiah 29:11)

The world insists that “what you see is what you get!”; however, faith says otherwise – what we see is not what we get. This is the paradoxical message of Good Friday. What the witnesses saw on that seemingly hopeless day looked like the END, it was the BEGINNING; they saw DEATH – it was LIFE; what looked like FAILURE was VICTORY; DARKNESS gave way to LIGHT and DESPAIR to HOPE. As Lent inches slowly towards Easter we might want to adjust our way of viewing what calls itself reality. Not a bad resolution!!!

At 3 pm on July 20, 1995 the Dominican Sisters of Hope were founded. On July 20, 2019, we began our 25th year since our founding. We declare a YEAR OF HOPE! In celebration, we will share a reflection on the 20th of every month. This is the eighth reflection in this series. Read all reflections here.

This reflection was written by

Dominican Sister of Hope Peggy Devlin, OP

Dominican Sister of Hope Peggy Devlin, OP has served in the Diocese of Camden, NJ in a variety of ministries: high school teacher, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Associate Vicar for Religious, Pastoral Associate for Adult Faith Formation in three parishes. She leads retreats, Bible Study programs, parish spirituality programs. For five years she formed and led a faith-sharing group for men only. Presently in retirement, Peggy continues her ministry through Spiritual Direction, a Women’s Sharing Group and a volunteer in Christ Our Light parish in Cherry Hill.