Q3 2025 Week 38 Plan

It's 5:49 PM on Saturday as I begin to write my way through this Week 38 Plan. Week 37 was another positive physical and mental health recovery week, though I didn't write too much. If I had to elevate one key takeaway from this period, it would be my discovery of "The Anatomy of Virtue" by Dr. Andrew Abela. I am still experiencing downs when I am pessimistic about the fallen nature of humanity and the future of the United Nations, and ups when I am optimistic about human progress in harmony with God's design. Now I am beginning to understand these sentiments in relation to hope, the theological virtue that steers us on a safe middle path to salvation between the vice of despair (a deficiency of hope) and the vice of presumption (an excess of hope).

As I think about my life mission, vision, areas of responsibility and projects in light of Abela's stunning diagram, I find myself drawn to further reflect on hope in relation to restraint and humility. What does it mean to review and perhaps reform my Horizons of Focus with greater attention to hope, restraint, and humility?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope in paragraphs 1817-1821 and 1843. Here is the first part of para. 1817 and all of para. 1843:

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it.

 

Perhaps I should change my mission statement (blog title) to be more hopeful in this sense. Let's see where I wind up on this next Saturday.

Video at top: Hope (Aquinas 101).