The People of Hope

12/23/2024

Revive your marriage in one weekend!

Whether newly married, celebrating your 30th anniversary, or beyond, Marriage in the Holy Spirit weekend is for you! Join other faith-filled couples who are desiring to recommit themselves to the Lord and their marriages on Jan 31-Feb 2nd, 2025! Visit peopleofhope.net/mihs details, registration and more! We hope you join!

11/22/2024

"Joy springs from a grateful heart. Truly, we have received much, so many graces, so many blessings, and we rejoice in this. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of remembrance." (Pope Francis)

11/18/2024

As a Christian, do you really believe this? That if you have Jesus, you have everything?
As Benedict XVI says, "The one who has hope lives differently." Are you living a life of hope? Are you living out your calling to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth?
As a community of believers, we can look back on all the ways that the Lord has been faithful to us. In Him, we have so much to be grateful for.

11/04/2024

"The joy promised by the Beatitudes is the very joy of Jesus himself: a joy sought and found in obedience to the Father, and in the gift of self to others. " (St John Paul II)
Jesus' parting words as he ascended into Heaven were a promise to be with us always. The joy promised by the Beatitudes is better than anything we could ever ask for, for it is His very Self that God gives to us.
When was the last time you sat with that incredible fact? That God makes his dwelling within you? That the life you and I are called to is a life in union with the Lord? As we seek to conform ourselves more and more to Christ, may we never lose sight of the joy of his presence.
Image from a past People of Hope retreat

10/30/2024

"The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice." (Pope Francis)
We are a Church called to go forth. A community of missionary disciples. We are the light of the world, called not to hide our light under bushel baskets, but to shine brightly for all the world to see.
We are called to "take the first step." To go out to meet those around us, bringing the love and hope of the Gospel with us, wherever we go.

10/28/2024

Be attentive to the voice of grace! The Spirit is alive and moving. Our continual calling as Christians is to be alert to the movements of grace, our ears open to hear God's voice, our eyes open to see His work in our midst. Like the holy men and women who have gone before us, may our eyes ever be fixed on Christ, ready to do his will.
Image from a past People of Hope retreat.

10/23/2024

"An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the outcast." (Pope Francis)
He has loved us first. May we always be mindful of that fact: we love others because He loved us first.
As a community of disciples on mission, we must, particularly, be mindful of the opportunities we have to evangelize those around us-- to take initiative in sharing the love of Jesus with others.

10/21/2024

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (Matthew 6:26-27)
Always, we begin again. That is what the invitation to follow Christ is: to pick up your cross daily, and to follow him.
Do not let the past disturb you. Just leave everything, everything in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and begin again with joy.
Image from a past People of Hope retreat

10/16/2024

Haven't had a chance to read Fr Jae's reflection on serving at Camp Hope as a priest? You can catch up on the blog here!

This is my second time helping out at Camp Hope. Throughout the camp, Fr. Patrick and I will sometimes talk about the ups and downs of the day. One of the highlights I remember was after a long night of confession, Fr. Patrick and I agreed on how good it is to be a priest. As a priest, these little....

09/12/2024

Who is God calling you to love this week? Where is He nudging you to open your heart a little wider? Where are the opportunities in your life to love a little more?
We know that our God is a God who invites us to hope in Him, to trust in Him. He brings peace and healing and reconciliation. We know that God can work miracles, teach the lame to walk and the silent to speak.
It is easy to place a limit on God's command to love others as He loves them. But God invites each of us to live abundantly in the light of His grace.

Image from a past joint prayer meeting with the Family of Faith and Petros communities

09/10/2024

If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, here is Owen's reflection on the blessing of living in community:

It was late 2019: I had just graduated college a year before, I was working full-time, and I missed the camaraderie I had with my friends from Seton Hall’s Campus Ministry. I was looking for a group of young, like-minded people around my age, who bonded in faith and fellowship. The type of friends...

09/09/2024

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34-35).
Let us love the Lord with our whole heart! And let us love one another as Christ loves us.