Act of Hope
O my God, relying on Your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Where Does This Prayer Come From?
This one comes from a classroom.
In 1884, the American bishops met at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore.
They ordered one catechism for the whole country.
It came out in 1885.
From then until the late 1960s, American Catholic kids learned their faith from it.
Questions.
Answers.
And a handful of short prayers to know by heart.
This was one of them.
Almost word for word.
Only "Thy" has changed to "Your."
It's one of three "acts," along with faith and love.
Popes were already attaching indulgences to them back in 1728.
Now look at what this prayer hopes for.
Pardon of my sins.
The help of Your grace.
Life everlasting.
And look at the reason.
Not "because I've been good."
"Relying on Your infinite goodness and promises."
Hope isn't confidence in yourself. It's confidence in God's promises.
The Catechism says it the same way.
We rely "not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit" (CCC 1817).
Wait.
Isn't hope the fragile one?
Just wishful thinking with a halo?
Scripture doesn't think so.
Which we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm…
— Hebrews 6:19
An anchor.
Not a wish.
Something that holds when the storm hits.
And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.
— Romans 5:5
Kids learned it in school.
Grown-ups need it at three in the morning.
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