There is a fictitious story I often tell about a time when the Devil announced that he was selling the many tools he used to tempt people to sin. People came from miles around, interested in purchasing the tools the Devil had been using in his work. On the final day of the sales, a man came into the shop and bought the rest of these tools (At least, he thought so). As he was completing his purchase, he noticed a small tool, barely visible, in the corner of the shop. He told the Devil he would like to purchase that tool as well as the others. The Devil responded, “I will never sell that tool.” The man replied, “Why not?” The Devil said, “Absolutely not!” So, the man asked again, “Why not? What does it do?” The Devil answered, “This tool is stronger than all the rest of my tools put together. With it I bring more souls to destruction than with any other.” The man asked, “What is the name of this extraordinary tool?” The Devil said, “Discouragement!”

Discouragement. Has it not been an all too familiar condition of the heart for each one of us at various times in our lives? Are there not moments when you and I feel that no matter how much effort we put into our work, our relationships and our personal goals, there still never will be positive results? I assure you that you are certainly not alone. In the beginning of this secular New Year, people across the world are once again formulating resolutions for 2012 with a spirit of hopefulness. They are resolving to lose weight, to save more money, to travel more, to educate themselves, etc. These all can be worthwhile goals, but as we look back on last year’s resolutions and realize how many of them were broken, we can so easily be discouraged. Where, then, is it safe to place our hope?

Of course, looking back on 2011 may recall more painful memories than broken New Year resolutions. In the last year, some of you may have lost your jobs, making it difficult to make ends meet. Others of you may have been experiencing marital difficulties, leaving your hearts wounded and broken. Still others may have developed a terminal illness or lost a loved one to illness or a fatal accident. In the light of these undeniable heart-rending hardships, along with the smaller let-downs experienced, the question once again arises: Where is it safe to place our hope?

The answer, the “cure” to our discouragement, is not really or only a promotion, a new relationship or even a cure to an illness. The only antidote to the pain in our heart is not something, but Someone. Someone who gives us a reason for enduring hope. And His name is Jesus Christ!

Each one of us has been offered a tool much more powerful than the tools of the Devil: “we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey” (Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, 30 November 2007, no. 1).

Pope Benedict teaches us that hope is not a warm and fuzzy feeling or some aimless anticipation; it is the concrete trust that the Lord desires for us to know and love Him on earth and to be united with Him in our true home: heaven. The Holy Father writes, “To come to know God — the true God — means to receive hope. We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God” (Ibid, no. 3).

Our hearts which have been downtrodden with cares, concerns and, yes, even tragedies, will only find refuge in Christ Who loves us unreservedly. He loves us so much that He creates us, gives us every truly good thing in our life and died and rose again so that we might reach the inheritance that He won for us on the Cross. Christ is not only present each Sunday when we take part in the Holy Mass. He is present each day as we encounter trials, immense or small. When we feel discouraged — that sentiment of the heart of which the Devil is so fond — we must place all of our hope in the Lord, Who promises us inner joy and eternal life.

A hopeful heart does not mean that trials and tribulations will disappear from our lives. Rather, true hope allows us to encounter reality in the right context. Discouragement persuades us to turn away from the love of the Lord and focus only on what is going wrong in our lives. Christian hope enables us to persevere through challenging moments, focused on Christ Who gives to our lives true significance because He is Himself Hope Incarnate.

Hope is also a virtue — a habit that we can develop by taking the time to fix our hearts on the Lord and His plans for us. Have you ever met someone, be it a priest or a religious sister or brother or a lay person, whose eyes exude a sense of inner joy and hopefulness? Perhaps they help the poor or labor long days and nights to serve others and yet their hearts are so clearly full of hope and love for the Lord. They already understand, and we too can remind ourselves of, Christ’s words to us: “My yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30).

At the beginning of this New Year, let us all allow enduring Christian hope to enliven our hearts. As Pope Benedict writes, “Life in its totality is a relationship with him who is the source of life. If we are in relation with him who does not die, who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life. Then we “live” (Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, 30 November 2007, no. 27). As Saint Paul reminds us, “For in hope we are saved” (Rom 8:24).