Campers celebrate the New Year 2023 during Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center’s annual Christmas/New Year’s Camp. RILEY GREIF | WKC
Pilgrims of Hope: Look for Hope in the New Year
Editor’s note: In celebration of the Jubilee of Hope, The Western Kentucky Catholic has launched Pilgrims of Hope, a yearlong blog series inspired by Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025: “My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches.” Blog reflections will be written by individuals from across the Diocese of Owensboro, sharing their unique perspectives on the virtue of hope in a world that so greatly needs it.
BY BEN WARRELL
“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
As I have gotten older there are certain things I just begin to understand more clearly. One of these truths is that what you seek, you will find. If you live your life looking for the negative things around you, that is what you will notice. On the other hand, if you’re looking for positivity, that is what you’ll notice. In scientific terms, this phenomenon is called Frequency Illusion. The frequency illusion (also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon) is a cognitive bias in which a person notices a specific concept, word, or product more frequently after recently becoming aware of it. Again, what you look for in this life, you will find.
The question then becomes, “What am I looking for in my life?” I run Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center for the Diocese of Owensboro. One of the joys of my job (and there are so many) in working with young people is the excitement and joy they bring to life. Scripture talks about having “faith like a child” and I am surrounded by that beauty. One camp in particular gives me the most hope. That is our Christmas/New Year’s Camp.
For the past 16 years, we have hosted this camp which runs from December 29 to January 1. It was started because campers wanted more opportunities to pray together and praise God together. Each year, this camp has over 40 teenagers coming together to spend their New Year’s Eve growing in their faith. It amazes me that these young people from all around our diocese and beyond would choose to spend one of the biggest party nights of the year in our country in Adoration and Mass at a church camp. In fact, the Mass begins at 11:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve so the first thing they do in the New Year is receive Jesus in the Eucharist. They’ve also been to Confession so they are beginning the New Year with nothing between them and Jesus! How beautiful and how very hopeful is the faith of these young people! Because of their faith, I begin every New Year with overwhelming hope.
Throughout the year, as struggles arise and hope can dim, it is always a great reminder to think back on these young people and their hope and be reminded to look for God, our source of hope, all around us. In this upcoming year, I challenge you to look for Jesus all around you. He is there every day in every moment. Grow accustomed to seeing God in your life. Surround yourself with all things that will help you seek hope. What you seek, you will find.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the gift of your hope. Help us to know, deep in our hearts, that you are always with us and around us. In this upcoming year, help us to see you at work in big things and small things in our lives. Help us to seek you always and find you every day. Amen.
To learn more about the Diocese of Owensboro’s celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025 visit https://owensborodiocese.org/jubilee-year-pilgrims-of-hope/.
