The Virtue of Hope: How Confidence in God Can Lead You to Heaven, Hardcover

In this marvelous series of reflections on Hope, adapted from a series of talks, Father Philip Bochanski not only lays out what hope is but also shows how we can exercise this theological virtue, through being daring, changing our ways, serving the Lord, struggling, suffering, and praying. Beginning with the Book of Genesis and proceeding through the Gospels, Aquinas, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, he examines how hope directs us to our ultimate goal of life with God and gives us the strength and perseverance to attain it.

Bochanski's fascinating stories of "Heroes of Hope"-- inspiring saints such as St. Augustine and St. Teresa of Calcutta--show us how these familiar names learned to hope through moments of intense personal difficulty and crisis. Bochanski also tells fascinating stories about the lives of individuals like Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Gianna Beretta Molla, and Chiara Luce Badano, showing how these seemingly ordinary Catholic laypeople applied their hope in God to the challenges of their state in life and the modern world.

The Virtue of Hope is excellent spiritual reading for everyone, an instruction manual for how to grow in hope and in bravery in the face of life's challenges. It is a clarion call that hope must not be merely theoretical, but must "lead us to a deeper relationship with God, an encounter with the One who loves us and calls us to friendship with Himself."

Father Philip G. Bochanski, a native of suburban Philadelphia, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1999. In addition to several parish assignments, he has served as a high school teacher, chaplain for cloistered nuns, and spiritual director for seminarians. In 2017, he was appointed executive director of Courage International, an apostolate that provides pastoral care to men and women who experience same sex attractions and have chosen to live a chaste life. He is an award-winning author, and has published several articles, books and audio lecture series on such topics as Church history, spirituality and pastoral care.