We are tempted to put our hope in a lot of things, and these begin to consume us. Some are good things. We place our trust in friends, in our reputation, in the just satisfaction that comes from a job well done. But you know the day will come when even those legitimate, good objects of trust will let us down. So if we put total trust in even these legitimate things, we will one day be disappointed. Is there anyone sadder than someone who put all his trust in the hope of career advancement and ends his years bitter and resentful? Even our friends will eventually move, or drift away, or let us down. . .We cherish them and need them but we cannot place all our hope in them either.

As rector at the North American College, I would tell first year men on the first day they arrived “You have left home, family, friends, security, predictability. Everything has changed but one thing – your faith in and relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. And perhaps the genius of study here in Rome, away from all that is familiar and reliable, is to teach us that He and He alone is the ultimate source of our hope – to count on anything or anyone else in this life will ultimately lead to disappointment.” –Cardinal Timothy Dolan