In his new book, “Let Us Dream: the Path to a Better Future,” Pope Francis articulates exactly how I feel during the pandemic and whenever I think about all the problems in the world. He feels overwhelmed, but he insists that he is never hopeless. That he is never hopeless with all the problems he must confront encourages me not to be hopeless but to try to believe that, with God’s help, there is no problem that we cannot confront. The Holy Father notes that we cannot serve others unless we let their reality speak to us.

For me, and I imagine for everybody, the experience of the pandemic has been difficult. What I draw from Pope Francis’s encyclical and his new book “Let Us Dream Together; the Path to a Better Future” is the need to enter more deeply into myself and enter more deeply into my relationship with God and others.

My guess is that many during this pandemic are eagerly looking toward a future when the pandemic is under control. The quicker, the better! During the pandemic, my own experience has included a mixture of reflecting on memories and imagining a future when my life will resume some semblance to my previous experience.

During this pandemic I have had an interesting but strange experience of walking down memory lane. Some of the strolls have been completely voluntary, some have intruded time and time again uninvited and I have not been able to figure out why.

I believe that the Christmas joy that seems to touch everyone during the Christmas season is ultimately due to the Incarnation even when it is experienced by those who do not believe in the birth of God’s Son.

If there was ever a situation in life that seems to call for prayer it is a pandemic. My guess is that many may find new ways of praying during a pandemic. Others might rely on favorite prayers. I rediscovered the value, beauty, and power of a prayer I have been saying daily for close to forty years.

I suspect that for years people will be sharing stories about experiences they had during the pandemic. I know I hope I don’t forget some of the experiences I had. One I heard about recently sums up the kind of concern and encouragement that some people express toward one another during a pandemic

Advent has long been one of my favorite times of the year. One reason I find it so special is the emphasis in the Church’s liturgy on the virtue of hope. Every advent I become more convinced that I need to trust more in God’s love. At one point in my life, actually it was when I was a seminarian, my confessor had me read every book on the virtue of hope that I could find. What a great experience that was for me!