Hope Does Not Disappoint
Pedro Guevara-Mann
This article originally appeared in the September 2025 issue of FOCUS Magazine.
I was recently in Washington, DC for the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention, a gathering that brought together about 1,000 members of the largest Catholic men’s fraternal organization in the world, with over 2 million members globally. Attendees came from several countries, including Canada, the US, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, France, Ukraine, and South Korea.
On our last day, we called an Uber. We noticed the driver was wearing a St. Benedict Medal, and so it wasn’t hard to start a conversation. After a few pleasantries, knowing that two of us were clergy, he asked if we thought the end of the world was coming soon. He told us he had lost all hope for the United States and was considering moving to Canada.
We asked him, “If you’re a Christian, how is it that you’ve lost hope?” He responded, “I have hope for myself, but I don’t have hope for this country.”
That made me think about whether I have hope for our country, Canada. I’ve come to see that hope is not optimism. Christian hope is not the same as saying, “I hope the government doesn’t pass that legislation.” That’s wishful thinking. Christian hope is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our hope is a reorientation of our perspective of life toward the eternal. This reorientation should affect everything we do and say. It affects how we live; how we love and how we suffer.
St. Athanasius said, “Hope is the promise of eternal life.” As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to Titus, “We wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” As Christians, we are a people of hope.
And the worst thing we can do is take that hope away from others.
Sr. Helen Prejean, SJ, who wrote Dead Man Walking, was once asked, on the eve of an execution, whether there was any hope left for the man on death row. She said, “Of course there’s hope because he’s alive.”
Where there is life, there is hope.
And that’s what I think of when I think of Canada: There is life, and so, there is hope.
As a Permanent Deacon and producer with Salt + Light Media, I see hope every day in my travels. There are countless reasons to despair and many causes for anxiety but I see hope every day.
I see hope in Paula, a woman I met in Montreal last year. She’s retired and spends her time visiting friends in the final stages of life. She brings coffee, prepares meals, and, most importantly, offers friendship so they don’t feel alone, afraid or like a burden.
I see hope in the 800 young adults who spent an entire day at the Renew Conference in Toronto, last year, listening to inspiring speakers, praying, and sharing in fellowship.
I found hope in two parents who lost their daughter to MAiD. They’ve written poems and now help lead retreats for families experiencing similar grief.
I see hope in my friend Marlena, from Belleville, Ontario, who has just professed her final vows as Sr. Beata, with the Sisters of Life. These are the Sisters of Life who have saved some 8000 unborn children in the last decade.
I saw hope at a palliative care conference near Toronto, where experts from across Canada and the U.S. gathered to share ideas, network, and pray together. They inspired me to become a hospice volunteer.
Last year, I traveled to St. Theresa Point, Manitoba, a First Nations community where the local church had burned down. The community rallied to raise the funds needed to rebuild their beloved church. While we were there, a retreat was taking place, drawing pilgrims from surrounding communities for three days of prayer and fellowship.
On the way to St. Theresa Point, we spent a day at the St. Malo Camp, where some 30 teenagers were spending a week 
enjoying normal camp activities, as well as, listening to talks, growing in their faith and spending a lot of time in prayer and fellowship. Since 1993, thousands of young men and women have attended these camps that are helping make disciples. There are likely hundreds of similar Christian camps taking place each summer across Canada.
In North Bay, Ontario, I spent a day with 250 women at the Catholic Women’s League Convention. These women dedicate their lives to offering hope, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, visiting the lonely, and raising critical funds for those in need.
Every Monday, I visit our local hospice. The average stay is two weeks. Some patients are talkative; others can no longer communicate. Some have many visitors; others have none. Some struggle with their diagnosis; others have found peace. Every time I visit, they give me hope. They inspire me. I’m inspired by their stories and by their long marriages. I am also inspired by the volunteers and staff who serve them with tireless compassion, most often with joy.
I am given hope by you, members of the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Canada. I remember, 35 years ago, struggling to find a Christian doctor and finding none. Now, I see you everywhere. It’s not easy being a Christian in a secular world, but you are there. And that gives me hope. Thank you.
At the Knights of Columbus Convention, I spoke with several Canadian Knights. One of their initiatives is the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation, which has provided some 40,000 wheelchairs—mostly to children—around the world since 2002. They do this at a cost of under $300 per chair. This is just one example of the incredible work my 230,000 brother Knights quietly do in Canada. That gives me hope.
I see hope every Sunday when I go to church. My former parish is a community of 3,000 families. There are four weekend services, each attended by about 300 people. You’ll find young adults, young families, older couples, new immigrants, workers, retirees, children, teens, and the newly engaged. They average 10 baptisms per month.
My new parish is a smaller community. There are three weekend services, with about 60 people at each. They maybe, have 10 baptisms a year. But the people who are there are truly present. They are like you and me: struggling, joyful, overwhelmed, searching. They are seeking hope. They are seeking Christ. And because of that, I know this community, too, will grow.
I know these are not large numbers. A 2023 poll says only 22% of Canadians are regular churchgoers. That’s about 9 million people; a quarter of the population. But Jesus didn’t say, “You are the whole loaf.” He said, “You are the salt.” (Matthew 5:13). And you only need a pinch of salt to make the bread work. Maybe Jesus always knew that Christians would be a minority — sometimes even a persecuted one. But perhaps it’s precisely because we are few that we’re able to make a difference.
Some may say I’m naïve or blind to “what’s really happening around us.” Clearly, my assessment of the situation in Canada is not a scientific one; it’s just my experience. Yet, I feel these are the glimpses of eternity that remind us that hope is not dead. Canada may be increasingly more and more secularized and liberal values may be more predominant than Christian ones, but these experiences remind me that I must not despair. Christianity is alive and well in Canada because Jesus is alive.
And we must always keep the flame of hope alive – for ourselves and for others. We must always choose hope.
I know this because hope has a face. Hope has a name and that name is Jesus Christ.
The battle has already been won. Jesus Christ reigns.
Hope does not disappoint because Christ does not disappoint.
Let’s go out and bring that hope, His hope, into the world.