As the keynote speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast this year, Monsignor James Shea spoke on the theme of hope. A central example of the speech was children present a particularly pure source of hope.

Yet, society consistently misdirects its hope. This point was the flip side of Shea’s example: We do so toward the end of creating a perfect earthly world, in a general sense, as well as toward self-interest, more locally.