On my birthday in October, I learned that my grandfather, Bob, had fallen and had five broken ribs and a brain bleed. His prognosis was grim, and my heart was heavy.

There were many ups and downs for over a month while we were left unsure of his life expectancy. He swung from fully aware and conversational to non-responsive to everything in between. But, despite his own pain and suffering, in his moments of lucidity, he had one main concern he voiced to everyone he encountered: to make sure they knew Jesus.

His ER nurse confided that when she entered his hospital room, Bob made sure she knew Jesus before he received care. In conversations with visiting family, he spoke of seeing his wife of 70 years again and how he yearned to be in Heaven with her. He wasn’t dragged toward death in fear, he pursued it with joyful expectation.

And so, as his health greatly diminished and his life drew to a close in late October, Bob left this world with great hope in the world to come.

The whole experience for me was fraught with sadness and difficulty. More than 850 miles away, I felt hopeless and lived on the words of those family members with him in person. And, in the meantime, my own household fell like flies to pneumonia, one even ending up in the hospital. Adding insult to injury, lice struck one child, and any sense of joy I had left was snuffed out with the brush of a comb.

It wasn’t until I was flying down for the funeral in mid- November that I could finally sit with my grandfather’s passing and process it. I cried for the hours it took to get to Louisiana. But the longer I wept, the more I realized that my sorrow wasn’t for Bob, because he knew where he was going and went with hope. No, I cried for myself, knowing I couldn’t see him again for a very long time.

His funeral, however, was permeated with hope. Every child, grandchild, great grandchild, former coworker and nurse spoke of Bob’s eternal optimism and ability to reframe bad situations for good by focusing on God and His will for us.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26).

Much like my grandfather’s final days, this issue of The Catholic Telegraph is characterized by hope. We picked the theme from the 2025 Jubilee Year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” that’s just beginning. But as story after story rolled in, I was amazed at how each one embodied overcoming darkness and finding hope in the future with the guidance of Christ. May His light guide you in these Advent and Christmas seasons.