Take Heart: Catholic Writers on Hope in Our Time.

TAKE HEART: CATHOLIC WRITERS ON HOPE IN OUR TIME Edited by Ben Birnbaum (Crossroad, 2007)

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Of the three theological virtues--faith, hope, and love--hope has got to be the most elusive, even in our church. In the wake of sexual abuse scandals and with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council seemingly being rolled back one by one, many Catholics frankly are in danger of losing hope in the one institution that is supposed to help cultivate it.

Which is precisely why now is an opportune time for this collection. Take Heart, a project of Boston College's Church in the 21st Century Center, features 35 essays on the virtue of hope.

The author list is a Who's Who of Catholic intellectuals, many of whom have graced the pages of this magazine: theologians Lisa Sowle Cahill and Lawrence S. Cunningham, journalists Kenneth L. Woodward and Cullen Murphy, and literary writers Paul Elie and Ann Wroe.

The book includes a number of more conservative voices, including two members of the Communion and Liberation movement and a professor from Ave Maria University in Florida. But even the more "liberal" voices tend to reference tradition, citing theological definitions, biblical references, and Church Fathers. Literary references abound, with poets T.S. Eliot, Charles Peguy, and Emily Dickenson quoted at length.

Yet the inspiration is strongest when personal stories are told, with the most poignant being Don Wycliff's "Day by Day," in which he describes trying to hang on to hope during a painful divorce. "Hope, I think, is our hedge against meaninglessness" Wycliff writes, "against what the existentialists called absurdity, against the mocking laughter that overtakes you when the carefully built edifice of your life comes crashing down."

Hope is a gift, the authors agree, yet also a virtue we must practice. What better way to do that, especially during the hopeful season of Advent, than by reading these essays.