Brothers and Sisters,
Today’s first reading is about hope in the face of hardships. Countless times in my past during hardships I have lost faith in God; however, somehow or another, God found a way to bring me back. The disciples in today’s reading gave people hope by saying; “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” If it were easy to get into the Kingdom of Heaven, then why try to be good people? Why try to do good deeds if it did not make a difference? Why would God send people to help guide us in the right direction?

Life is full of hardships and it is very easy to make mistakes, but God puts them in our lives to teach us to be better people and be more faithful to him. My only advice is to not lose faith, but know that God has a plan for you and that will be the greatest plan of all.