Hope: an active response to hardship

The winning entry to the 2025 Columban Schools Competition, ‘Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope’, came from Armance Young of St Catherine’s School, Twickenham.

On 11 December 2024, Pope Francis urged his followers to be “sower(s) of hope”. He reminded us that hope is not a silent or passive state but an active force of change. In a world where conflict, suffering and injustice seem overwhelming, hope drives tangible action. The Jubilee Year of Hope, which comes from the Book of Leviticus, calls for renewal, mercy and action. Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to be “Pilgrims of Hope”, signifying their duty to cultivate kindness, compassion and support.

Consider Gaza, where approximately 69 per cent of the infrastructure has been destroyed due to the ongoing conflict, and 47 000 lives have been lost. Amid this destruction, the resilience of the community shines through. Doctors working in facilities like the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which has been partially destroyed, risk their lives to provide essential medical aid. Volunteers distribute food to the starving and churches offer shelter to those with nowhere else to turn. These individuals – who act when it seems there is no hope – are the true sowers of hope.

Yet hardship is not confined to war zones. Across the globe, hundreds of thousands face struggles that often go unnoticed. In the UK alone, as of 2022, there were 231,597 refugees, and as of 2023, an estimated four million families were in financial deficit and 320,000 were homeless. In Matthew 25:35, Christians are called to respond to suffering with compassion and action: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” The Bible urges us to be active participants in alleviating the suffering of others.

Catholic charities and organisations are embodying this call. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod), the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, delivers emergency relief, such as food, clean water, medical supplies and shelter, to war-torn countries. Moreover, it supports long-term recovery initiatives, such as rebuilding infrastructure. Today, Cafod is active in conflict-affected regions such as Syria. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) assists refugees and asylum seekers, launching the Global Education Initiative in 2015, which aimed to increase access to education for refugees. The Sant’Egidio Community, a Catholic lay movement dedicated to social service, played a role in negotiating the General Peace Agreement for Mozambique in 1992, which ended a 16-year civil war. These organisations exemplify how meaningful action can led to transformative change. Individual actions can ripple outwards, transforming the lives of thousands in turn. Had these organisations never been established, countless might have remained in desperate need.

Personally, charity has always been an integral part of my life. In 1991, my great-aunt, Jane Nicholson, founded FARA (meaning “without” in Romanian) to house children “without” family, who were treated inhumanely in state-run orphanages. Her initial steps included leading aid convoys from the UK to Romania, where she and a team of volunteers provided essential care. Through her initial efforts, over 10,000 Romanian children have gained access to education and shelter, vastly improving their future prospects. Jane’s dedication to transforming the lives of Romania’s most vulnerable children exemplifies how hope, when coupled with action, can create lasting change. Her life’s work serves as a continual source of inspiration for me.

For the past three years, my school has been fundraising for Mary’s Meals, a charity that provides meals to schoolchildren in Ethiopia. Initially, the contributions I made through bake sales and donations seemed insignificant. However, I soon realised that the collective impact of the school community was profound. For some, these donations are a lifeline: their funded meal is their only stable source of food. Upon learning that it costs only £19.15 to feed an Ethiopian child for a year, I felt inspired. If one school could impact so many lives, just how many could an entire community change?

If the 1.39 billion Catholics in the world united in solidarity, offering hope and compassion to those in need, what could we accomplish? Hope is not just a thought – it is action, persistence, and shared commitment. As Pope Francis reminded us, “Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfilment.” Reflecting the belief that true fulfilment comes from giving, not receiving.

Finally, I encourage all Catholics to recognise the power of communal action. Even the smallest acts – donating, volunteering and advocating – can offer hope to someone in need. Hope will always emerge from hardship, but we should not allow it to remain a distant thought. Instead, we must act on it, turning it into a force that inspires change, uplifts communities and transforms lives. Hope must become restorative, lighting the way for those in darkness.

How this Catholic charity is helping to feed the hungry in the face of the ravages of climate change

Hope and the Jubilee Year

Armance Young (15) says:
“I was delighted to participate in the essay competition on a topic that I am passionate about, and to have learnt about the work of the Columban Missionaries. Thank you so much for selecting me and for your generosity.  It’s been a great experience that I will always remember.”

From St Catherine’s School:
“We are delighted to hear that Armance has won this nationwide competition celebrating communities that bring hope in the world today. Hers is an inspiring message that resonates deeply within our community at St Catherine’s, as we embark as pilgrims of hope in this special Jubilee Year. It’s truly special when such a powerful example of hope and service comes directly from a young woman.”
Catherine McDonough, head of RE, and Johneen McPherson, headmistress

Ruth Gledhill, a competition judge, comments:
“This wide-ranging article manages to take both personal and general points of view, impressively bringing together in the coherent theme as set out in the heading, the work of important Catholic charities such as Mary’s Meals, Cafod and others. Leading on the words of Pope Francis, the writer engages us with arguments drawn from key themes of the Pope – hope, mercy, kindness, compassion. They reflect engagingly on their own personal connections with both historical figures but also with individual fundraising, and how learning more about the realities of poverty and hunger convinced them of the significance of even apparently small actions, such as baking for a bake sale. The writer then takes us from this to a call to action in a journey that we make ourselves and that is a following in the footsteps of their own journey, itself inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, the Church itself and the realities of school and parish life. I look forward to seeing what this writer does with her life!”