During the quarantine, I have been reading “Beautiful Hope.” It features short essays on the theme of hope and includes several different Catholic writers, including Pope Francis, Fr. Mike Schmitz, and even everyday Catholics who have a story of hope.

I began reading this book because it, along with several other spiritual books, has been sitting on my bookshelf and I keep putting it off. But because I have so much free time on my hands, I told myself, “no more excuses” and I began reading it. The reason I began reading this book in particular is because, during this time especially, it is easy to focus on the negative things going on, so it is like a breath of fresh air reading a hope-filled story every day.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is finding it hard to focus on good things currently, or anyone who would just like to read stories about how God is active in everyday Catholics’ lives. The letter grade I would give “Beautiful Hope” would be an A-.