Bringing Hope Home
by Bishop William Joensen | August 18, 2025
Our late Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his message inaugurating this Jubilee Year when we are to be Pilgrims of Hope, notes that the “Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus.”
The pontiff’s mention of ‘intensity’ suggests to me a focus of heart and soul where distractions melt away and we are truly present to one another; we sense that the good we long for is within reach, within and among us. These moments of greater intensity activate hope and draw us into encounter with Jesus through one another.
This summer has afforded young people in our Diocese several “intense” moments for faith, friendship, and hope to flourish: the Praise in the Park event; the Concert for Life where Father David Michael Moses, our own Father Max Carson, and an all-priest band played to rave reviews before a packed Val Air Ballroom; and each of the 11 weeks of Catholic Youth Camp in at the St. Thomas More Ceneter in Panora, IA.
Personally, one particular moment when I experienced the encouraging intensity of the Spirit in engagement with young people was the Region IX Encounter for Young Adults and Youth Ministry Leaders that took place in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas in July. Ninety young adults from (arch)dioceses in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas were accompanied by a couple dozen ministers gathered in small group reflection and conversation, Eucharistic-centered prayer, and visioning about how they might be sent to those with whom they live, love and serve in their respective home dioceses, especially among Hispanics. The overall theme for the gathering, “Listen, Teach, Send,” provided the inspiration for the respective main presenters, coinciding with the U.S. bishops’ National Pastoral Framework for Ministries with Youth and Young Adults.
The presenters were dynamic and inspiring, but it was the table conversation with young adults from our own Des Moines Diocese that was a special source of grace and hope for me as I listened and heard the Spirit speak in the transparently courageous hearts of my table partners. I heard young Hispanic women and men from St. Anthony, Christ the King, Our Lady of the Americas (Des Moines) and St. Patrick (Perry) Parishes speak of how some well-intended parents and grandparents conveyed an image of God as one who is poised to judge and punish. I heard their longing for greater connection among their peers, and of their willingness to risk boldly stepping forward to give witness to their relationship with Jesus.
I was inspired by participants’ wisdom to recognize that God sometimes opens doors, and sometimes closes doors—a message that resonated with my homily at Mass on the second day of our encounter. Both are part of God’s way of guiding us. Hope looks to the ultimate destination, but rarely can it perceive and chart every step of the way. Faith is always needed to guide our hope. In faith, we need to keep listening—to God and to one another. It’s key to know to whom we should listen, who are the teachers God is sending us. For then we in turn can be sent where God would have us be, to teach and serve and celebrate with others who need us.
I felt that I was not simply the “accompanier” of these anointed young persons, but that they accompanied me. As one young woman wrote in a light-hearted note to me, “Extremely blessed to have you here with us. I will no longer be scared on approaching you.” If I and other bishops and priests can show our young people the merciful and loving face of the Father and of his beloved Son, then that is all the grace for which we could pray.
Indeed, it was an “intense” weekend in the best of senses, where as we all returned home, hope is sure to spring forth from our young people with greater passion and commitment to lead others to friendship with Jesus!