Prayer Builds a Bridge to Hope

As I was driving, following the ambulance with my husband inside, my car became a sanctuary for praying to God to heal him.  I can still see the yellow line on the machine move up and down like on a Richter scale, then stretching out to a flat line. This took about a minute, but in those seconds, I prayed with all my heart in the hope that the line would move again to signal life had returned to the body of my beloved. My hope was gone, and my husband was dead.  

Whether a loved one dies in an instant, days, months, or years, you hope for healing throughout the period that life hangs in the balance. I have heard the anecdote that sometimes the answer to a prayer is yes, no, or not now. The “No” for me triggered a deep hope that my husband was on his way to Heaven. So many people requested a Mass intention for the repose of my husband’s soul immediately. As I attended those Masses, I would hear his name as part of the prayer of the faithful. It consoled me, but didn’t restore my hope.

Finding Peace and Hope in a Difficult Season 

Peace comes from believing in eternal life, which is bought and paid for in Jesus’ blood. The fear of not knowing fuels anger, insomnia, and insecurity. To soothe my broken heart and faith, I tried praying the Rosary, reading passages in the Bible, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and a novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. None of my go-to prayers restored the hope in this season of hopelessness. I don’t remember exactly how, but I was drawn to the Adoration chapel.  

When I opened the door, no one was there. It was just Jesus and me! He was there; I felt his presence as if he were sitting across from me as I gazed upon the center of the Eucharist in the monstrance. Why Lord? Why did you take him? What did I do wrong? I wept openly, and the words to a favorite song played in my head like a lullaby… “I love the Lord, he heard my cry and pitied every groan, long as I live I will hasten to his throne.” It was a message to return to Adoration again and again. 

A Guided Meditation Began to Restore My Hope 

Days later, an invitation to a four-day silent retreat landed in my social media feed, and I went. On the second day, I participated in a guided meditation. A priest led me to visualize a meadow on a beautiful sunny morning and walk toward a tree in the distance. I was directed that someone would step from behind the tree, and it was my husband; I ran to him!

I don’t remember what was said during the encounter. I was with my husband, and he lifted me off the ground. We embraced tightly; he said, “Let me show you how I’ve got us set up in heaven.” He took me to what I perceived to be one of the many mansions he has for those who believe. He gave me a tour, and we ended up on a couch looking out of a floor-to-ceiling window at the ocean. I could feel him just like when he was here with me.

Then the voice came back, urging me to come back. I said, “No, I want to stay here with you.” He told me I had to go back, that it wasn’t my time, and God still has work for me.” I begged him to stay, but he assured me he would be with me always, but I needed to go.

When I finally opened my eyes, my face was covered in tears. But my hope was restored in knowing, as 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” 

Adoration broke me open in a way I never imagined, then my conviction of faith was strengthened when I read:

Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of the faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2708)

Then God spoke to me through His holy Word in Scripture.  

Sometimes, a single prayer practice isn’t enough to build a bridge to hope from an island of fear, grief, despair, or uncertainty. Catholicism is filled with so many beautiful ways to pray. Offer a prayer to God to help lead you to the right way to pray and inspire hope in times of hopelessness for YOU!

For the Jubilee of Hope, our writers reflect on prayer as a source of hope in their lives.

Copyright 2025 Sherry Hayes-Peirce
Images: Holy Cross Family Ministries