In his brief and inspiring reflections, Segundo Galilea searches for the meaning of hope. His aim is simple: "to inspire the mystique of Christian hope, an integral part of the spirituality so necessary today for our personal lives." Galilea begins by defining hope-what it is and what it is not. For instance, hope is not the same as optimism. It is not based on the laws of politics, history, or science. Nor does it ignore or seek escape from the demands of the present. Hope is instead "the firm conviction that the promises we know by faith will be fulfilled." It is the "difference between life as absurdity and life as mystery."
Next, Galilea gives the reasons for hope, for "living the present moment," for transformation of the world. Why, though seemingly the end, death is instead the supreme act of hope. How the church and we-are witnesses to hope, in a world that has so little. Spirituality of Hope looks finally at prayer as hope. "Together with the sacraments," Galilea writes, "the realization of our hope acquires its greatest intensity here on Earth in our moments of prayer. Prayer itself is a prolonged act of hope." It is in prayer that we live the present in love, and acknowledge God as our perfect hope.