Isn't the Christian life a form of spiritual and existential ascent? Made up of progress and setbacks, falls and rises again. Made up of shadows and light, joy and doubt. Of states of grace, of drier, even empty states… But above all, the Christian life is a story of friendship with Christ, a response to his love, which always comes first. Living Hope Lent is a special time during which we are invited to nurture this friendship. A time to cultivate within ourselves the space we so desperately need to respond to God's love. To fully receive his grace. A time when we can choose to change something in our lives, through small or great efforts, through those small inner decisions that can wonderfully open and soften our hearts, through those deliberate omissions that will allow our souls to grow in simplicity, through those small releases from what burdens us, through the effort we make to do good, through our acts of resistance to keep at bay all that is futile, harmful, all that takes up too much space and makes too much noise in our lives. A time that should not make us forget that asceticism takes on its full meaning when sought to better encounter God. If we live Lent, it is to prepare ourselves to celebrate Easter. The joy of the resurrection, faith, invites us to look toward the future with the virtue of hope. Thus, if Lent is a setting for our conversion, it is also the place of hope par excellence. Hope is a struggle. Hope is like a future that gives meaning back to the present. It brings the future into the present, liberates a future, and grounds the present in eternity. For it urges us to contemplate our lives today in the light of eternity. And it nourishes our desire to turn toward true treasures, those that do not pass away. Which, of course, is a struggle… Moreover, hope, like Lent, is a struggle. It is even “the greatest and most difficult victory a man can win over his soul,” said Bernanos. For hope is never the negation of despair or suffering. It does not deny reality, but rather confronts it. Without being naive, we know full well that this Lent will not completely eliminate evil within us and around us. Nevertheless, we believe that it can strengthen within us that which best combats it: the desire for good. And we are not alone. God is at work today, in my life and in every human life, near and far. He continues to care for his creation. So let us live this Lent with this conviction, this strength! It is a source of life, of perseverance; it overcomes our prisons. Yes. God is there, and he calls us: “My friends” (Jn 15:15). Blanche Streb, a Doctor of Pharmacy and essayist, and a mother, is notably the author of *Grace to Wonder* (Salvator, 2023).