Carolyn Woo explores purpose and love through her own story in her recent essay for Virtues & Vocations. She writes, "It is not beyond us to know whom we love, what we love, and how we will love in return. It is our story—evolving, gripping, empowering, and sanctifying." Read more.

Physicians James and Margaret Plews-Ogan apply their years of research on practical wisdom to their lives since James' ALS diagnosis. They share how their own sense of purpose has changed, and provide ways of reimagining the possibilities for virtue within loss and grief.

This month we are excited to release the next issue of our bi-annual magazine, Virtues & Vocations: Higher Education for Human Flourishing. This issue focuses on Purpose, with articles reflecting on education, the professions, and personal journeys of vocation and meaning.

In this month's feature, Mary Gentile writes about the genesis of Giving Voice to Values and the ways it is grounded in hope. She writes, "our duty is to be hopeful enough to drive creativity, commitment, and action toward values-driven choices."

Norman Wirzba writes, "The cardinal mistake of both pessimists and optimists is that they assume too much certainty. Hope moves within the spaces of uncertainty, and searches for the goodness that is believed to be reality’s heart. To love and to hope is to trust that it is worthwhile to seek and nurture the good despite the damage and ruination we see."