Editor's Note 'I just want it to be right' By Darcy L. Fargo

March 12, 2025

It was the fourth time I had installed the drain.

I was replacing a bathroom sink. It was my first time trying to do any task that remotely related to plumbing.
I struggled to get the drain sealed properly. I read the instructions that came with the sink more times than I could count. I watched eleventy billion YouTube videos outlining the process. Three different times, I thought I did every single step correctly. Three different times, the drain leaked when tested.

To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. I cried.

Knowing I was not experienced with plumbing, I made sure I had help lined up if I couldn’t complete the job on my own, but I’m too stubborn to give up easily.

“One more time,” I said to myself. “I’m going to install this drain one more time. If it leaks, I’ll call for help.”

I carefully installed the drain yet again. I checked every step as I completed it. I waited for the sealant to cure.
As I prepared to turn on the faucet for the fourth test, I paused. I was nervous. I was afraid the drain would leak again. I didn’t want to fail yet again. I didn’t want to call for help.

“I desperately hope it doesn’t leak,” I said, mostly to myself. “I just want it to be right.”

I thought of that drain, which did not leak, as I prayed with a focus on hope in this jubilee Year of Hope. It’s basically, “I just want it to be right.”

Then I looked at what the Church had to say about hope. The catechism’s description says, “we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises...”

Desiring the kingdom of heaven is “just want(ing) it to be right, but the Church takes it further. Hope includes trust in Christ. That’s a beautiful kind of hope.

As we kickoff our annual subscription campaign, we at the North Country Catholic continue to share “Hints of Hope,” the stories of the people, organizations, schools and ministries trying to make it right here in the North Country, trusting Christ, sharing Christ and following Christ. We share the “Christ-led, Christ-fed and hope-filled” messages of our wonderful bishop. We share the efforts of the Church throughout the world to help bring us to Christ and to eternal life through Him.

We invite you to renew your subscription or subscribe for the first time and join us in sharing those “Hints of Hope,” and we thank you for journeying with us as Pilgrims of Hope in this jubilee year.