Today's readings are filled with great hope. In great danger, Queen Esther turned to God and asked for help. It had been promised that the God of Israel would never forget His people. However Matthew takes this so much further when he talks of the unconditional love of God. God is there for all people no matter who or what they are or where they live. Matthew recalls some of the most well known words of Jesus "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him." It sometimes seems that God answers our prayers in the most extraordinary fashion but there is no doubt that they are being answered. It is these words from Matthew's gospel that reassure us and give us so much hope. We realize that we are never alone in all our trials in life and that our prayers will always be answered though often in a different way to what we expected. It is this unconditional love of God that provides us with so much hope as we journey through life.