“I believe.”

Those are the words echoed in unison by the Party of Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Max, as they close the door on the nine and a half year run of “Stranger Things,” which came to a magnificent close along with 2025. The series finale, released on Netflix on New Year’s Eve, provided a satisfying ending to our time with the beloved, dragon-slaying party of teenagers from Hawkins, Indiana. But even more than tying off nearly a decade’s worth of synthesizer-infused demogorgon battles, ’80s pop culture references, and most importantly, friendships, the series finale of “Stranger Things” gave us all a glimpse into one of the most important parts of living our lives as Catholics: the virtue of hope.

Warning: Spoilers

Note: There are depictions of several acts contrary to Church teaching present in “Stranger Things,” especially with regard to profane language and violence. As such, the show should be viewed with discretion and by mature audiences only.

After the Party prevents the destruction of life as we know it by stopping Vecna’s plan to merge the evil Abyss with our world, everyone returns to Hawkins to, seemingly, live happily ever after. However, this will never be the case for the show’s main protagonist, Eleven. The government’s greed — and desire to use her psychological powers for their own gain — will not die with the gang’s destruction of the Upside Down. Eleven knows this, and, in what appears to be a self-sacrificial act of protecting her friends from the blast about to decimate the Upside Down, and from stopping any future experimentation by the government on children like her, chooses to hold back the destruction of the Upside Down at the edge of the last open portal, giving herself up to save her friends. With Prince’s “Purple Rain” awesomely blaring in the background, everyone is left stunned by Eleven’s death.

This does not, however, seem to be the end of Eleven’s story. Mike Wheeler, Eleven’s boyfriend, has several experiences in the epilogue that remind him of Eleven, and get him to think about the night she appeared to die. Spurned on by these moments, Mike crafts a theory in which Eleven was able to slip away from everyone in order to end the cycle of the government’s experimentation and relentless hunting for her, so that she can finally find a peaceful, happy life. As Mike shares his idea with the rest of the Party at the conclusion of their final Dungeons and Dragons campaign, they all tearfully, hopefully respond with “I believe.” They believe that Eleven lives on, and that she’s able to finally find joy, peace, and rest, and this hope is the kind of hope we are called to as Catholics.

Pope Francis, in his final homily before his death (from this past Easter Sunday), while speaking about the Jubilee Year of Hope, says that:

“The Jubilee invites us to renew the gift of hope within us, to surrender our sufferings and our concerns to hope, to share it with those whom we meet along our journey and to entrust to hope the future of our lives and the destiny of the human family. And so we cannot settle for the fleeting things of this world or give in to sadness; we must run, filled with joy. Let us run towards Jesus, let us rediscover the inestimable grace of being his friends.”

Mike helps the rest of the Party to surrender their suffering and concern of not having Eleven with them to hope, and this is an example of what we are invited into as Catholics. We do not have a vain, wishful way of seeing the world, but rather, a God in whom we can hope and put our trust, because we know he has gone before us into eternal life. In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he encourages the Christian community in Rome by saying that:

“Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

And so, as we leave our favorite party from Hawkins, let’s not just believe with them. Let us follow their hopeful example by giving all of our dreams, desires, sufferings, and worries to the Lord, with the hope that he will fulfill them all in his perfect way. We know, friends, that their hope for Eleven is not in vain, and does not disappoint.

Neither does our hope in the Lord.