faithandreason.com
Dr. Scott Hahn, the Fr. Michael Scanlan Chair in Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization, spoke to Franciscan University of Steubenville's 2010 Defending the Faith Conference "Be Transformed by the Renewal of Your Mind." This is a 20 minute excerpt from the larger talk "Should Catholics Have Assurance of Salvation?"
Here he explains the distinction between the belief that "once saved, always saved," and the Catholic belief that followers of Christ may have the "assurance of hope." "Despair is like an act of spiritual suicide," explained Hahn. "You are never beyond the saving reach of God's all-powerful mercy. His love and his capacity to save us is always greater than our capacity to sin, if only we turn and repent."