Adventtide

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Wednesday, 6 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Isaiah 25 : 6-10a

On this mountain YHVH Sabaoth will prepare for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, meat full of marrow, fine wine strained. On this mountain He will destroy the pall cast over all peoples, this very shroud spread over all nations, and death will be no more. The Lord YHVH will wipe away the tears from all cheeks and eyes; He will take away the humiliation of His people all over the world : for YHVH has spoken.

On that day you will say : This is our God. We have waited for Him to save us, let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. For on this mountain the hand of YHVH rests.

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Tuesday, 5 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, we are called to remember the love of God and His salvation, all of His promises which He has fulfilled to us through the coming of the Messiah, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Son of God Most High. It is for this reason that we all rejoice and celebrate during this upcoming Christmas season and for which we also prepare ourselves spiritually and wholly during the time and duration of this Advent season. That is why it is important that we continue to keep our focus and attention on the Lord and His love, His care and providence for us lest we may be distracted and confused by the many distractions, temptations and all the pleasures present all around us, especially during this festive time and season.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the prophet Isaiah proclaiming the coming of the salvation in God through the Descendant of King David, Whom the Lord Himself had revealed through His prophets including Isaiah, that He would bring the salvation of God to all of the whole world. This is an important reminder for all of us that the same Jesus Christ, Whom we have believed in, put our faith and trust in, as the One Who have delivered us from the tyranny and dominion of sin and evil, have truly fulfilled everything that God had promised to all of us from the very beginning of time. However, even more importantly, what the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed and prophesied, was more than merely just a prophecy of the coming of the Lord as it had happened two millennia ago, but in truth, he was also speaking of the Second Coming of Christ, or Parousia, when the Lord will come again as He has promised, to judge the whole entire world.

This is what the prophet Isaiah has spoken about, as he spoke of the moment when the Lord will come again, bringing His eternal peace, harmony and reconciliation to all of us. His first coming has shown us the love and mercy of God, His compassion and kindness manifested to us in the flesh, in His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and He has revealed to us the truth and the love which He has always have for each and every one of us. Then, through His ministry, works and finally, by His own willing and selfless, perfect love, He has also brought us all out from the darkness of sin, delivering us from the path of evil and harm, as He bore upon Himself the burden of the Cross, by shouldering upon Himself, all the punishments and the sufferings that we should have borne for our many sins. He has opened for us all the gates of Heaven, and reconciled us with God.

Then, as we heard from the prophet Isaiah, what we are all ought to be looking out for, is the coming of the time of grace in the Lord’s Presence, when everything shall be restored to perfection, when the evils of this world will be rooted out, and all of us will one day once again be in the Holy Presence of God, to enjoy forever the fruits of our faith and labours, and for the dedication and commitment, the love and trust that we have always had in Him. This is what our Advent preparation and commemoration should be focused on, as each and every one of us should spend this good time to prepare ourselves in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, so that all of us may once again be truly reconnected with the Lord, our loving God. All of us have been called to holiness in God, and therefore, we should do our best to live up to this.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the words of the Lord Himself, reassuring all of His disciples and followers, that every one of us have truly been blessed because God Himself has come into our midst through His Son, bringing us all closer to Him, revealing to us the fullness of His love, and everything that He has intended to do for us, in gathering us all back to Himself, and in leading us to salvation through Him. Each and every one of us as Christians, who have accepted the Lord as our God and Saviour, all of us have been brought together as one flock of the Lord’s faithful, becoming those whom He has loved and shown affection for, and as long as we remain firm in our faith and commitment to Him, then all that He has promised us will become a reality in the end, and we shall be blessed and be truly joyful forevermore.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us, having heard all these words of the Lord in the Scriptures, let us all therefore keep in mind as always, that everything that we do throughout this time and opportunities which we have been given during this period of Advent, we should always do our best so that all of our upcoming celebrations, rejoicing and festivities are centred on the One in Whom we ought to focus our attention in, during this time of rejoicing. Christmas is ultimately about Christ, the Lord, our God and Saviour. Amidst all the distractions and all the excesses of worldly revelries that are present everywhere all around us, during this period of time, all of us should always be the role models and inspirations for one another, in how we all commit ourselves to the Lord and be focused wholly and entirely on the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

Each and every one of us should always be filled with the true joy in the Lord, and be wholly committed to Him, and not be easily swayed and tempted with the various temptations and distractions. We should always help one another to remember the generous love of God, which He has given us. All of us are reminded that we must never take God’s love for granted, and remember that it is because of His love, and everything that He has done to us through His Son, by His Incarnation and coming into this world, that all of us may have hope once again, and that we have this sure path given and revealed to us. This Advent, let it be a time of renewal and reorientation for us, so that we may focus and centre our whole lives once again in the Lord.

May the Lord, Whose coming we celebrate and prepare for this season of Advent and the upcoming Christmas, be with us always, and may He empower and strengthen us in all things, so that, in everything we say and do, in our every way of life, we may truly be exemplary in all things, and that we may always persevere in faith regardless of all the challenges and trials we may face and encounter in life. May God bless us all and our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 10 : 21-24

At that time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious will. I have been given all things by My Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you, that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

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Tuesday, 5 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 71 : 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

God, endow the King with Your justice, the royal Son with Your righteousness. May He rule Your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.

Justice will flower on His days, and peace abound, till the moon be no more. For He reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

He delivers the needy who call on Him, the afflicted, with no one to help them. His mercy is upon the weak and the poor; He saves the lives of the poor.

May His Name endure forever; may His Name be as lasting as the sun. All the races will boast about Him; and He will be praised by all nations.

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Tuesday, 5 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 11 : 1-10

From the stump of Jesse a Shoot will come forth; from his roots a Branch will grow and bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him – a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and power, a Spirit of knowledge and fear of YHVH.

Not by appearances will He judge, nor by what is said must He decide, but with justice He will judge the poor and with righteousness decide for the meek. Like a rod, His word will strike the oppressor, and the breath of His lips slay the wicked. Justice will be the girdle of His waist, truth the girdle of His loins.

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will rest beside the kid, the calf and the lion cub will feed together and a little child will lead them. Befriending each other, the cow and the bear will see their young ones lie down together. Like cattle, the lion will eat hay. By the cobra’s den the infant will play. The child will put his hand into the viper’s lair. No one will harm or destroy over My holy mountain, for as water fills the sea the earth will be filled with the knowledge of YHVH.

On that day the “Root of Jesse” will be raised as a signal for the nations. The people will come in search of Him, thus making His dwelling place glorious.

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Monday, 4 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctors of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the salvation and deliverance which the Lord our God has shown us all, and which He wants to remind us today that as we enter into this season of Advent, preparing for the coming celebration and joy of Christmas, we may always keep in mind what it is that we are really celebrating and rejoicing about. The Lord and His providence to us, His love and kindness, are all that we are rejoicing about as we celebrate and commemorate the moment when He came to us all in this world, in the form of a Child, the Child Jesus, the Saviour of the world and Son of God Most High.

In our first reading today, we heard the passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the prophet spoke about his vision that he has received from the Lord, concerning the end of times, when the Lord will gather all the whole world, all people from various places and origins, and make them to be His own people. Contextually, back then, during the time of the prophet Isaiah and the period when the people of Israel still lived in the Promised Land prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, it was believed that the Israelites were God’s only chosen people, as they were chosen by God to be His people, as He led them out of their slavery in the land of Egypt and made a Covenant with them and their descendants at Mount Sinai.

Hence, under the days of Moses and his successors, Joshua and the Judges, and then the kings of Israel and Judah, it was held that the Lord is the God of Israel, while all the other pagan peoples living all around them had their gods and idols, their deities and various divinities. Thus, it was seen also by others living around the Israelites that the Lord YHVH is merely just God over Israel, as was commonly perceived at the time, that each nation and states have their own gods and divinities. However, this is not what the Lord intended, as when He called the Israelites and made them to be His own people, He did not intend to keep His grace and love to be exclusive only to those who are directly descended from Jacob, or Israel.

This is because, ultimately, each and every one of us, the children and descendants of Adam and Eve, whom God had created at the beginning of time, are beloved by God regardless of our race, background, character and whatever divisions and categories we tend to use to differentiate ourselves. All of us are beloved by the Lord and He wants us all to be reconciled with Him, forgiven from our many sins and wickedness, which had caused us to be separated and sundered from His love and grace. The descendants of Abraham and Israel were the first ones that God had called to follow Him, much like how the Lord called some Apostles and disciples earlier than others. Some like St. Paul did not even become a disciple of the Lord until after His death and Resurrection, and yet, this does not mean that those who come after are less important than those who have been called earlier.

The prophet Isaiah clearly mentioned that the Lord will become the Lord and Master over all the nations, over the whole entire world. He will call all men and women to Himself, and this prophecy of what was to come, all have been fulfilled and accomplished through Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. All these have been made evident to us throughout the Gospels in which we heard everything that the Lord Himself had done in our midst. And in our Gospel passage today, we heard of how the Lord healed the sick servant of an army centurion or captain who asked Him to heal the servant from the ailment. That army captain had such a great faith and trust in the Lord that he told the Lord, that he did not need to see the proof of the healing, as even just by the commands and words of the Lord, it would be done as He said it.

The Lord used this example to highlight to His followers and disciples how even those who did not belong or were not counted among the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites, could also have great faith in God, and thus will be blessed and filled with God’s grace. At that time, it was likely that this army captain was a Roman, as was common at the time when the Romans were establishing and consolidating their hold over the region, and an army personnel of such rank was typically held by a Roman citizen. Therefore, as was the norm then, for a Jew to visit the house of a Gentile or a non-Jew was considered to be a taboo as it was deemed to make a person unclean in doing so. Hence, the army captain, likely aware of this and having such a great faith in God, believed that everything would be well if the Lord just commanded it to be.

This is a revelation and reminder from the Lord to all of His people, to all of us mankind, that He is not distinguishing or being prejudiced against anyone because of their race and beliefs. Instead, what matters is for the person to have true and genuine faith in the Lord, and for him or her to be virtuous and righteous in the way that the Lord has shown and taught us all, and through this faith, all of us shall be made worthy and righteous, and all called to be disciples and followers of His. God wants all of us to be reunited and reconciled with Him, loving us as He has always done from the very beginning, and to this extent He has sent us the Saviour, Whose coming into this world is the centre of our Advent commemorations and our upcoming Christmas celebrations.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Damascene, also known as St. John of Damascus, a renowned monk, priest and theologian, who is honoured as one of the esteemed Doctors of the Church for his may works and contributions. St. John of Damascus was born in a prominent Christian Arab family in part of what is Syria today, which then was under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate. As he came from a family of officials who were involved in the earlier Byzantine bureaucracy, and then later on the Arabic Umayyad government, St. John was raised up and educated well, and became a well-educated man, serving in the court of the Umayyad Caliph before he became a priest and monk.

St. John of Damascus dedicated his life thereafter to the study of the Christian faith, its theology and mysteries, which he discussed and touched upon in his many writings and works. St. John was also notedly involved in the controversies surrounding the matter of iconoclasm that was then widespread through the Byzantine or the Eastern Roman Empire and the other parts of Christendom. At that time, there were parties and members of the Church and the clergy, with support even from some of the Emperors, who wished to ban the veneration of icons and images, considering them to be un-Christian in nature. This iconoclastic practices were opposed by the Pope and many other members of the clergy and the Church, including that of St. John of Damascus.

St. John of Damascus worked hard against all those who took part and sided in the iconoclastic heresy, and he had to face a lot of hardships in doing so, even to the point of being persecuted, falsely implicated in crimes and suffering from plots against him, that he even had his hand cut off. Miraculously, before the icon of the Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God through his fervent prayers, his hand was restored. St. John remained firm and courageous in his defence of the true faith, despite the trials and challenges against him, and he persevered throughout his life, finally being vindicated and exonerated from all the false accusations against him when the iconoclast heresy was finally overthrown and defeated.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the examples of St. John of Damascus, that of the army captain mentioned in our Gospel today, and also be reminded by the love which God has extended to every single one of us, that we all as Christians may always strive to seek the Lord with all our heart and might, and be reminded of all the love that He has shown us so that we may love Him and commit ourselves ever more to His path. Let us all hence make sure that our Advent observances and actions be truly centred on the Lord, and also all of our preparations and celebrations for the upcoming Christmas season. Let us all be the bearers of God’s truth, hope and love to all those whom we encounter in our daily living, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 4 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctors of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Matthew 8 : 5-11

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him, to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, He was astonished; and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Monday, 4 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctors of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, 6-7, 8-9

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of YHVH!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up.

The tribes of YHVH, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to YHVH’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : “May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your walls and security within your citadels!”

For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be with you!” For the sake of the house of our YHVH, I will pray for your good.

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Monday, 4 December 2023 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctors of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Isaiah 2 : 1-5

The vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In the last days, the mountain of YHVH’s house shall be set over the highest mountains and shall tower over the hills. All the nations shall stream to it, saying, “Come, let us go to the mountain of YHVH, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths. For the teaching comes from Zion, and from Jerusalem the word of YHVH.”

“He will rule over the nations and settle disputes for many people. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not raise sword against nation; they will train for war no more. O nation of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of YHVH!”

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Sunday, 3 December 2023 : First Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we mark the beginning of the Advent season and the new liturgical year cycle, and therefore we are all called to prepare ourselves in heart, body, mind and soul, in our whole being to welcome the Lord as we enter into this solemn time of reflection and preparation for the upcoming glorious season and time of Christmas. In this time of Advent, all of us are called to be vigilant and prepared in our lives, to be truly good and worthy in all things so that we may indeed be worthy and ready to celebrate the true joy of Christmas, and to make full use of the opportunities which God has given to us, in providing us the time and chances for us to make good use of the talents, abilities and other things and blessings He has bestowed on us.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of remorse said by the prophet Isaiah representing the people of Israel and Judah, showing regret and awareness of their wickedness and sinful ways which had caused them to be separated and torn away from the fullness of God’s love and grace. The prophet Isaiah used this opportunity to remind the people of how wayward they had been, in failing to follow God’s path and in disobeying His Law and commandments, which have led them into the path of sin and evil. Contextually, by the time of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the people of God had committed a lot of sins and wickedness that they had fallen into dire straits, humiliated by their neighbours and enemies. All of those were signs and reminders for them, what they would have to endure and suffer from, if they chose to disobey God.

But as we all heard from the prophet Isaiah, the Lord did not give up on His people, and He continued to love them all despite all the rebelliousness and difficult attitudes that they had presented to Him. The Lord kept on showing His Fatherly love to all of them, chastising them for their sins and wickedness, disciplining them and reminding them of their obligations, teaching and guiding them in the right paths, through the leaders, guides and messengers that He had sent to them, including the prophet Isaiah himself. He reached out to them with ever patient and enduring love, and promised unto us our deliverance, leading and guiding us all while chastising and scolding us for our sins, so that hopefully, through all of the trials and tribulations, we may be stirred and reminded to walk faithfully once again in His path.

In our second reading passage today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, the Apostle reminded and encouraged the faithful people of God in Corinth to hold fast to their faith in the Lord, encouraging them to continue to live their lives worthily of the Lord because of everything that they have received, the assurance, strength and providence in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom the fullness of God’s grace and love, His compassionate mercy and kindness have been revealed in all of its fullness, becoming tangible and approachable by all of us. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the One Whom we are expecting in this season of Advent, and the One Whom we are going to celebrate later on in the glorious and most joyful Christmas season, we have seen and witnessed that everything that God had said and promised to us are real, and not mere illusions or mere promises.

In our Gospel passage today, we are then reminded of the nature of our Advent preparation and commemoration, as we heard from the Lord Jesus Himself, Who reminded His disciples and followers, that they all should not be ignorant of the sign of the times, as the coming of the time of reckoning and judgment will come at a time least expected by everyone, and no one knows exactly except the Lord Himself, when this moment will come. Thus, He reminded all of His disciples and followers that all of them ought to be ever vigilant, ready and prepared all the time, by living their lives with commitment and dedication to God, in being righteous, virtuous and just at all times. This is also therefore a reminder to each and every one of us that we should always strive to be good and worthy in each and every one of our words, actions and deeds throughout our lives, so that by our lives we may be good role models and inspirations for one another.

This Advent, we are preparing not only for the coming celebration of Christmas, and in commemorating the events that had happened more than two thousand years ago, when the Lord, our Saviour and King, came down upon us and descended to us in the flesh, born of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and revealed the love of God fully manifested to us. Advent is also a time of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ, or also known as Parousia. Like that of the people at the time of the prophet Isaiah, who was promised the coming of the Messiah, therefore all of us are also expecting the moment when the Lord will come again, and this time, He will bring us all into the eternal kingdom and true bliss that He has promised everyone who believes in Him. This is why, all of us have to be truly prepared at all times, because certainly we do not want to be caught unprepared when the Lord, at the time of His choice, comes again to judge the world.

This Sunday as we begin this Season of Advent, we are all brought into the spiritual journey and preparation of our lives, so that we can better live through the true joy and meaning of our upcoming Christmas celebrations. There are four Sundays in the season of Advent, and each one of them are focused on a particular theme, namely in order, Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. This Sunday, being the First Sunday of Advent, we focus on the theme of ‘Hope’, which is exactly what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, and which is what we are looking forward to in celebrating Christmas. In our world, filled with the darkness of sin and evil, the Light of Christ, His salvation and grace, and the promise of everlasting life and happiness with God, all these are truly Hope for each and every one of us. For without Hope, and without the assurance of God’s love, is there truly any reason for us to exist at all?

That is why, on this First Sunday of Advent, each and every one of us are reminded of the fundamental nature of our observances this Advent, as we focus ourselves and our lives once again on the Lord, our God. It is too often that in our lives, we are so busy and preoccupied with the many concerns, attachments and distractions present all around us, that we end up forgetting and disregarding the Lord, His Presence in our midst, and what we are all called to do as Christians in our daily living. Too many of us are distracted with all sorts of worldly desires, ambitions, attachments and all the things which mislead us down the path of greed and ego, wickedness and sin. That is why, this time of Advent is a time of reflection and reorientation of our lives, that we may truly find our true focus in life, that is in the Lord, in His love, truth and hope.

As we are all surely well aware of, during this time and period, the secular world is abuzz and filled with all sorts of Christmas celebrations, rejoicing and revelry. However, we need to ask ourselves, if the celebrations and festivities are truly rightly and properly focused? Most of the time, all the celebrations are about merrymaking and pleasantries, and for some, it is even about comparing who can do better celebrations, parties and rejoicing, and who can splurge more on the feasts, gifts and all the other usual Christmas glitzes and paraphernalia. Yet, amidst all of these celebrations and festivities, it is often that one very important and major thing is missing. What is that, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is none other than the very reason why we celebrate Christmas itself in the first place, and which at the beginning of this season of Advent, we really ought to remind ourselves and one another of this truth and fact.

Can we imagine having a birthday party and celebration, only for the birthday person to be ignored and left out completely from his or her own party and celebration? Yet, that is exactly what most of our secular Christmas celebrations, festivities and merrymaking are all about. We are so busy with preparing all the celebrations, gifts, all the shopping and chasing after the best promotions and discounts, that we end up forgetting about the One we are all celebrating in Christmas, that is Christ Himself. There can be no Christmas without Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. It is because of His coming into this world, in the flesh, that He has shown us all a new Hope amidst all the darkness and sin surrounding us, and because of His Love for us all, bringing unto us Peace and Joy that endures, all of us can celebrate and be hopeful, happy and truly joyful. This is what Christmas is all about, and something that many of us need to be reminded of.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we embark on this Advent journey for the next few weeks, let us all make sure that our preparations for the celebration of Christmas are all truly Christ-centric. Besides decking our houses, halls and places with all sorts of decorations and festive atmosphere, what is even more important is that we should truly prepare our hearts and minds, our souls and our whole beings as well. This Advent is a perfect time and occasion for us to reorientate ourselves and our lives once again towards the Lord, turning ourselves once again to the path towards God. This is why, we should spend more time in reflecting upon our lives, and reconnecting ourselves spiritually with God, by spending more time in quiet and contemplative time in prayer, rather than being busy and preoccupied with all the festivities, forgetting what Christmas is truly all about.

And in our Christmas joy and festivities, let us also not forget to bring the Hope of Christ to others as well. Lest we are not aware of it, there are others around us who may not be so fortunate like us, to be able to celebrate and to be merry and joyful. Amidst the challenges and trials we encounter in life, there are people who have difficulties making ends meet each day, and there are people out there who simply do not have the means, time and opportunities to rejoice and to celebrate. Let us all share whatever joy and blessings we have received this Advent and the upcoming Christmas season. Let us be ever more generous in loving and caring for one another, and do whatever we can so that the Hope of Christ may be shown and known by more and more all around the world, and we can begin it through our own lives, truly attuned and aligned with Christ, the Hope and the true reason for our Christmas joy.

May the Lord our God, the One Whom we are celebrating and keep our Hope in, continue to bless and guide us all in everything we do in our respective lives. May He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and may He give us the strength, courage and faith, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, and will grow to love and know Him more and more. May our Advent journey be truly blessed and fruitful, brothers and sisters in Christ! Amen.