At noon today in Rome (6:00am EST), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Advent begins today, the liturgical period that prepares us for Christmas, inviting us to look up and to open our hearts in order to welcome Jesus. During Advent we are not only waiting for Christmas; we are also invited to awaken our expectation of the glorious return of Christ - when he will return at the end of time - preparing for our final meeting with him with coherent and courageous choices. Let us remember Christmas, we await the glorious return of Christ, and also our personal encounter: the day on which the Lord will call. During these four weeks we are called to come out of a resigned and habitual way of life, and to go out, fuelling hopes, fuelling dreams for a new future. This Sunday's gospel (cf Lk 21:25-28.34-36) goes precisely in this direction and warns us to let ourselves be oppressed by an egocentric lifestyle or by the convulsive rhythms of the day. Jesus' words are particularly incisive: Be attentive to yourselves, that your hearts may not be weighed down in dissipations, drunkenness and cares of life, and that on that day you will not suddenly come upon us. ... Be watchful at all times and pray (Lk 21:34.36).
Stay awake and pray: this is the way we should experience this time from today until Christmas. Stay awake and pray. Inner sleep arises from always focusing on ourselves and from being stuck in the closed-in confines of one's life with its problems, its joys and its sorrows, but always revolving around ourselves. And this makes us grow tired and bored, this closes us off to the possibility of hope. Here is the root of the torpor and laziness of which the gospel speaks. Advent invites us to a vigilant commitment, looking outside ourselves, enlarging our minds and our hearts in order to open ourselves to the needs of other people, our brothers and sisters, awakening the desire for a new world. It is the desire of so many people tormented by hunger, injustice, war; it is the desire of the poor, the weak and the abandoned. This time is appropriate for opening our hearts, for asking us concrete questions about how and for whom we spend our lives.
The second attitude that helps us to experience the time of waiting for the Lord well is that of prayer. Stand up and raise your head, because your liberation is near (Lk 21:28), the Gospel of Luke admonishes. It is a matter of getting up and praying, turning our thoughts and our hearts to Jesus who is about to come. You get up when you wait for something or for someone. We are waiting for Jesus, we want him to wait in prayer, which is closely linked to vigilance. To pray, to wait for Jesus, to open our hearts to others, to be awake, not closed in ourselves. But if we think of Christmas in an atmosphere of consumerism, of seeing what I can buy to do this and that, of the worldly festival, Jesus will pass by and we will not find him. We are waiting for Jesus and we want him to wait in prayer, which is closely linked to vigilance.
But what is the horizon of our prayerful waiting? Above all, the voices of the prophets point this out in the Bible. Today it is the voice of Jeremiah, who speaks to the people who have been harshly tried by exile and who are at risk losing their identity. Even we Christians, who are also the people of God, risk inter-mingling ourselves and losing our identity, indeed, of paganizing the Christian lifestyle. Therefore we need the Word of God which through the prophet proclaims: "Behold, there will come days when I will fulfill the promises of good that I have done ... I will sprout for David a just seed, which will exercise judgment and justice on earth (Jer 33:14-15). And that just seed is Jesus, it is Jesus who comes and we await his coming. May the Virgin Mary, who brings us Jesus, a woman of expectation and prayer, help us to strengthen our hope in the promises of her Son Jesus, in order to make us experience the truth that, through the travail of history, God always remains faithful and also takes advantage of human errors to show us his mercy.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Advent is a time of hope. At this moment I would like to make my own the hope of peace for the children of Syria, beloved Syria, which is tormented by a war that has lasted eight years. For this reason, by adhering to the initiatives of Aid to the Church in Need, I will now light a candle, along with many children who will do the same, Syrian children and many faithful in the world who today light their candles (lights the candle).
May this flame of hope and many flames of hope disperse the darkness of war! Let us pray for Christians and let us help them stay in Syria and the Middle East as witnesses of mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. The flame of hope also reaches all those who are suffering in these days due to conflicts and tensions in various other parts of the world, near and far. The prayer of the Church helps them to feel the proximity of our faithful God and it touches every conscience strengthening our sincere commitment to peace. And may God, our Lord, forgive those who cause war, those who make weapons of destruction and convert their hearts. Let us pray for peace in beloved Syria.
Hail Mary ...
I offer my greeting to you, Romans and pilgrims present here; in particular those who have come from Linden, in the United States of America, Valencia and Pamplona; as well as the students and professors from Claret College in Madrid.
I greet the members of the poliphonic choir from Modica, the faithful from Altamura, Conversano and Laterza. To all of you, I wish a good Sunday and a good journey through Advent. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
(Original text in Italian)
The international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) is launching a Christmas campaign of prayer, aid and solidarity for the people of Syria, entitled Candles for Peace in Syria. The campaign formally begins today, 2 December, on the first Sunday of Advent, with the symbolic lighting of a candle by the Holy Father at the end of the Angelus prayer.
In the last few days the initiative has involved over 50,000 children, of different religions, from several of the Syrian cities most severely damaged by the war, including Aleppo, Damascus, Homs, Marmarita, Hassaké, Tartus and Latakia. The children have prayed and painted pictures symbolizing peace on the sides of their candles: crosses, doves and messages of hope conveying to the world their longing for peace. For it is these little Syrian children who have so often been the first victims of the conflict, which is still ongoing.
ACN International is calling on people of goodwill all over the world to respond to this cry of peace from the children of Syria, among other things by lighting a candle, as the Holy Father will do today, in order to spread this message of peace from the children of Syria and send a message of hope during the season of Advent.
The candle which the Holy Father will light was decorated by a local craftsman from the Bab Touma quarter of the Old City of Damascus and also bears the photos of some 40 children, most of them from Aleppo, together with the logo of the campaign – a dove with outstretched wings in the shape of a child’s hand and the message Peace for the Children - Syria 2018 – plus the regular logo of ACN International.
This is not the first time that ACN has spoken out for the children of Syria. Back in 2016 the charity made an appeal to the European Parliament, conveying to it pictures drawn by the children, expressing their longing for peace.
In response to the critical humanitarian situation in Syria and in order to prevent the disappearance of the Christian presence in the country, ACN is accompanying its Candles for Peace in Syria initiative with an international fundraising campaign, organized through its 23 national fundraising offices. The campaign envisages a package of emergency aid, reconstruction aid and pastoral support for a total of 15 million Euros. This comes on top of the 29,350,000 Euros already donated by the charity since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.
The ambitious programme involves the distribution of food parcels and other basic essentials, including medicines, and milk powder for babies, support with rent and heating costs for the refugees, rebuilding of the homes of the Christian refugee families and their churches and religious houses, along with support for the priests and religious who are ministering to them, spiritual and psychological support for the traumatized, help with school and education fees for school children and young students and, last but not least and simple Christmas parcels for over 15,000 of the poorest and most destitute children.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Advent begins today, the liturgical period that prepares us for Christmas, inviting us to look up and to open our hearts in order to welcome Jesus. During Advent we are not only waiting for Christmas; we are also invited to awaken our expectation of the glorious return of Christ - when he will return at the end of time - preparing for our final meeting with him with coherent and courageous choices. Let us remember Christmas, we await the glorious return of Christ, and also our personal encounter: the day on which the Lord will call. During these four weeks we are called to come out of a resigned and habitual way of life, and to go out, fuelling hopes, fuelling dreams for a new future. This Sunday's gospel (cf Lk 21:25-28.34-36) goes precisely in this direction and warns us to let ourselves be oppressed by an egocentric lifestyle or by the convulsive rhythms of the day. Jesus' words are particularly incisive: Be attentive to yourselves, that your hearts may not be weighed down in dissipations, drunkenness and cares of life, and that on that day you will not suddenly come upon us. ... Be watchful at all times and pray (Lk 21:34.36).
Stay awake and pray: this is the way we should experience this time from today until Christmas. Stay awake and pray. Inner sleep arises from always focusing on ourselves and from being stuck in the closed-in confines of one's life with its problems, its joys and its sorrows, but always revolving around ourselves. And this makes us grow tired and bored, this closes us off to the possibility of hope. Here is the root of the torpor and laziness of which the gospel speaks. Advent invites us to a vigilant commitment, looking outside ourselves, enlarging our minds and our hearts in order to open ourselves to the needs of other people, our brothers and sisters, awakening the desire for a new world. It is the desire of so many people tormented by hunger, injustice, war; it is the desire of the poor, the weak and the abandoned. This time is appropriate for opening our hearts, for asking us concrete questions about how and for whom we spend our lives.
The second attitude that helps us to experience the time of waiting for the Lord well is that of prayer. Stand up and raise your head, because your liberation is near (Lk 21:28), the Gospel of Luke admonishes. It is a matter of getting up and praying, turning our thoughts and our hearts to Jesus who is about to come. You get up when you wait for something or for someone. We are waiting for Jesus, we want him to wait in prayer, which is closely linked to vigilance. To pray, to wait for Jesus, to open our hearts to others, to be awake, not closed in ourselves. But if we think of Christmas in an atmosphere of consumerism, of seeing what I can buy to do this and that, of the worldly festival, Jesus will pass by and we will not find him. We are waiting for Jesus and we want him to wait in prayer, which is closely linked to vigilance.
But what is the horizon of our prayerful waiting? Above all, the voices of the prophets point this out in the Bible. Today it is the voice of Jeremiah, who speaks to the people who have been harshly tried by exile and who are at risk losing their identity. Even we Christians, who are also the people of God, risk inter-mingling ourselves and losing our identity, indeed, of paganizing the Christian lifestyle. Therefore we need the Word of God which through the prophet proclaims: "Behold, there will come days when I will fulfill the promises of good that I have done ... I will sprout for David a just seed, which will exercise judgment and justice on earth (Jer 33:14-15). And that just seed is Jesus, it is Jesus who comes and we await his coming. May the Virgin Mary, who brings us Jesus, a woman of expectation and prayer, help us to strengthen our hope in the promises of her Son Jesus, in order to make us experience the truth that, through the travail of history, God always remains faithful and also takes advantage of human errors to show us his mercy.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Advent is a time of hope. At this moment I would like to make my own the hope of peace for the children of Syria, beloved Syria, which is tormented by a war that has lasted eight years. For this reason, by adhering to the initiatives of Aid to the Church in Need, I will now light a candle, along with many children who will do the same, Syrian children and many faithful in the world who today light their candles (lights the candle).
May this flame of hope and many flames of hope disperse the darkness of war! Let us pray for Christians and let us help them stay in Syria and the Middle East as witnesses of mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. The flame of hope also reaches all those who are suffering in these days due to conflicts and tensions in various other parts of the world, near and far. The prayer of the Church helps them to feel the proximity of our faithful God and it touches every conscience strengthening our sincere commitment to peace. And may God, our Lord, forgive those who cause war, those who make weapons of destruction and convert their hearts. Let us pray for peace in beloved Syria.
Hail Mary ...
I offer my greeting to you, Romans and pilgrims present here; in particular those who have come from Linden, in the United States of America, Valencia and Pamplona; as well as the students and professors from Claret College in Madrid.
I greet the members of the poliphonic choir from Modica, the faithful from Altamura, Conversano and Laterza. To all of you, I wish a good Sunday and a good journey through Advent. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
(Original text in Italian)
50,000 Candles for Peace in Syria
The international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) is launching a Christmas campaign of prayer, aid and solidarity for the people of Syria, entitled Candles for Peace in Syria. The campaign formally begins today, 2 December, on the first Sunday of Advent, with the symbolic lighting of a candle by the Holy Father at the end of the Angelus prayer.
In the last few days the initiative has involved over 50,000 children, of different religions, from several of the Syrian cities most severely damaged by the war, including Aleppo, Damascus, Homs, Marmarita, Hassaké, Tartus and Latakia. The children have prayed and painted pictures symbolizing peace on the sides of their candles: crosses, doves and messages of hope conveying to the world their longing for peace. For it is these little Syrian children who have so often been the first victims of the conflict, which is still ongoing.
ACN International is calling on people of goodwill all over the world to respond to this cry of peace from the children of Syria, among other things by lighting a candle, as the Holy Father will do today, in order to spread this message of peace from the children of Syria and send a message of hope during the season of Advent.
The candle which the Holy Father will light was decorated by a local craftsman from the Bab Touma quarter of the Old City of Damascus and also bears the photos of some 40 children, most of them from Aleppo, together with the logo of the campaign – a dove with outstretched wings in the shape of a child’s hand and the message Peace for the Children - Syria 2018 – plus the regular logo of ACN International.
This is not the first time that ACN has spoken out for the children of Syria. Back in 2016 the charity made an appeal to the European Parliament, conveying to it pictures drawn by the children, expressing their longing for peace.
In response to the critical humanitarian situation in Syria and in order to prevent the disappearance of the Christian presence in the country, ACN is accompanying its Candles for Peace in Syria initiative with an international fundraising campaign, organized through its 23 national fundraising offices. The campaign envisages a package of emergency aid, reconstruction aid and pastoral support for a total of 15 million Euros. This comes on top of the 29,350,000 Euros already donated by the charity since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.
The ambitious programme involves the distribution of food parcels and other basic essentials, including medicines, and milk powder for babies, support with rent and heating costs for the refugees, rebuilding of the homes of the Christian refugee families and their churches and religious houses, along with support for the priests and religious who are ministering to them, spiritual and psychological support for the traumatized, help with school and education fees for school children and young students and, last but not least and simple Christmas parcels for over 15,000 of the poorest and most destitute children.
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