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Dec 1st FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
That as we prepare for the birth of Christ,
we might cherish the infinite value of every child,
and work to protect and nurture them in love;
We pray to the Lord:
Dec 8th SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
For all little children who have died from abortion,
that they may rest in the tender embrace of the Good Shepherd;
We pray to the Lord:
Dec 15th THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
That through the intercession of John the Baptist,
we might be prophets for the Gospel of Life,
crying in the desert: "make straight the way of the Lord;"
We pray to the Lord:
Dec 22nd FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
For all who are alone and afraid,
but especially for prisoners and those condemned to die,
that our love and prayers might bring them hope;
We pray to the Lord:
Dec 29th HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH
For all families,
that God might sanctify them in his love,
and through their love of every human life,
from conception to natural death;
they might be beacons of hope for all who are lost;
We pray to the Lord:
To the people, oppressed and suffering, who walked in darkness, there appeared "a great light". A truly "great" light indeed, because the light which radiates from the humility of the crib is the light of the new creation. If the first creation began with light (cf. Gen 1:3), how much more splendid and "great" is the light which inaugurates the new creation: it is God himself made man!
-- John Paul II, Christmas, 2001.
December 2002: Bulletin Briefs
The light of Christmas gives meaning to all human efforts to make our earth more fraternal and friendly, to make it a good place to live, and to ensure that in-difference, injustice, and hatred will never have the last word.
Man is true to himself only when he sees himself as coming from God, in an attitude of poverty. He is conscious of his dignity only when he acknowledges in himself and in others the mark of God who created him in his own image.
Frequently man lives as if God did not exist, and even puts himself in God's place. He claims for himself the Creator's right to interfere in the mystery of human life. He wishes to determine human life through genetic manipulation and to establish the limit of death. Rejecting divine law and moral principles, he openly attacks the family. In a variety of ways he attempts to silence the voice of God in human hearts; he wishes to make God the "great absence" in the culture and the conscience of peoples.
Open yourselves to God's greatest gift, to his love that, through the Cross of Christ, has revealed itself to the world as merciful love. Today, living in different times, at the dawn of the new century and millennium, continue to be "ready to bear witness to the cause of man." Today, with all my strength, I beseech the sons and daughters of the Church, and all the people of good will: never, ever separate "the cause of man" from the love of God. Help modern men and women to experience God's merciful love! This love, in its splendour and warmth, will save humanity!