Day 14 Advent Reflection

Do not surrender to the night; remember that the first enemy to conquer is not outside: it is within you. Therefore, do not give space to bitter, obscure thoughts. This world is the first miracle God made. God has placed the grace of new wonders in our hands. Faith and hope go forward together. Believe in the existence of the loftiest and most beautiful truths. Trust in God the Creator, in the Holy Spirit who moves everything toward the good, in the embrace of Christ who awaits every man and woman at the end of their life. Believe – he awaits you. The world walks thanks to the gaze of many men and women who have opened up breaches, who have built bridges, who have dreamed and believed, even when they heard derisive words around them.

(~ from Pope Francis’ “A Light in the Night – Meditations on Hope.” (Jubilee 2025), ‘Do Not Surrender the Night’)

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever. Amen.