Day 5 Advent Reflection

Hope is not a virtue for people with a full stomach. That is why the poor have always been the first bearers of hope. And in this sense, we can say that the poor, even beggars, are history’s protagonists. In order to enter the world, God needed them: Joseph, and Mary, the shepherds of Bethlehem. On the night of the first Christmas, the world was asleep, laying upon a bed of acquired certainties. But humble, hidden people were preparing the revolution of goodness. They were poor in everything; some remained afloat just above the subsistence level, but they had a wealth of the most valuable asset that exists in this world: that is, the desire for change.

(~ Pope Francis, “A Light in the Night – Meditations on Hope.” (Jubilee 2025), Demons of Noon)

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.