Advent is the period of preparation to celebrate Christmas and begins four Sundays before this holiday. It is also at the beginning of the Catholic Liturgical Year. This year 2024, it began on December 1 and will end at sunset on the 24th.
Bishops from America and Spain have shared, throughout these days of Advent, various tools, recommendations and spiritual advice to live this liturgical time with greater piety and better prepare to celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus:
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
Bolivia
The bishops of the Catholic Church in Bolivia emphasized the need to prepare the heart during Advent, with hope and harmony, leaving aside confrontations and selfishness, and putting into practice solidarity with those who need it.
Mons. Aurelio Pesoa, Bishop of Beni and president of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference, highlighted the need to renew faith at this time, as a way to face current challenges and build a future in peace and justice.
“In our country we talk about non-violence, but we all witness violence daily,” lamented the prelate.
Chile
The Archbishopric of Santiago presented its Advent and Christmas subsidies“with the purpose of inviting all families, communities and believers to reflect on the true meaning of this special time.”
“With the technology of Artificial Intelligence we have created beautiful and inspiring religious images, hoping that their content will help us prepare with hope to receive the baby Jesus into our homes and hearts,” notes the official website of the archbishopric.
Under the motto “This Christmas let us put Jesus Christ at the center”, they make four free downloadable subsidies available to the faithful: Lectio Divina, Praying with the Advent Psalms while waiting for the Lord, Liturgical Time: signs and symbols, Retreat of Advent.
Colombia
The Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC) published an Advent message that focuses on the theme of hope. The Colombian bishops noted that this is a time to “dispose our hearts to recognize and celebrate the faithful fulfillment of God’s promises in his Son Jesus Christ.”
In this sense, the Episcopate invites Colombians to, following the example of the Holy Family, “encourage prayer, ‘school of hope’, strengthen the bonds of unity and fraternity, spread gestures of kindness and cultivate desires for peace.” and justice for all.”
Spain
The Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) prepared a Advent special on its official website to “help live” the four weeks of this liturgical time.
“Advent, in the times we live in, becomes especially essential because it is a time of waiting and hope, of reflection and conversion, of sowing and then reaping good fruits. A preparation for a new life,” the bishops explain.
The website offers various resources such as “Meditate with the ‘Advent saints’”, “Books and music for Advent” and “Cinema to think about during Advent”, in addition to comments on the various readings of this liturgical time.
Likewise, the Spanish branch of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Spain launched its advent calendar 2024which can be downloaded for free.
The Advent saints, comments the pontifical foundation, will help the faithful “prepare the arrival of the Savior” by focusing on those “who have already been raised to the altars and also on those who are so similar to them, the persecuted Christians.”
USA
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a calendar for Advent 2024with the intention of helping the faithful prepare their hearts “to celebrate the birth of Jesus.”
The calendar proposes simple activities or daily readings. each one “takes a few minutes daily to reflect as a family.” Additionally, the American bishops published a guide for bless the Advent wreath in family.
Mexico
The Bishop of Saltillo, Bishop Hilario González, explained that we can better prepare to meet Jesus during and after Advent by “watching in prayer and practicing charity with others, proclaiming with our lives that the Lord is our justice and his mercy helps us.” encourage.”
“In the Gospel of Luke we find an invitation from Jesus to watch and remain in prayer in order to be attentive to his coming. In the midst of signs of destruction that produce anguish and terror, Christians must raise our heads to encounter Christ and find our liberation in Him,” wrote Bishop González in his official Facebook page.
“In the midst of things that can confuse our minds and hearts, such as the vices, drunkenness and worries of this life, “We Christians turn to the life of grace to not lose sight of what God offers us to live in peace and security, to discover what he asks of us to collaborate in his work of liberation,” he added.
The prelate highlighted the importance of watching and praying continuously “to discern the signs” of Jesus’ arrival, which should nourish hope and lead us to “be able to appear safely before Him.”
Peru
The Episcopal Commission for young people and lay people of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP) published an accompanying guide entitled Advent in communityfocused on preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025.
“This calendar invites us to reflect and live each day with faith and love, remembering the promises of God and the joy of the birth of Jesus. Join us on this path of prayer and devotion, discovering every day a new surprise that brings us closer to Christmas. May the peace and hope of Advent fill your hearts and homes,” the commission wrote.
The calendar contains the readings for each Sunday of Advent, along with a reflection and activities to do as a family, aimed at children and adults.
Venezuela
The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), through the Episcopal Liturgy Commission, invited all the faithful to Pray for peace in the country in the first week of Advent. As a tool they propose a liturgical subsidy, which groups together various prayers to pray in community.
In addition, the Venezuelan bishops shared their traditional Christmas message, in which they renew their request to the Chavista regime to release the thousands of detainees in the framework of the presidential elections on July 28, among whom are hundreds of minors. age.
“We will live next Christmas in the midst of dramatic social, economic and political realities in our country, which is why our commitment at this time must be that expressed by the prophets (cf. Is 2, 3 – 4) that the weapons of violence , exclusion, violation of human rights, and poverty become instruments of happiness, progress, reconciliation, freedom and peace, and we can be more brothers,” they wrote.
Andres Henriquez
I have been a writer for ACI Prensa and a correspondent for EWTN since 2023. Since then, I have covered events in the Catholic Church in Venezuela and Latin America. I have more than 5 years of experience in bilingual media. Additionally, in Venezuela I have worked with non-governmental organizations in favor of freedom and respect for human rights in the country. I have been a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.