Advent is an occasion to revive the Christian virtue of hope and thus it overabundates in the people, affirm the Colombian bishops in their message for the beginning of this time of preparation to celebrate Christmas.
In the text, published on the website of the Colombian Episcopate, the prelates remember that with Advent a new liturgical year also begins. Furthermore, in 2024 it is also the prelude to the beginning of the Ordinary Jubilee 2025, called by Pope Francis under the motto of “Pilgrims of Hope.”
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The Jubilee “will begin in Rome when the Holy Father Francis opens the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, on December 24, and in the other Private Churches of the world the Opening Rite will be performed on December 29,” the bishops explain.
For this reason, they highlight that this new liturgical year “arrives loaded with particular meaning”, “in addition to preparing our hearts to recognize and celebrate the faithful fulfillment of God’s promises in his Son Jesus Christ.”
The bishops explain that in the bull Hope does not disappointwith which Francis called for the Jubilee 2025, “the Holy Father has insisted on us ‘not falling into the temptation of considering ourselves overcome by evil and violence’ and invites us to rediscover those signs of hope that contain the longing of the human heart so in need of the saving presence of God.”
“Precisely,” the bishops affirm, “Advent puts us in close relationship with the Christian virtue of hope, which we must rekindle, so that it overflows in the midst of our communities and peoples and, with it, life.”
In this sense, the Episcopate invites Colombians in its message 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 desire for peace and justice for all.”
Advent will begin this year on Sunday, December 1. This time of preparation for Christmas is divided into two parts, in the first two weeks we meditate on the final coming of Christ, and in the next two we reflect on the birth of Jesus and his emergence in the history of man.
Eduardo Berdejo
Professional in Social Communication from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru, I have more than 20 years of experience in Catholic digital journalism. As part of ACI Prensa I have been sent to cover Pope Francis’ trips to Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, in addition to the Synodality Synod in the Vatican in 2023.