Hello All!   
                   This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.   
                   The following press release is Copyrighted by the   
                             Vatican Information Service.   
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
                                  VIS-Press releases   
      
   ADVENT, A TIME OF EXPECTATION   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 28 NOV 2010 (VIS) - At midday today, the first Sunday of Advent   
   and beginning of the liturgical year, the Holy Father appeared at the window of   
   his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.   
      
   The Pope remarked on the dual nature of the period of Advent, which "looks both   
   to the first coming of the Son of God, when He was born of the Virgin Mary, and   
   to His glorious return, when He will come 'to judge the living and the dead'".   
   He described this "expectation" as a "profoundly human aspect in which the   
   faith becomes, so to say, a single thing with our flesh and our heart.   
      
   "Expectation and awaiting represent a dimension that touches our entire   
   individual, family and social existence", he added. "Expectation is present in   
   many situations, from the smallest and most insignificant to the most   
   important". These include "a couple expecting a child; awaiting a relative or   
   friend who comes to visit us from far way; ... the expectation of the result of   
   some decisive examination; ... in personal relations the expectation of meeting   
   the loved one. ... We could say that man is alive so long as he expects, so   
   long as hope remains alive his heart. And man can be recognised by his   
   expectations: our moral and spiritual 'stature' may be measured by what our   
   hopes are".   
      
   Thus, "in this time of preparation for Christmas each of us may ask ourselves:   
   what do I expect? ... And this same question can be posed at the level of the   
   family, the community, the nation. What do we expect together? What unites our   
   aspirations, what brings us together?" In this context, Benedict XVI recalled   
   how "in Israel in the period prior to Jesus' birth there was a very strong   
   expectation of the Messiah, ... who would free the people from all moral and   
   political slavery and establish the Kingdom of God.   
      
   "But no-one could have imagined that the Messiah would be born of a humble girl   
   like Mary, who had been promised in marriage to the good Joseph. Neither could   
   she have imagined it; yet in her heart the expectation of the Saviour was so   
   great, her faith and hope so ardent, that in her He could find a worthy mother.   
   ... There is a mysterious correspondence between the expectation of God and   
   that of Mary, the creature 'full of grace', completely transparent before the   
   Almighty's plan of love. Let us learn from her, the woman of Advent, to live   
   daily life with a new spirit, with feelings of profound expectation which only   
   the coming of God can satisfy".   
      
   In his greetings following the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI made various   
   references to respect for unborn life. Addressing Polish pilgrims he said:   
   "With Mary, who lovingly awaited the birth of the Divine Child, let us   
   persevere in our prayers, thanking God for the gift of life and asking Him to   
   protect all human existence. May the future of the world become the   
   civilisation of love and of life".   
   ANG/VIS 20101129 (520)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)