Holy Father Pope Francis while addressing the faithful gathered at St. Peter’s Square following his return from a journey to Myanmar and Bangladesh thanked all those who accompanied him there in prayer and said that he was impressed by the many noble and smiling faces he witnessed despite their hardships. His Holiness expressed his closeness to all of the suffering ones in Myanmar and Bangladesh. His Holiness Pope Francis focused his attention on this first Sunday of Advent highlighting the significance of this season.
As reported by Vatican Radio, Holy Father Pope Francis remarked that “Advent is the time that is given to us to welcome the Lord who comes to meet us, to verify our desire for God and to look ahead and prepare for the return of Christ. Jesus exhorts us to pay attention and to watch, to be ready to welcome him at the moment of his return.” Further, His Holiness added, “The person who pays attention is the one who, in the noise of the world does not let him or herself be overwhelmed by distraction or superficially but lives in a full and conscious way, with a concern directed to above all to others.”
His Holiness concluded his remarks by reminding that the preconditions that help us to stop wandering away from the ways of the Lord, lost in our sins and in our infidelities; and highlighted that these are the conditions that allow God to break into our existence, in order to restore meaning and value to it full of goodness and tenderness.
