(Vatican Radio) The Season of Advent begins once again: a season of hope and expectation,
as we look forward to Christmas.
In the world we see many problems that challenge
us both as human beings and as believers. It is enough to take a quick look around
us.
We see unemployment and economic problems creating an atmosphere of uncertainty
about the future and lack of confidence in new projects. We see social problems and
health issues, such as violence against women or the AIDS crisis, each recalled in
recent global efforts to alleviate such problems. Conflicts and violence afflict Syria,
Mali, Nigeria, the east of Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq and other people
and nations. Social and political tensions, like those in Egypt, abound.
It
is not always easy to recognise the light of hope in the world; but signs of that
light are not lacking. There are ongoing talks in Cuba between the Colombian government
and the FARC guerrillas. And we might yet hope that the vote on Palestine in the United
Nations prove to be a stimulus for the resumption of the peace process.
Nonetheless,
we live in the midst of questions, concerns, and fragile hopes. The season of Advent
should help us to ask for and to find reasons for a great Hope, a Hope that does not
deceive, but instead supports even human hopes in this time of expectation. In the
end, all of the efforts of science, of diplomacy, and of politics in the search for
social peace, both within and between nations, can find a reasonable and solid foundation
only on the basis of a personal conversion by which we become peacemakers – as the
Lord says. And so it is to this that we should dedicate our Advent of prayer and of
commitment.