Pope’s ‘Angelus’ reflection on First Sunday of Advent

(November 29, 2010) Advent is a season of waiting and a time to ask ourselves what we are hoping for, what our heart are longing for. Pope Benedict XVI posed the questions on the first Sunday of Advent season while addressing those gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the midday ‘Angelus’ with him. He noted that the Advent season looks forward to 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." "Our whole personal, familial and social existence passes through this dimension of waiting," he noted citing examples from everyday life such as a husband and wife waiting for a child; expecting a relative or a friend who is coming from far away to visit us; a young person waiting to know his grade on a major exam or the outcome of a job interview or of receiving forgiveness. "One could say that man is alive so long as he waits, so long as hope is alive in his heart," the Holy Father said. "Every one of us, therefore, especially in this season in which we prepare for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for?” the Pope said.