NEWSLETTER INSERTS FOR FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

On Advent

"We must prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord, as he desires to come and make his dwelling within us".

St Bernard of Clairvaux

"Advent is a time of renewal and purification, leading us to greater holiness".

St Francis De Sales

"The coming of the Lord is near. Let us await him with faithful hearts, purified minds and joyful spirits".

St Elizabeth Ann Seton

"What greater cause is there of the Lord’s coming than to show God’s love for us? If we have been slow to love, at least let us hasten to love in return".

St Augustine

On Death

“We grieve because love has been interrupted, yet we believe that in Christ, death has been transformed. Every funeral, therefore, is both a moment of sorrow and a proclamation of faith, a sacred encounter with the mystery of life eternal".

Bishop Brendan Leahy

"Grief is not easy. It can be painful, difficult and traumatic and can last a long time. It has been said that grief is the price we pay for love. It is a sign that we have loved with a human heart. It is inevitable that there is pain. CS Lewis wrote a famous book on grief in which he described many of the aspects of grief. He said he

experienced grief like being “concussed” and he described the death of his partner as like an amputation. He was embarrassed at times with his outbursts of grief, and he felt that he embarrassed others who didn’t know what to say or how to act. He wrote that "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear" and that “Grief is like a long winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.’

Bishop Brendan Leahy

On Unity of Faith

"In a world that is divided and torn apart by many conflicts, the one universal Christian community can be a sign of peace and an instrument of reconciliation, playing a decisive role in the global commitment to peace… In order to carry out this ministry credibly, we must walk together to reach unity and reconciliation among all Christians. The Nicene Creed can be the basis and reference point for this journey. It offers us a model of true unity in legitimate diversity. Unity in the Trinity, Trinity in Unity, because unity without multiplicity is tyranny, multiplicity without unity is fragmentation".

Pope Leo XIV, In the Unity of Faith

"Holy Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history. We thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing. Eternal Spirit of God, rejuvenate the faith of the Church from age to age. Help us to deepen it and to return always to the essentials in order to proclaim it.

So that our witness in the world may not be futile, come, Holy Spirit, with your fire of grace, to revive our faith, to enkindle us with hope, to inflame us with charity. Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion. Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ. Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe. Amen".

Pope Leo XIV, In the Unity of Faith