NEWSLETTER INSERTS - FOR FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

'Let no one be lost! Let all be saved! This is what our God wants, this is his Kingdom, and this is the goal of his actions in the world. As Christmas approaches, we too want to embrace more strongly his dream, while being steadfast and faithful in our commitment (cf. James 5:8). We know that even in the face of the greatest challenges, we are not alone: the Lord is near (cf. Phil 4:5), he walks with us, and with him at our side, something beautiful and joyful will always happen'.

Pope Leo, Jubilee for Prisoners, 14^th December 2025

'Dear friends, music is like a bridge that leads us to God. It is capable of transmitting feelings, emotions, even the deepest stirrings of the soul, lifting them up and transforming them into an imaginary stairway connecting earth and heaven. Music, according to the Pontiff, does not offer a superficial escape from hardship but points to a deeper truth about human dignity. Yes, music can lift our hearts! Not because it distracts us from our sufferings, because it numbs us or makes us forget the problems or difficult situations of life, but because it reminds us that we are not just this: we are far more than our problems and our troubles, we are God’s beloved children!'

Pope Leo, Concert with the Poor, 6^th December 2025

‘May I not desire to please or fear to displease anyone but you’.

St Thomas Aquinas, Prayer for the Wise Ordering of one’s life.

‘If you lack self-knowledge you will possess neither the fear of God nor humility’.

St Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs II, Sermon 36, 5-7.

'We need the Spirit’s prompting, lest we be paralyzed by fear and excessive caution, lest we grow used to keeping within safe bounds'.

Pope Francis, Rejoice and Be Glad, 133.

‘Although I have lived through much darkness under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young…do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it!

Pope St John Paul II, 2002, World Youth day Toronto.

'With Mary and Joseph, we learn at Christmas time, that God understands our fears and addresses them directly. Fear can make us suspicious, grumpy, selfish and cynical. It can lock us into a defensive world where we guard tightly to what we have and what our own plans are. But when we learn to trust in God and his purposes for us, we begin to open up and pass from fear to faith like Mary and Joseph and many of the greatest saints of our Catholic tradition who were outstanding men and women of courage and strength'.

Fr Billy Swan