Bishop Ralph’s Pastoral Letter on the First Sunday of Advent 2023
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ,
On the first Sunday of Advent we begin the Church’s new year, and our preparations for the wonderful Feast of Christmas. St Mark will lead us through the year. Today, he greets us with the familiar call …”Stay Awake”.
With St Mark we begin our Advent journey with hope and expectation, as we look to the coming of Christ at Christmas. To help us prepare for the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has designated 2024 as a year of prayerful preparation, focusing on the Our Father. Bishops’ Conference is producing resources for the preparatory year of prayer, focusing on the Our Father, as well as resources about jubilee in the Catholic Church. As you know, Pope Francis has chosen the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ for the Year of Jubilee in 2025. It will be a year in which we seek to restore hope and trust in a world suffering from the impact of war, the ongoing impact of the Covid 19 pandemic and increased threats to the climate. The world needs a Jubilee Year – a Holy Year – an opportunity to re-establish a broken relationship with God, with one another and with all creation. The Year of Jubilee offers us the opportunity to rebuild and restore, for, as Psalm 24 reminds us: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”
The Church continues its process of reflection, renewal and restoration. Some of you have participated in this process in recent months through the synodal process in your parishes. The fruits of your reflection can be found in the diocesan website. Thanks to all who shared their experience of “Community, Participation and Mission” at that time.
The Synod of Bishops has now concluded in Rome and we have an initial Summary of its deliberations, a reminder that the work of reflection, renewal and restoration is the work of the whole Church, and everybody in it.
Finally, I would like to say something about giving thanks. Saint Paul tells us in our second reading that he never stops thanking God for his graces. For us Christians, thanksgiving was the name given to the most essential Sacrament there is: the Eucharist. In fact, the Greek word means precisely this: thanksgiving. From the Eucharist we learn to articulate and experience the faith community to which we belong as unity and diversity. Many people serve the Church in many different ways. To them I give thanks. During our lives more than one person has helped us – has enriched our lives – often these people are parents, carers, educators, catechists. They stir gratitude within us. Friendship, too, is a gift for which we should always be grateful. In the year of prayer during 2024, as we prepare for the Jubilee, let us remember to give thanks for all the graces we have received. Although the world may seem a troubled place we have much to be thankful for and giving thanks is itself a pilgrim act of prayer and witness.
I pray that these days of Advent will be a blessed time for us all, as we look with hope and expectation to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child.