3. On the threshold of Advent, it is the availability to hope which is demanded of us to wait for the coming of the Lord, his return in glory, an event of light situated in, « the shade of faith. » Such a wait is a grace: « give to your faithful, all powerful God, the grace to go with courage on the roads of justice, to the meeting of the Lord. »

4. Word for today A certitude on the threshold of this Advent: the Lord will come ! He will come and lead human history to its completion.

5. A happy ending: a great call to hope opens the liturgy, turning us to a faithful God to his « promise of happiness », at the heart of a world crossed by anxiety, by so many dramas in the heart of a Church which suffers and of our doubts there is this « promise of happiness.»

6. ear after year, the time flows silently; Y the coming of Christ approaches at every instant. If only, while it approaches the earth, we were able to approach heaven! The earth and heaven are only a veil between Him and us; the day will come when He will tear up this veil; then He will show himself to us. (John Henry Newman, 19th Century)

7. The Word of the Pope

8. The “door of faith ” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace.

9. e cannot accept that salt should become tasteless or the light be kept hidden. w The people of today can still experience the need to go to the well, like the Samaritan woman, in order to hear Jesus, who invites us to believe in him and to draw upon the source of living water welling up within him.

10. w e must rediscover a taste for feeding ourselves on the word of God, faithfully handed down by the Church, and on the bread of life, offered as sustenance for his disciples (cf. Jn 6:51). ( Benedict XVI )

11. On the threshold of this time of Advent, and of this liturgical year, we pray that the Lord will renew the faith of Christians and make them grow in holiness: so that those who pray will permit themselves to be taught by the Lord; and that the approach of the feasts may be for all a time favoring reconciliation and peace.

12. http://pages.videotron.com/ddm/