Following is the spiritual message delivered by our beloved Patriarch Michelle Sabah marking Advent and the celebrations marking the birth of the King of the World, the Saviour, and the Light of the World Lord Jesus Christ:

Christmas is a time to stand before God.

And appearing before God, they claim to be in front of us, and we are worthy of ourselves, and be worthy of God, in front of his holiness, to be saints as holy, loving, loving and strong. Love him.

Jesus is coming. The fact that he’s coming on December 25 fills us with sweet anticipation. But the fact that he’s coming in judgment at an unexpected time when our current life ends might fill us with dread.

That joy and dread are both right — and both wrong — compared to what we find in today’s readings.

“Be watchful! Be alert!” Jesus warns in the Gospel. He tells a story about a master returning to his home, where we are servants. “May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping,” he says. “Watch!”

“Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving others with God’s own love and concern,” said St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Francis meets priests, nuns and seminarians and leaves aside his written speech, “When you want to bad-mouth somebody, bite your tongue. What a nice thing to see the elderly nuns with eyes shining with joy and peace after a life spent serving”,

Maronite Bishop Guy-Paul Noujaim’s nonprofit has aided more than 6,600 Lebanese men and women, both Christian and Muslim, since its founding in 1989.

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When a heroin addict approached Maronite Father Guy-Paul Noujaim, in Sarba, Lebanon, asking for help, the priest gathered a small team of laypeople, including some of the addict’s friends, to commit to saving the young man’s life.

Francis’ moving encounter with the refugees who fled from persecution in Myanmar: “I ask you for forgiveness for the indifference of the world. Let us continue to help them, let us not close our hearts, let us not look away”

In his address to the authorities in Dhaka, Francis spoke of the displaced people in the Burmese region of Rakhine, “It is imperative that the international community take decisive measures to address this grave crisis”

Francis’ message to the Burmese bishops: “May you enable the Catholic community to continue to play a constructive part in the life of society by making your voices heard on issues of national interest, particularly by insisting on respect for the dignity and rights of all”

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In his first address to Aung San Suu Kyi and the authorities of the country, Francis did not pronounce the word with which the ethnic group of Islamic religion is called, and hopes for a peace based on the “rule of law” and a democratic order that would allow everyone, “none excluded to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good”.
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"If an international figure is desperately and rightly needed to help resolve the crisis [in Myanmar], which has resulted in 600,000 Rohingya Muslims distressingly fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh, that person is possibly Pope Francis."

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Pope Francis is now in Myanmar where he is making what is widely seen as the most challenging foreign visit of his papacy. Yet, it’s probably what this Southeast Asian nation needs most in order to overcome the great turmoil and challenges it is currently facing.