Approach Advent with a spirit of peace and patience

ST LUCIA

Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire of Castries is inviting every parish, family, and individual to approach Advent with “a spirit of peace, patience, and renewed devotion.”

He insisted that one’s preparations be marked not by anxiety or distraction, “but by prayer, reconciliation, charity, and a genuine openness to God’s transforming grace.”

The Archbishop prayed that Advent will be a time free from violence and crime, a season of calm hearts and peaceful communities, and that all may be ready, personally and collectively, to welcome Christ with joy and hope.

In his Advent Message, Archbishop Malzaire underscored that Advent is a sacred time of waiting, longing, and hopeful expectation. It invites us to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord—both His birth in history and His return in glory. “It is a season that calls us to attentiveness, conversion, and renewed trust in God’s promises,” he said.

Following the Scriptures of Liturgical Year A, the Archbishop highlighted the Scriptures challenge us “to awaken from spiritual slumber and to recognise the nearness of God’s Kingdom.”

He referenced the prophet Isaiah, “whose voice we will hear prominently this season, paints  a vision of peace, justice, and harmony—signposts of the world God desires for His people.”

These readings, Archbishop Malzaire said, speak profoundly to our own context today, urging us to become instruments of hope and bearers of light in times often marked by uncertainty, fear and social tension. The Archdiocese continues its mission under the theme Building Church Together as Pilgrims of Hope, with Advent reinforcing the idea that Christian hope is a never passive: “it is an active readiness for the One who comes.”

Archbishop Malzaire added, “Our pilgrimage finds its meaning in Jesus Christ, the true object of our hope—the Prince of Peace—whose birth we prepare to celebrate with faith-filled anticipation.”