Msgr. Pope on Looking for Christ in Advent

"During Advent we are reminded to look to Christ and ask for His presence in our life so that we can become deeper, brighter, and richer by His grace. One of our unfortunate tendencies is to be dismayed by the world around us. We must be soberly aware of both the events and conditions in our world - sober, not drunk with excessive attention on 24/7 news feeds. 

"In our spiritual lives, too, we ought to be careful not to become consumed with lesser things and end up 'majoring in all the minors.' We should be soberly grateful for signs and wonders such as the Shroud of Turin, the miraculous Tilma of Guadalupe, and the approved apparitions of our Lady. Special appreciation was given this past year to Our Lady of Fatima and to how presciently she set forth the struggles of our current age. Our Lady of Akita (Japan) also spoke very accurately to the current travails in the Church. 

"Here, too, sober gratefulness does not mean being drunk with an excessive preoccupation with the details of apparitions, miracles, and messages. Indeed, our Lady's most basic message always boils down to this: Listen to my Son and do whatever He tells you. The basic meat and potatoes, the pure wine of the Christian, is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to look to Him, listen to Him, and judge everything by what He has taught us through His apostles in the New Testament and the teachings of the Church."

In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the importance of looking to and listening to Christ as we face the challenges of this world and on the importance of not being "dismayed by the roaring and raging of this world" because "Christ has already conquered."

To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:

Community in Mission: Look for Christ in Advent and Do Not Be Dismayed (12 DEC 17)