A permanent feature of Pope Francis\u2019 message is the reference to joy\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0hope<\/em>. Two of the most inspired texts of his pontificate\u2014the\u00a0Evangelii gaudium<\/em>\u00a0(2013) and\u00a0Amoris Laetitia<\/em>\u00a0(2016) exhortations\u2014even include the word joy in their titles!\u00a0 Concerning hope, Pope Francis states in\u00a0Evangelii gaudium,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cLet us not allow ourselves to be robbed of hope!\u201d (EG 86) and as such Pope Francis continues Benedict XVI\u2019s magisterium, where the latter dedicated one of his most important encyclicals,\u00a0Spe salvi (<\/em>2007) to hope.<\/p>\n For both Benedict XVI as well as Pope Francis, joy and hope are linked.\u00a0 Whether we go from hope to joy or from hope to joy, the foundations are to be found in our relationship with God, a source of communion for a life fully integrated into the community.\u00a0 Thus, where this relationship between\u00a0the life of grace and the brotherly community<\/em>\u00a0really exists, it is possible to truly experience joy and hope.\u00a0 What greater joy can there be than to be with those whom we love?\u00a0 The meaning of\u00a0celebration<\/em>, is it not be found in the celebration of living in community and finding ourselves with our brothers?\u00a0 It is only thus that we can build the basis of trust in and for the future.\u00a0 This is what we understand when we think of\u00a0hope<\/em>, in the sense of trust that we can place in a person and ultimately in God.<\/p>\n Advent is the liturgical time for celebrating\u00a0the joy<\/em>\u00a0of hope<\/em>\u00a0that springs from trust in the Lord\u2019s presence, \u201cWhere two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.\u201d (Mt 18:20)<\/p>\n We can consider two essential characteristics of hope:\u00a0the memory\u00a0<\/em>of the past and\u00a0the memory<\/em>\u00a0of the future.<\/p>\n Concerning the memory of the past, Advent celebrates God\u2019s promises that are already accomplished and the Canticle of Simeon is one of the most beautiful expressions of this.\u00a0 \u201cNow, Lord, let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled; for my eyes have seen your salvation…\u201d (Lk 2:39-30) And as for the memory of the future, Advent projects the story that God still wants to undertake and accomplish with each one of us.\u00a0 What exemplifies Christian hope is its link with the trust in God\u2019s presence, celebrated in faith and the sacraments, but not yet in the perfection that we will find only in\u00a0the vision\u00a0<\/em>face to face with God.<\/p>\n Bearing witness to\u00a0the joy\u00a0<\/em>of couples who believe in the grace of the sacrament of marriage, source of hope for the Church and for the world, is inherent in the charisma and mission of the Teams of Our Lady!\u00a0 Yes, this is the context in which we are invited to experience our Advent, with a sense of joy, hope and mission!<\/p>\n Father Jos\u00e9 Jacinto Ferreira de Farias, scj<\/em><\/strong> A time to celebrate Hope by Father Jacinto Farias<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.12.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["fr","pt","es","it","en"],"languages":{"fr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"pt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"es":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"it":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":true}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/equipes-notre-dame.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSpiritual Counsellor to the ERI (International Leading Team)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"