In today's opening prayer, we ask for the grace of new courage. Advent is a time of celebrating the hope which God gave us in sending Jesus as our Saviour. That hope was a new hope for Jesus in person is amongst us as our hope of glory [cf. Col 1:27]. Where there is hope, there is courage. When hope fades, courage fades along with it. So, too, new hope brings new courage. In our present world, we need much new courage, the courage which only God can give us through the work of our salvation which began with the Annunciation to Mary and comes closer to completion with the birth of Jesus.

We need a great variety of graces from God: we need hope in the midst of an evil world and we need the courage to withstand all kinds of evil and injustice. These gifts of hope and courage must be accompanied by wisdom, constancy, and love. Only God's love can finally overcome the evil of the world, and so Jesus invites us to cooperate wisely and courageously, perseveringly and lovingly in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth.