Whenever the verb "remember" occurs in the Old Testament, it almost invariably refers to God: our God is a God who remembers his Covenant forever, while we are more inclined to forget - we forget to be thankful, just and loving. Remembering the Covenant necessarily includes remembering the divine of a Redeemer [Gen 3:15].

Today we begin our celebration of God's remembrance of this great covenantal promise.

Promise is one of the words of the language of love and thus also one of the words of the language of hope. The Advent liturgy is strongly marked by the theme of hope. While the word "hope" may not explicitly occur in the readings and antiphons there are many other words and themes which remind of the meaning of Advent, words which express an atmosphere of expectancy, a certainty that, in the darkness of a world so terrorized by violence, the true light is beginning to shine and we enjoy the promise that the light will conquer the darkness as love will conquer all divisions and hatred, and joy will remove the sorrow from our heart,