A Message from Bishop Iffert

Advent 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Advent is a season of hope! A sacred time in which we allow and invite the Holy Spirit of God to nourish in us the great theological virtue of hope — the desire for eternal life and happiness and placing trust in God’s promises. We do this by living these four weeks between the mountain peaks of two great missionary journeys of Christ toward His people.

On the First Sunday of Advent, we will be reminded of Christ’s teaching of the end times. Looking ahead to our ultimate purpose and God’s will for us, we strengthen our hearts’ expectation of the Lord’s coming in glory to reunite all who are faithful to his name in the great Kingdom of God.

In the following weeks, we hear of John the Baptist and his prophetic announcing of the one the world has been waiting for.

Finally, we will hear Mary’s great song of praise, magnifying the Lord God for the way he has prepared her to be the chosen instrument of Jesus’ coming to be the Prince of Peace and the Light of the World. Jesus Christ, born in the flesh, is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David, and to Isaiah and the prophets. This promise fulfilled secures our certain hope that he will return to us in glory at the end of the age. Upon that return all hopes will be fulfilled, and every tear will be wiped away. War will be no more. All God’s people will be united in mind and heart.

In the final moments of this Advent season, December 24, Pope Francis will open the Jubilee Year 2025 and the first Jubilee door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The next Sunday, December 29, we will join dioceses around the world in opening our local celebration with a 2 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Covington. I invite you to join me at this opening Mass ushering in the universal celebration of the Jubilee Year.

The theme of the Jubilee Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” It is a call to live with this solid foundation of hopeful expectation and to allow that expectation to become so rooted in our hearts and minds that it changes the way we live in the world. The coming year will present several ways to live from the place of hope into a more hopeful stance toward the world. Three ways that come immediately to mind are:

— The ongoing wars in the Holy Land, between Russia and Ukraine, and in Sudan, as well as violence and division in our own communities, homes, and hearts, invites us to practice hope by becoming peacemakers.

— The 10th anniversary of “Laudato Si’” and the Holy Father’s clarion call to care for our common home is an opportunity to foster hope by working for a more sustainable future for our young people and the planet.

— 2025 is also the 1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed — the definitive statement of baptismal faith that we pray together each Sunday. This anniversary is an opportunity to strengthen our understanding of the faith and to live in sure and certain hope that the Lord’s promises are even now being fulfilled. It also allows us to live hope by pursuing greater unity in the life of the Church.

After the New Year, I will write with suggestions for how these events might be part of our pilgrimage of hope during the Jubilee Year.

May this Advent season help us prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth at Christmas, as well as for the announcement of the Good News of Jesus Christ throughout the Jubilee Year. May it strengthen us with the grace-filled hope of taking our place among the Communion of Saints. May confidence in His future coming shape the way we live together in God’s holy will and Jesus’ Sacred Heart here and now.

Happy Advent! Come, Lord Jesus!