November 28th 2025_Catholic Standard

Believe in what is possible

Pope sings praises of choirs, affirms importance of their ministry - p2

His Lordship Bishop Francis AlleyneOSB hasgiventhefollowing message for the Season of Advent:

PILGRIMS OF HOPE

There were many events that were planned and celebrated at the Diocesan and parish levels for the Jubilee year; pilgrimages, special Masses, retreats, days of recollection, workshops etc. These were all very encouraging and commendable with each in its own way touching into the faith, nurturing hope and inspiring the desire to journey and to grow as disciples of Jesus.

During the course of the Jubilee Year I had the good fortune to participate in some of the events and here I would like to mention four youth events namely: the Bible Quiz, two Youth Conventions and Youth Explosion. It was heartening

to see on each of these occasions young people of the Church excited about their faith and availing themselves to learn. The young people came from various communities and most of them would not have previously known each other, yet they all mingled as if they were friends for a long time. I was impressed at this witness of our young people, a true witness of Hope. The Church is blessed to have such a contingent of youth, good young people, genuinely good at heart and trying to navigate their way in this world. At one of the events, I was asked by some participants what it meant to be Pilgrims of Hope. At previous sessions at that Convention the young people reflected on topics such as identity, Social Media, alcoholism and other substance abuse, violence, incest, music content, (please turn to p7)

Ursulines celebrate anniversaries

Tuesday November 25th 2025 the 490th anniversary of the founding of the Ursulines (please see article on page 11)

Vatican defends monogamy against polygamy, polyamory - p3

A Christian Perspective on Social Issues - p4

Sunday Scripture - p5

Pope urges ‘immediately release’ of kidnapped children and teachers after gunmen abduct over 300 in a Nigerian Catholic school - p6

FirstCommunion atHosororo & Santa Rosa - p7

Blessing an Advent Wreath - p8

Children’s Page - p9

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion commissioned at St Teresa & Holy Rosary - p10

Growing in Grace Week 73 - p10

Ursulines celebrate anniversaries - p11

Pope asks big names in film to continue to challenge, inspire, give hope - p13

Cathedral Memory Lane 8 - p14

MCA programme at Parfaite Harmonie - p14

First Sunday of Advent

Bishop’s Engagements

November 30th: First Sunday of Advent Year A 07:00hrs – Mass at Our Lady of the Mount, Meadow Bank 09:00hrs – Mass at St. Pius X, West La Penitence

Tuesday, December 2nd

18:00hrs – Diocesan Pastoral Council Meeting, Brickdam

December 7th: Second Sunday of Advent 08:30hrs – Mass at St. Catherine, Kuru Kururu, East Bank Demerara.

10:30hrs – St. Jerome, Supply, EBD

affirms importance of their ministry

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

Message

VATICAN CITY (CNS) Church choirs help everyone at Mass experience harmony while expressing love for God through the beauty of music, Pope Leo XIV said.

Celebrating the Jubilee of Choirs on the Nov. 23 feast of Christ the King, the pope said Christ’s “power is love, his throne the Cross, and through the Cross his Kingdom shines forth upon the world.”

The feast day also is when dioceses around the world celebrate World Youth Day, which featured in the Mass prayers and in the pope’s remarks at the end of the liturgy. During the Mass, the congregation prayed for young people, that “by following Christ, our Lord and King,” they would “set the world on fire through their ardor and creativity, so that they may bear witness to the humble strength of the Gospel.”

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Pope Leo said he wanted to greet and “spiritually embrace” all the young people celebrating in their dioceses. “On the feast of Christ the King, I pray that every young person would discover the beauty of joy of following him, the Lord, and would dedicate themselves to his kingdom of love, justice and peace.”

In his homily at Mass, he said that love must inspire the choirs.

“Being part of a choir means advancing together,” he said, “taking our brothers and sisters by the hand and helping them to walk with us.”

“It means singing the praises of God together, consoling our brothers and sisters in their suffering, exhorting them when they seem to give in to fatigue and encouraging them when difficulties seem to prevail,” the pope said.

A parish choir is a bit like the church itself, he said. It strives to walk through history singing God’s praise.

“Even if at times this journey is full of difficulties and trials, and moments of joy alternate with more tiring ones,” the pope said, “singing lightens the journey and brings relief and consolation.”

Pope Leo, who intones prayers and sings hymns with gusto, said music helps people “express what we carry deep in our hearts and what words cannot always convey.”

“Music can give expression to the whole range of feelings and emotions that arise within us,” he said. “Singing, in particular, constitutes a natural and refined expression of the human being: mind, feelings, body and soul come together to communicate the great events of life.”

The liturgical service of a choir at Mass “is a true ministry that requires preparation, commitment, mutual understanding and, above all, a deep spiritual life, so that when you sing, you both pray and help everyone else to pray,” the pope said.

Not on stage

While a choir is a “small family of individuals united by their love of music and the service they offer,” he said, they must remember that at Mass the entire community is part of the family.

“You are not on stage, but rather a part of that community, endeavoring to help it grow in unity by inspiring and engaging its members,” the pope told them. “Dedicate yourselves to facilitating the participation of the people of God, without giving in to the temptation of ostentation, which prevents the entire liturgical assembly from actively participating in the singing.”

And the pope urged choir members to strive to make sure their own spiritual lives are “always worthy of the service you perform, so that your ministry may authentically express the grace of the liturgy.”❖

Vatican defends monogamy against polygamy, polyamory

dissoluble, said a document from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The document, “‘Una Caro’ (One Flesh): In Praise of Monogamy.

Doctrinal Note on the Value of Marriage as an Exclusive Union and Mutual Belonging,” was released only in Italian by the Vatican Nov. 25. Pope Leo XIV approved its contents Nov. 21 and authorized its publication.

‘A unique reality’

“Although each marital union is a unique reality, embodied within human limitations, every authentic marriage is a unity composed of two individuals, requiring a relationship so intimate and all-encompassing that it cannot be shared with others,” the document said.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the doctrinal dicastery, wrote in the document’s introduction that the dicastery wanted to draw from Scripture, theology, philosophy and “even poetry” to explain why it is best to choose “a unique and exclusive union of love, a reciprocal belonging that is rich and all-embracing.”

The poets quoted included Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, Emily Dickinson and Rabindranath Tagore.

The dicastery said it issued the note in response to requests from the bishops of Africa where polygamy is still practiced as well as because “various public forms of non-monogamous unions sometimes called ‘polyamory’ are growing in the West.”

succession of faces,” the document said. But “as the myth of Don Juan illustrates, numbers dissolve the names; they disperse the unity of the loving impulse.”

While the church, its theologians, pastors and canon lawyers have written much about the indissolubility of the marriage bond, the note said, there has been less official reflection “on the unity of marriage meaning marriage understood as a unique and exclusive union between one man and one woman.”

The doctrinal dicastery insisted that sacramental marriage is forever and that openness to procreation is an essential part of marriage, but it also said the purpose of the doctrinal note was to focus primarily on the unitive aspect of marriage.

Language of the Song of Songs

While there are examples of polygamy in the Old Testament, many other passages celebrate the love found in an exclusive, monogamous relationship, it said. And the Song of Songs uses the language of a lover and beloved allegorically to refer to the relationship of God with his people a relationship that is unique and exclusive.

In the Gospels, it said, Jesus exalts faithful, lifelong monogamy, pointing back to God’s “original plan” that a man and a woman would become “one flesh.”

The document has a long section on what popes and Christian theologians from the early church to modern

sexuality

Unlike other early theologians, it said, St. John Chrysostom did not emphasize procreation as a primary purpose for marriage but wrote that “the unity of marriage, through the choice of a single person to whom one is joined, serves to free people from an unrestrained sexual outlet devoid of love or fidelity, and properly directs sexuality.”

Until Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical on marriage in 1880, the popes did not write much about matrimony, the document said.

In that encyclical, it said, the pope’s defense of monogamy was in part “a defense of the dignity of women, which cannot be denied or dishonored even for the sake of procreation. The unity of marriage therefore implies a free choice on the part of the woman, who has the right to demand exclusive reciprocity.”

Union between a man and a woman

Because marriage is a union between a man and a woman “who possess exactly the same dignity and the same rights,” the document said, “it demands that exclusivity which prevents the other from being relativized in their unique value or being used merely as a means among others to satisfy needs.”

In the Latin-rite sacrament of matrimony, it noted, “consent is expressed by saying: ‘I take you as my wife,’ and ‘I take you as my husband.’ In this regard, following the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, it must be said that

human act by which the spouses mutually give and receive one which binds the spouses to each other,’ is a giving and a receiving: it is the dynamism that gives rise to mutual belonging, called to deepen, to mature and to become ever more solid,” the doctrinal note said.

Belonging to one another

How that belonging to one another in an exclusive way is lived out may change over time, “when physical attraction and the possibility of sexual relations weaken,” the document said, but it does not end.

“Naturally, various intimate expressions of affection will not be lacking, and these are also considered exclusive,” it said. “Precisely because the experience of reciprocal and exclusive belonging has deepened and strengthened over time, there are expressions that are reserved only for that person with whom one has chosen to share one’s heart in a unique way.”

“The mutual belonging proper to exclusive, reciprocal love implies a delicate care, a holy fear of profaning the freedom of the other, who has the same dignity and therefore the same rights,” the note said.

The unique friendship of spouses, it said, is “full of mutual knowledge, appreciation of the other, complicity, intimacy, understanding and patience, concern for the good of the other and sensitive gestures.”

That friendship ” transcends sexuality,” but “at the same time embraces it and gives it its most beautiful, profound, unifying and fruitful meaning,” the document said.❖

A Christian Perspective on Social Issues Beyond Jubilee 2025

By GHK Lall

The new Church year is here. The Jubilee Year of 2025, still has few more weeks to go. Pilgrims of Hope, how have I been so? Spes non confundit (Hope does not disappoint), have I lived that, never as much as when in this season there are so many ill winds and so much ill-will? We all look back, look for the positives, and correct where there was lapse, failure. Be a real pilgrim, a tireless one, when this Jubilee Year ends. But, before that there is this other intervening season of waiting and being vigilant, and hoping even more. It’s Advent. Set a standard, an example. Being a pilgrim is being on the move, and once the essence of the Jubilee Year was grasped, then it really doesn’t come to a close. That spirit of hoping, and sharing that hope doesn’t depart. It goes in the opposite direction – hope intensifies. Hoping can be increasingly difficult to manifest in these times, in a world that tightens and gets tougher. But the messages of Jubilee 2025, of

scripture, and of the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:5 reinforces and restores that hope in our hearts, no matter how aggrieved. In this 1st week of Advent, hope is what keeps us on the path of prayer. The watchfulness that Jesus counseled is the armor that helps to continue forward. Indeed, there are those engaging in merrymaking, unconscious or uncaring about those who hop from one foot to the other from the pangs of hunger, oftentimes that human need that stops just short of starvation. And, still we pray. For if there is no prayer, then where is the hope? When there is no hope, then what is left? Human strength and human wisdom, however great they may be, fail when the great challenges of the day and life come. Where is hope, there is godliness. The more hope that sparkles deep inside, notwithstanding the grimness of circumstances, the more there is faith in God’s promises, more there is belief in the power of Jesus’s sacrifice for fulfilling the promises of Advent. Advent, this season that begins a new year, and extends enough to say goodbye to another. The coinciding with the miraculous birth of Jesus, and the ushering out of the Jubilee Year 2025. Spes non confundit -hope does not disappoint. There was the unborn Jesus heading into Bethlehem. From that manger, hope is reborn. We have an opportunity to be reconciled with God and be restored to the state of a pleasing son or daughter.

There are those who are hurting badly. Some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the wider family of country, go to great lengths not to show their hurts, their struggles to hold on, and to make sense of why it has to be so for them. What do I do then? How is that gap between hope and despair filled? There may not be the richness of material extras; but there can be the richness of a caring heart that helps to lift someone up. Believe! The Lord is my shepherd. The grayness of circumstances may threaten to overwhelm, at times; but the Lord is still that faithful shepherd to his trusting ones. Stay close to the Good Shepherd. The prayers that form so much a part of Advent, that patient waiting and preparing for the Coming of the Lord, indicate that hope still springs.

When hope can still be the mantle that each of us wear during the toughest adversities, then it is easier to place more hope after that in God, through Jesus. Things that are unseen take a little shape, a sketch that registers deeply inside; holds close when situations get tight. Things that are unknown grown a little less mysterious because there is seeing what is before us, like the apostles and saints who came earlier. Faith. Hope. Love. Joy. Surrendering to the will of the Father. Whatever it holds. This must be the cloak worn through this Advent, and then beyond this Jubilee Year of Hope. We become inspirations to others, those who’re less confident.❖

Gracious and loving God, we thank your for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments.

Help our priests to be strong in their vocation.

Set their souls on fire with love for your people.

Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom.

Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel.

Allow them to experience joy in their ministry.

Help them to become instruments of your divine grace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In the days to come the mountain of the Temple of the Lord shall tower above the mountains and be lifted higher than the hills. All the nations will stream to it, peoples without number will come to it; and they will say:

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths; since the Law will go out from Zion, and the oracle of the Lord from Jerusalem’. He will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war. O House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 121: 1-2,4-5,6-9, Rv v.1

Response: I rejoiced when I heard them say: “Let us go to God’s house.”

1. I rejoiced when I heard them say: “Let us go to God’s house.” And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem. Response

2. It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. For Israel’s law it is, there to praise the Lord’s name. There were set the thrones of judgement of the house of David. Response

3. For the peace of Jerusalem pray: “Peace be to your homes! May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace !” Response

Today we begin the beautiful season of Advent. It is a season meant for preparation. For what exactly are we preparing? Two things: the celebration

4. For love of my brethren and friends I say: “Peace upon you!” For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good. Response

Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14

Our salvation is even nearer

You know ‘the time’ has come: you must wake up now: our salvation is even nearer than it was when we were converted. The night is almost over, it will be daylight soon – let us give up all the things we prefer to do under cover of the dark; let us arm ourselves and appear in the light. Let us live decently as people do in the daytime: no drunken orgies, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy. Let your armour be the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and give us your saving help. Alleluia

of our Savior’s birth and the anticipation of His second coming.

These are weighty tasks with eternal consequences. So, let us stewards make the words of the Prophet Isaiah our motto for the season: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in his paths.”

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, it seems everywhere we turn we are pushed to do more to create a

Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’❖

“perfect” Christmas day. But the Church’s guidance to use these weeks to focus on our spiritual lives can indeed seem like a mountain-climb.

The intentional use of the gift of time is what the Christian steward is called to do, and with even greater intensity during Advent. How can we use our time to prepare for Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25th and for His second coming at a date we do not know?

We can push back against the world’s pressure to have the “perfect

Christmas.” Scale back on materialism so we have more time for spiritual preparations: Confession, weekday Mass, adoration, family prayer time, lighting the Advent wreath, acts of kindness.

In the end we will be prepared to celebrate a truly meaningful Christmas, become more like our Saviour and be ready for Him to come again. ❖

[www.catholicsteward.com/blog/ ]

kidnapped children and teachers after gunmen Gospel Reflection

The Readings of the Season of Advent carry us back to the time when the people of God were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, the Chosen One. We go as far back as the great prophets of the Old Testament who spoke about the coming of the Messiah and kept alive the hopes of the people, especially in times of great distress. In the same way, the readings of Advent provide us with the kind of hope we Christians need in these times of confusion and conflict. We note that the prophet Isaiah presents us with a vision of what God has in store for us, his creation. Hatred and conflict will disappear and every person will have access to a satisfying life. Weapons of warfare and killing will become tools for providing food. There is a mood of hope and promise which is a very appropriate feeling to have as we approach Christmas.

Human beings are creatures of habit. Our daily routine is a result of habits we have developed and many of these habits are hard to break. But habits can become disasters which paralyse the soul. We can easily become Christians by habit only. We just go through the motions, taking part in celebrations and rites that have lost all freshness and meaning. We don’t hear the Gospel anymore. It just goes in one ear and out the other. The face of Christ vanishes from our sight or becomes a dim, almost irrelevant image There is no joy and no meaning anymore in being a Christian. In such a situation we need to be provoked and challenged. Advent is just the season to help us wake up, to throw off our bad habits and to live again. ❖

[From: Journeying with the Word of God,TheReligious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]

(OSV News) – During the Nov. 23 Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV appealed for the release of over 300 children and teachers abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria.

He said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the kidnapping,” mentioning not only Nigeria, but also Cameroon, where six Catholic priests from the Archdiocese of Bamenda were kidnapped in Ndop, Cameroon.

“I feel great pain, above all for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their distressed families,” Pope Leo said.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”

He asked for prayers that “churches and schools may always and everywhereremainplacesofsafetyandhope.”

The number of children abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school on Nov. 21 has been updated to 303 schoolchildren, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Nov. 22. Twelve teachers also have been taken by gunmen. Earlier reports indicated that 215 schoolchildren had been abducted.

The students were both male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18, CAN said in a statement.

Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna said 88 students were “captured after they tried to escape” during the attack and a final census carried out confirmed the number of kidnapped children is bigger.

The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora in Nigeria’s Niger state confirmed the kidnapping in a statement issued Nov. 21.

Signed by the diocesan secretary, Father Jatau Luka Joseph, the statement indicates that gunmen attacked St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, in the Agwarra local government area, between 1 and 3 a.m. local time on Nov. 21.

As they abducted students and teachers, the gunmen badly shot security personnel.

The diocese said it “strongly condemns the attack and expresses deep concern for the safety of the kidnapped children and their families.”

“Security agencies were immediately

informed and have begun coordinated efforts to ensure the safe rescue and return of the victims.” Father Jatau said in the statement, assuring that the diocese “is actively collaborating with security operatives, community leaders, and government authorities.”

The diocese urged the public to remain calm, support security efforts, and continue praying for the safe and quick return of all those abducted.

The Christian Association of Nigeria also condemned the attack and expressed “deep concern for the safety of the kidnapped children and their families.”

“CAN also reaffirms our commitment to the protection of children and promises to provide further updates as verified information becomes available,” the statement said. “May the Lord grant quick release to those abducted and continue to protect his people from all dangers.”

Italian Prime minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the “renewed violence againstChristiancommunitiesinNigeria.”

“Religious freedom is an inviolable right: we call on the Nigerian government to strengthen the protection of Christian and all religious communities and to prosecute those responsible for these brutal attacks,” she said on X.

“Italy expresses its deepest sympathy to the victims and to the communities in Nigeria who today feel threatened because of their religious beliefs,” Meloni said.

Niger state’s Police Command said it had already deployed police to Papiri to ensure that the kidnapped students and teachers are freed.

“Police tactical units, military components and other security agencies have moved to the scene, combing the forests with a view to rescue the abducted students,” said Wasiu Abiodun, public relations officer for the police.

He said the goal is “to rescue the students unhurt.

”

The Niger state kidnapping comes just five days after a similar attack in neighboring Kebbi state, where 25 girls were abducted from a government school. The vice principal of the school was killed during that attack.

On Nov. 19, attackers stormed Christ

Apostolic Church in Eruku, killing three worshippers and abducting several others, including the pastor.

No group has taken responsibility for the string of attacks, but advocates now say strongly that what happens to Christians in Nigeria is genocide.

“Is there anyone who can say that there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria?” asked Emeka Umeagbalasi, director of the Catholic-inspired nongovernmental organization Intersociety.

“There is a deliberate plan to wipe out Christianity from Nigeria,” he told OSV News Nov. 21.

The latest Intersociety report revealed that an average of 32 Christians are killed in Nigeria every day. The report published in August indicates that as many as 7,000 Christians were massacred across Nigeria in the first 220 days of 2025.

It said at least 185,000 people, including 125,000 Christians and 60,000 moderate Muslims had been killed in Nigeria since 2009.

The report, which covers the period from 2010 to October 2025, details the destruction of 19,100 churches and the seizure of 1,100 Christian communities by Islamic extremist forces allegedly protected by the government.

The NGO also issued an updated version, indicating that between Oct. 28 and Nov. 17, 113 Christians were killed in Nigeria and 135 others were abducted, according to Umeagbalasi.

The report also highlights a pattern of targeting spiritual leaders, with 600 clerics abducted and dozens more killed or missing.

“I just don’t know what to say anymore after this latest kidnapping attack in Niger State, Nigeria, at St. Mary’s Catholic School,” Sean Nelson, senior counsel of ADF International Christian advocacy group, said on X on Nov. 21.

“The terrorists want to destroy the futures of a generation of young girls & boys. They want to destroy Christians,” he said. “They are enemies of civilization,” he concluded.

Videos posted on social media indicated that a statue of Virgin Mary was vandalized and burned on the premises of St. Mary’s school, from where over 300 children were taken Nov. 21.❖

Journeying with the Word of God

Advent Message 2025 (From Front Page)

pressure from the culture. Some of these topics were alluded to by presenters but most of them were observations and enquiries from the young people. It was clear that these troubling realities they see around them were upsetting, confusing and disturbing to them. Some would have been personally impacted by them or overwhelmed when one or other harsh reality was very prevalent in the culture. One could sense in the young persons a certain bewilderment - sometimes a bit of guilt questioning whether or not they may be in some way responsible for the chaos around them. What was also clear is they felt in their hearts that there must be better ways of being, but there seemed to be little on offer to point to or articulate alternatives. Herein lies hope, these are the ingredients of hope; knowing in our hearts, knowing intuitively that things do not have to be the way they are at present. But how do

we move the needle? How do we become pilgrims of that hope?

Traditionally pilgrimages and processions are physical journeys, moving from one point to another, actual journeys intended to represent and activate inner journeys, spiritual journeys where the pilgrim can identify and evaluate a state that he/she is in with a desire for the insight into the direction and means of moving from that existing state to a state where he/she can be freer, less afraid and more at peace. Persons in a state of sin, for example, may undertake a pilgrimage during which they would examine their conscience, ask forgiveness, forgive themselves and entertain a sense of greater possibilities for themselves. When I observe the much greater attendance in our churches on Ash Wednesday and Old Years night, I believe that those attendees are stirred by

hope to be in a better state and they are attempting, with resolution, to take the first steps to get closer to their goal. In that way they become pilgrims of hope.

Mary, the maiden of Nazareth, a young person, was more than likely bewildered by a chaotic world around her, but in spite of the threatening elements and the perception of her own limitations, she trusted in God, believed in what was possible, believed that the Almighty could do great things and she was ready to cooperate with such greatness and embark on the journey, the pilgrimage, that would open ways for the Son of God to dwell among us. We are all invited into such a pilgrimage of hope.

My Advent wish to all is that we take up the invitation and help each other trust, aspire to greatness and believe in what is possible.❖

MAKING THE WORD OF GOD YOUR OWN

Step 1: Lookattoday’sReadingsprayerfully.

1st Reading: With its vision of universal peace for all nations, this passage from the prophet Isaiah is without doubt one of the most inspiring in the Bible. But it is also a challenge to Christians to workforthis newworldwhichwasstartedby Christ.

2nd Reading: Paul urges us to wake up, to turn away from darkness and to walk in the light of Christ. There is much to be done and the time is short.

Gospel: We are asked to stay awake and be prepared because we do not know the day or the hour when Christ will come.

Step 2: ApplyingthevaluesoftheReadings toyourdailylife.

1.After reading and reflecting on Isaiah’s vision of what God has in store for all nations of the earth, do you see this as a possibility at any time in the near future?

2.For the early Christian community, the expectation was that the Lord was going to return soon. Today, some 2000 years later, we are still waiting. Does this make sense?

3.Jesus urges the people to “stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.” What are you doing in your life to ensure that you are “awake” when Jesus returns?

4.It is said that the season of Advent offers an excellent opportunity for repentance and reconciliation. Why do you think this is so?

Step 3: Accepting the message of God’s Wordinyourlifeoffaith

During the season of Advent, we are called to prepare ourselves, to stay awake in readiness for the coming of the Lord, to move out of the darkness and to be people of the light. We will in the end be held accountable for the lives we have led. This thought must make a difference in the way we live, how we plan for the future and how we see our achievements in the world.

Step 4: Somethingtothink&prayabout

1.It would be wonderful if at this Advent I am able to identify the darkness that has taken over my life and I can truthfully say that with God’s help I have been able to leave it behind.

2.Pray that this season of Advent will help to make you more aware of God in your life and that you may be able to make the necessary changes in your life that will make you more open to God.❖

[From: Journeying with the Word of God, The Religious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]

BlessinganAdventWreath-AFamilyActivity

You will need a Bible and four candles to celebrate this blessing.

Before your family has gathered for the blessing, select one of the following Scripture passages to be read during the blessing: Isaiah 11:1-4, 61:1-2; Mark 1:1-8; James 5:7-10; or Philippians 4:4-7. Have someone volunteer to read the passage.

Place the Advent wreath on a table and have your family gather around it. Lower the light level in the room to create an appropriate atmosphere for the blessing. Place the four candles (symbolizing the four weeks of Advent) on the table and light a single candle for the first week of Advent. Have someone lead your family in the following prayer.

Leader:

This week we begin the season of Advent, when the days grow short and darkness closes in. We are preparing to celebrate at Christmas the birth of Jesus, who is the light of the world. Let's spend some quiet time being aware of the darkness and longing for the light.

Pause a few moments and then pray the Sign of the Cross

Leader:

Lord God, bless this wreath and bless us as well. May this wreath remind us of the hope and joy that Jesus brings into the world. We

ask this through Christ our Lord.

All:

Amen.

Leader:

Advent means “arrival.” In the season of Advent, the church prepares to celebrate the coming of Jesus. We recall the past, celebrate the present, and look to the future with hope. We prepare to celebrate not only the birth of Jesus but also his presence in our family. We wait for the return of the Lord at the end of time when all hopes will be fulfilled. We await the coming of the light that will shine in the darkness, shining light on our path to peace.

Reader:

A reading from [name of book in Bible]. Reader reads selected passage.

Leader:

The Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

All: Amen.

Pray the Lord's Prayer.❖

(www.loyolapress.com)

Dear Boys and Girls,

Today marks the beginning of a very special season called Advent. Do you know what Advent means? The dictionary says that advent is "the coming of something very important." What is it? Is it Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus? Yes, we are looking forward to that, but we are also looking forward to the coming of another very important event. The return of Jesus! Below is this year’s Advent calendar. The Advent calendar helps us to count down the days until Christmas and the celebration of Jesus' birthday.

Print out the Advent Calendar, and each day until Christmas do the good deed for the day.

Dear Father, we are watching and waiting for Christmas when we celebrate the day that you sent your Son, Jesus, to earth. We are also waiting for him to come again. Help us to be ready. Amen. ❖

By Renika Anand

Using your Gifts

Jim Rohn, an American author and entrepreneur once said “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.” There are many parts of ourselves that make us different from each other. Like light passing through uniquely shaped crystals, we are capable of transforming the world in vastly different ways. One of the things that make us so unique are the skills that we possess. Every one of us has a special talent in some area or field that helps us contribute to the world in an extraordinary way. These skills are the path that will take us closer towards achieving our dreams.

However, if we fail to use our talents in a meaningful way - if we fail to magnify them through practice, we risk losing them completely! The act of using one’s talents, especially in a productive manner, is far more important than having them at all. There is great potential within each of us, so let us not lose our dreams for a lack of using our gifts.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms 1 Peter 4:10 ❖

Celebrating with the Ursuline Sisters

On November 25, 2025 we stand within a sacred tapestry of time

500 years since Angela Merici walked as a pilgrim to Rome, 490 years since the quiet founding of the Company of St Ursula, and on November 28, 125 years since the Roman Union wove Ursulines across the world into one heart.

These numbers are not simply dates. They are echoes of a journey a journey that began with a woman who listened deeply.

Angela walked slowly, prayerfully.

Her pilgrimage to Rome was a journey of interior hearing a journey of noticing where God whispered, a journey of trusting where God led, even when the path was uncertain.

She returned from Rome not with grand plans, but with clarity of heart born not from noise or pressure, but from silence, prayer, and attentive love.

Her founding of the Company of St Ursula was not loud or dramatic.

It grew like a seed beneath the soil quiet, hidden, alive. Rooted in the conviction that every person holds a sacred dignity, that every life can be transformed through patient love, and that holiness is found in the ordinary pathways of daily life.

And 125 years ago, when Ursulines around the world formed the Roman Union, they echoed Angela’s dream: that unity, tenderness, and mutual support are the soil where God’s work bears fruit.

Today, as we reflect on these anniversaries, we are invited to enter Angela’s contemplative gaze to slow down, to breathe, to listen for God’s voice in the quiet places of our hearts.

We are invited to ask:

Where is God gently leading me today? What newness is God inviting me to trust?

How might I bring Angela’s tenderness, her wisdom, her peace into my own relationships into my school, my home, my community?

Angela reminds us that holiness begins with listening. That transformation begins with an open heart. That God’s dreams for us unfold slowly, gently… the way dawn lifts the darkness without noise.

As we continue in this Eucharist, may we carry Angela’s spirit within us her courage, her clarity, her contemplative trust and allow God to guide our steps with the same quiet strength that guided hers.

Amen

The Ursulines of the Roman Union in Guyana this week celebrated three important anniversaries: the 490th anniversary of the founding of the Ursulines, 125 years of the Roman Union, and 500 years of St. Angela’s pilgrimage to Rome.

Tuesday November 25th marked the 490th anniversary of when St. Angela Merici and 28 companions formally consecrated their lives to God in a small oratory near the Church of St. Afra in Brescia, Italy in 1535. This event marked the official founding of the Company of Saint Ursula, today known as the Ursulines. On Friday November 28th, the Sisters celebrated 125 years since the formation of the Roman Union in 1900 and, in this Jubilee year, 500 years since St. Angela’s pilgrimage to Rome

In his homily, Fr. Ronald said that as we reflect on these anniversaries, we are invited to enter St. Angela’s contemplative gaze, to slow down, and to listen for God’s voice in the quiet place of our hearts. He encouraged the faithful to s spirit within us that is, her courage, her clarity, her contemplative trust and to allow God to guide our steps with the same quiet strength that guided St.

community, who together with some of our religious sisters and well-wishers, gathered to give God thanks for St. Angela’s yes to God.

The Ursuline Sisters dedicate their lives to education, counselling, and pastoral work, empowering women and promoting justice and peace.

The Ursulines have been serving in Guyana for the last 178 years, beginning on July 1st 1847 with the arrival of six Sisters and two Postulants.❖

The musicians and choir prayerfully set the tone as one

(Adapted from Catholic Media Guyana FB).

a meeting with film directors and actors in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Nov. 15, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) Meeting an international cast of film directors and actors, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the power of cinema to help people “contemplate and understand life, to recountitsgreatnessandfragilityandto portraythelongingforinfinity.

”

Sitting in the front row of the Vatican’s frescoed Clementine Hall Nov. 15 were, among others: directors Gus Van Sant and Spike Lee and actors Monica Bellucci, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen and Sergio Castellitto, who played the traditionalist Cardinal Tedescointhe2024film “Conclave.”

Pope’s 4 favorite films

In a video released a few days before the meeting, Pope Leo said his four favorite films were: “It’s a Wonderful ,” the 1946 film directed by Frank Capra; “The Sound of Music,” the 1965 film by Robert Wise; “Ordinary People,” the 1980 film directed by Robert Redford;and “Life Is Beautiful,” Roberto Benigni’s1997film.

Pope Leo asked the directors and actors defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and differencewhenevocative.

” Beauty is not just a means of escape,” he told them; “it is above all an invocation.”

Authentic’ cinema ‘challenges’

When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console, but challenges,” he said. “It articulates the questions that dwell within us, and sometimes, even provokes tears that we didnot know we neededtoexpress.”

Pope Leo acknowledged the challenges facing cinema with the closing of theaters and the increasing release of films directly to streaming services. The theaters, like all public cultural spaces, are important to a community, hesaid.

But even more, the pope said, “entering a cinema is like crossing a threshold. In the darkness and silence, vision becomes sharper, the heart opens up and the mind becomes receptive to thingsnotyetimagined.”

‘Our imagination broadens’ At a time where people are almost constantly in front of screens, he said, cinema offers more. “It is a sensory journey in which light pierces the darknessandwordsmeetsilence.Asthe plot unfolds, our mind is educated, our imaginationbroadensandevenpaincan find new meaning.”

People need “witnesses ofhope, beauty and truth,” Pope Leo said, telling the directors and actors that they can be those witnesses. “Good cinema and those who create and star in it have the power to recover the authenticity of imagery in order to safeguard and promotehumandignity,” hesaid.

Confronting ‘the world’s wounds’

Being authentic, the pope said, means notbeingafraid “toconfronttheworld’s wounds. Violence, poverty, exile, loneliness, addiction and forgotten wars are issues that need to be acknowledgedandnarrated.

”

“Good cinema does not exploit pain,” Pope Leo said. “It recognizes and explores it.”

“Giving voice to the complex, contradictory and sometimes dark feelingsthatdwellinthehumanheartis an act of love,” he told them. “Art must notshyawayfromthemysteryoffrailty; it must engage with it and know how to remainbeforeit.”

Jubilee of hope pilgrims

ComingtotheVaticanduringtheJubilee of hope, he said, the directors and actors joinmillionsof pilgrims who have madethejourneyoverthepastyear.

“Your journey is not measured in kilometers but in images, words, emotions, shared memories and collective desires,” the pope told them.

“You navigate this pilgrimage into the mystery of human experience with a penetrating gaze that is capable of recognizing beauty even in the depths of pain, and of discerning hope in the tragedyofviolenceandwar.

”

The pope prayed that their work would

“never lose its capacity to amaze and even continue to offer us a glimpse, however small, of the mystery of God.”❖

By Francis Canzius

Statue of Our Lady of Grace

This statue of Our Lady of Grace stands at the very top of the western entrance of the Cathedral and is made of cast iron painted silver.

According to the building plan, two Angels were to be placed at either side, but this was never done.

A survivor of the previous Cathedral fire, this statue was housed in a shrine at the top of the 160 ft. tower. Fr. John Bridges in his book “Men of Faith” records that Fr. Ignatius Scoles appealed to all the Catholic ladies named

Mary to contribute to the cost of the statue and all the male Catholics named Joseph to contribute to the shrine over it.

In the fire of 1913 this statue fell straight down to the ground and was not damaged. Upon the completion of the present Cathedral, it was placed on a pedestal on the western façade.❖

Saint of the Week

November 30th: St. Andrew

Andrew, like his brother Simon Peter, was a fisherman. He became a disciple of the great St. John the Baptist, but when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Andrew understood that Jesus was greater. At once he left John to follow the Divine Master. Jesus knew that Andrew was walking behind him, and turning back, he asked, "what do you seek?" When Andrew answered that he would like to know where Jesus lived, Our Lord replied, "Come and see." Andrew had been only a little time with Jesus when he realized that this was truly the Messiah.

From then on, he chose to follow Jesus. Andrew was thus the first disciple of Christ. Next, Andrew brought his brother Simon (St. Peter) to Jesus and Jesus received him, too, as His disciple. At first the two brothers continued to carry on their fishing trade and family affairs, but later, the Lord called them to stay with Him all the time. He promised to make them fishers of men, and this time, they left their nets for good. It is believed that after Our Lord ascended into Heaven, St. Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people whogatheredaroundtheirbelovedApostle.❖ [www.catholic.org]