As we begin to shift our focus to the year ahead, Advent reminds us that we are accompanied on our journey into an unknown future by a God who never abandons us and who delights in making all things new.
Last weekend was a huge week for the Church. As 21 new cardinals were elevated at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome—among them Melbourne’s own Bishop Mykola Bychok, who becomes the Church’s youngest cardinal—Pope Francis encouraged them to participate in God’s mission of renewal by being ‘witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity’.
In another powerful sign of Advent hope, Paris celebrated over the weekend as the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral was reopened, rising from the ashes after a devastating fire in 2019.
And we hear from our Archdiocese’s four new transitional deacons—themselves a sign of hope and renewal—about the things that sustain them in their vocations as they take this significant new step.