Monsignor Michael Billian: If we embrace the gift of hope that this day — this night — teaches us, we will live forevermore because of Christmas day.

Monsignor Michael Billian: The Lord invites you and me to say “Yes” to him, to join in that chorus of, “I will cooperate with the Lord.”

Father Philip Smith: It’s okay if we don’t always know the perfect direction our life is going, or the perfect direction our life should take in the future.

Monsignor Michael Billian: That “Yes” turns the corner for humanity on the “No” of the Book of Genesis. Everything is different now because of her “Yes.”

Monsignor Michael Billian: Advent is an opportunity to change our personal settings in life.

Father Philip Smith: Advent is a time to stop hitting the snooze button on the changes we need to make to allow God to help us to become better people in a closer community together.

Monsignor Michael Billian: The gift of this year has been a springboard to a way of life, where we proclaim with all our being that God loves us and wraps us in his mercy so that we can share that precious gift with the world.

Monsignor Michael Billian: We pray today for the grace to endure patiently any trials that are essential to the affirmation of Jesus Christ.

Monsignor Michael Billian: During our lives, we approach the Lord seeking the healing for the results of our sins. When our lives on earth have ended, we depend on the prayers of those still living here in our time to continue to ask God to heal the results of sin in our lives.

Father Philip Smith: Take every day as an opportunity as a gift from God to give another shot, to give another try, of becoming a good person.