Today, we breathe an atmosphere of expectation. The liturgy invites hope, pointing on the horizon of history to the light of the Savior who comes. This light was already manifest in the fullness of time. Therefore, our hope does not lack a foundation but is supported by an event situated in history, which at the same time exceeds history: the event constituted by Jesus of Nazareth. The Evangelist John applies to Jesus the title of "light": it is a title that belongs to God.

Christian hope is inseparably bound to knowledge of the Face of God, the face which Jesus —the Only-Begotten Son— revealed to us with His Incarnation, death and Resurrection. True and steadfast hope is founded on faith in God’s love, the Merciful Father, who "so loved the world that He gave His only Son", so that men might have life in abundance.

—Advent is a favorable time for the rediscovery of a hope that is not vague and deceptive, but certain and reliable, because it is "anchored" in Christ, God made man, the rock of our salvation.