We are at the beginning of Advent, in which we want to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Jesus came in the flesh, but He constantly wants to enter our lives. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3, 20).

The Virgin Mary warns us of the coming of Jesus and invites us so that we can pay attention to Jesus’ “knocking” and hear Him within and in our conscience. Through her apparitions, the Virgin Mary invites us to prepare for the coming of Jesus. During Advent, the figure of John the Baptist stands out as a voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight!” John the Baptist comes from a certain desert, but there is also a desert that is not outside us, but within us. Desert can be a cooling of interpersonal relations, distance from each other, indifference, loneliness, or even worse, wickedness. The most dangerous desert is the one that a person can carry within himself. Inside, a person can become a desert, with a dry and extinguished heart, without light and hope.  Man is afraid of the desert. She is afraid of meeting herself, that is, the opportunity to meet God, even if she longs and needs this meeting. Unfortunately, we fill the gaps that exist within us and between us in various ways and means. How many things do we do to avoid being alone? The means of communication are multiplying, and real communication and real meetings are decreasing more and more. Social networks are blamed for the disappearance of family conversations. But social networks can fill the void that already exists in the family.”… I want to call you to prayer so that Advent is a family prayer.” Today, nothing is more threatened and under attack than the family. The family is a human, but at the same time, a divine community on earth. One cannot know a family, nor can a family live normally without a measure of faith and prayer. The survival of humanity depends on family life.. The family is like a shrine, because it preserves God’s presence in the world.

The family is the church in miniature, the home church. There is no person without a family, he does not exist alone. There are no people outside the family. We are marked by family and exist only in relation to family.

It is not for nothing that they say that children breathe in what their parents breathe out. Therefore, the responsibility of parents in raising children is very important. Parents are invited more than ever to talk about God and faith with each other and with their children. Especially witnessing one’s faith in front of children, being able to pray together in front of children, which strengthens their mutual unity and helps preserve the family, despite all the difficulties and temptations they are exposed to.  Prayer Virgin Mary, You lived in a family and know family life. You know best what it means to be a daughter, bride, wife and mother. We entrust all our families to your intercession, O Mary. Ask them for strength and courage to devote time to God in joint family prayer, thanks to which blessings will descend on all our families. We especially pray for all the unhappy and disordered families in which there is no unity, love, conversation and peace. You, O Virgin Mary, experienced in your life the great things that God did for you. Pray for all our families that they may experience the works of God in their family life through common prayer through which God can come. Amen.