Mr. Speaker, this coming Sunday is the first Sunday of what Christians call Advent. It is the first of four Sundays that anticipates the coming of Jesus. The Christian church has seen this as a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus the king. Here was God coming to us as a baby to live among us to invite us into a personal relationship with almighty God.
Each Sunday in Advent represents God's promises of hope, peace, joy and love. That is what God wants to bring into this broken world. We read in the gospels of the wise men, the kings, the leaders of the time, bringing gifts to this baby because they knew something in this baby's coming merged truth, justice and mercy with this world.
Still today, Jesus invites people to accept, through faith, the forgiveness that he offers and the gift of eternal life. I wish the Speaker, all members of this House and all Canadians across this beautiful country the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus throughout this Advent season.