Pope Benedict had begun his remarks with some thoughts on the construction of new parish churches, noting that this building process is “a concrete sign of the Church as community, made up of the living stones who are believers.” Noting that he had visited the new Roman parish church of St. Mary Star of Evangelization earlier in the day, the Pontiff said that the process of building churches has a particularly appropriate symbolism for Advent, since “preparing for Christmas means commitment to building ‘the house of God with men.”