During a Vespers service on Nov. 28, Pope Benedict XVI suggested that keeping an "inner diary" of God's daily blessings would be a "beautiful and healthy task" for believers during the Advent season.

Speaking at the Vatican basilica, Benedict said that keeping a daily record of God's signs of love will help believers stay God-focus amidst their daily activities, pointing out that most people seem, "to have little time for the Lord and little time even for ourselves. One ends up being absorbed in doing things."

"Is it not often true that it is activity itself that possesses us, society with its multiple distractions that monopolizes our attention?" the Pope asked during his homily. "Is it not true that we dedicate a lot of time to entertainment and leisure activities of various kinds?"

Benedict also said that such a record will remind people that, "God is here; he has not withdrawn from the world; he has not left us alone," noting that the Advent season should be one of hope and joy.

"The contemporary world needs hope above all; people living in developing countries need it, but those in economically advanced countries do, too," Benedict said during his Angelus message the following Sunday.

"Seeing so many false certainties fail, we become aware that we need a hope we can trust in and that is found only in Christ," He continued. "Anyone yearning for freedom, for justice and for peace can stand tall and raise their heads, because in Christ freedom is near."