During Advent we are invited to remember that God came to us in Jesus. We are invited to live in hope and to remain alert for his second Coming at the end of time. The early Christians thought this second Coming would be soon, but we have been waiting for more than 2,000 years and perhaps some of us have become less alert to this possibility.
Yet God did come and is among us now. Between God’s historic coming in Jesus and the final coming of Jesus is the eternal now of God. God lives among us now, and He will come to bring this world to completion.
We remember this especially at Christmastime as we contemplate the babe in the manger. At Christmas we celebrate God coming to us, to find us. At Christmas our best prayer may not be that we find God, but that we can allow God to find us. Not so much to know God, but to allow God to know us. Not so much to love God, but to allow God to love us.
We live in a time of change and that can be confusing. We are aware of the suffering of many, the callousness of some and our seeming powerlessness to find a way out of deep dilemmas. We long for peace and a world at peace. We long for asylum seekers and migrant workers to be treated with dignity. We long for children to be loved, well nourished, and able to learn and to play. We long for leaders who will serve the good of all and work for harmony not division. We long for companions who will commit to a path of justice and faith, and show that commitment in their lives.
This is the world promised by the Prince of Peace, the Child who came into our history in such a simple way at Bethlehem. The Spirit that lived in Jesus, and who raised him from the dead, is alive and living in each of us. Because of this, each of us repeats again and again as a prayer the message that God has come and is indeed with us. As St Augustine said, God “is nearer to me than I am to myself”.
I wish all Jesuits of Asia Pacific and around the world, all our friends and many partners, a joyful celebration of the peace and hope that is promised at Christmas. Thank you for your constant witness, by your lives and by your hope, to God’s love. In this way you join God’s creative action to bring about His Kingdom in our present time. Thank you for all you are and do to serve one another, and especially to reach out to those in greatest need.
Fr Mark Raper SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific
December 18, 2014