December 8
Enjoy this thoughtful reflection from Jack Treacy, S.J. ’77. Contemplate his message to deepen your faith as we move towards Christmas.
Every year at this time I'm struck by a certain irony. Advent is a season set aside to enable us to pause so that we might recognize our yearning for God, and open ever wider our hearts to God's presence in our lives. And yet our calendars don’t always allow for that reflection. Here at Santa Clara, finals start tomorrow! I asked a student how she was feeling after the break; her reply was short and honest: "Rested and stressed." I suspect most of us are less rested and more stressed as we draw closer to Christmas!
That can affect how we hear the Word of God today. We can get so overwhelmed by the demands of the season that we hear John the Baptist’s call to repent as yet another thing to do. “First thing Monday, I need to get my act together so that I'll be suitable to encounter God!” And we may be conditioned to hear John the Baptist as an angry preacher railing against the people, beating them over their heads with the single message: “Repent!”
Luke invites us to look at him in another light, less as a sanctimonious preacher scolding others and more as a herald of Good News, the one who says, "God has acted to save all people; make room in your lives for God." John is saying that God knows that we struggle, and God is sending one to look after us, to guide us. Behold your God. Open your mind and heart to the possibilities that God holds out for you and our world!
John calls us to renew our hearts and experience God’s merciful embrace. The comfort the prophets promise, the comfort Jesus embodies, the comfort given to us in the Holy Spirit is the result of God standing with us in all circumstances of life, whether we're feeling on top of the world or overwhelmed by life's demands. My experience of prayer over the years is that it is most honest, authentic, and meaningful, when I bring my whole self, with my struggles and my joys, to God.
But there is more. We're comforted so that we’ll go forth—like John—
as heralds ourselves, to help others experience God's comfort and peace. We're called to continue Jesus' work of healing and forgiving, to be witnesses of reconciliation.
A blessed Advent and Christmas to all!
Jack Treacy, S.J. ’77 serves as the Chaplain for University Relations. Father Treacy entered the Jesuit Order in 1978 and was ordained in 1990. After serving eight years as Director of Campus Ministry for SCU, Fr. Jack stepped into his current role with University Relations, working closely with both the alumni and development teams.