Message from the Director of University Development and Alumni Affairs, Fr Kit Bautista SJ

Waiting in Joyful Expectation!

“To make all things new” is the theme of this Christmas Fabilioh! issue. It comes from the Book of Revelation 21:3 – The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then he said, “Write these words down, for they are trustworthy and true.”

This Advent Season reminds us of the coming of the infant Jesus at Christmas, and his glorious Second Coming on the Last Day. In order to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord, we pray for the Grace of a contrite, open, and empty heart – contrite, for a contrite heart, God does not spurn; open to the many forms and images God reveals Himself to us in our daily living; an empty, pure, and vulnerable heart in the presence of God. As we prepare, we do not lose sight of the goal of Advent, which is the conversion of our hearts unto Christ. 

We are told to wait for the Lord’s Coming, to wait in joyful expectation filled with hope, to be alert and awake for Christ is the One who will make all things new, not us, yet firmly believing that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). 

There is no waiting if there is no hoping. And there is no true hope if we do not know how to wait in patience, especially in times of suffering, because we always rely on God’s strength and courage to be persons for others, to be fully human, filled with hope. 

This inspiration comes from a quotation from Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ (1907-1991), the former Superior General of the Society of Jesus: “Only by being a man or woman for others does one become fully human.” In other words, we can more fully understand the Mystery of the Incarnation, the birth of the God-made-man by loving and serving others.   

In 2023, we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Fr Arrupe’s “Men for Others: Education for Social Justice and Social Action Today,” a speech he delivered in the 10^th International Congress of Jesuit Alumni of Europe in Valencia, Spain. Ateneo has formed a group to study this document and will suggest to the community how to celebrate and put into concrete action our common call to be of service to others.

This is one good way for us to make all things new in Christ. 

Wishing you all a Joyful Christmas and a hope-filled New Year.

In the Lord,

Fr Kit Bautista SJ
Director
Office of University Development and Alumni Affairs