Christmas 2015 Message

Fr. Antonio F. Moreno, SJ
Provincial Superior of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus
December 24, 2015

The birth of the Lord among us ever evokes great rejoicing and thanksgiving. God enters our world and our humanity, coming into our lives not with strength and power, riches or honors, but as a baby, powerless and vulnerable in a manger.

As members of the Society, a companionship that bears Jesus’ name, we yearn to identify with him, the one who calls and sends us. Our labors and concerns this year hardly manifest strength and greatness, but just who we truly are before the Lord – the least Society of Jesus.

We were richly blessed at the beginning of the year when we met Pope Francis on 16 January. We felt his warm and fraternal affection but also heard his clarion call to the Jesuits: go to the peripheries, go to the poor.

Last March, we held a Province Congregation to prepare for the plenary gathering of a General Congregation (GC) next October in Rome. Then from October to November electors chosen by Province/Region Congregations in the six Conferences of the universal Society of Jesus met by Conference to begin preliminary work for GC 36 when we hope to elect a new Father General and discuss matters of major importance for the current Society.

This year, too, we were blessed to receive seven new novices. Though only one PHI Deacon is scheduled for presbyteral ordination in April, we hope the following year will have a relatively larger group of ordinands. And, after much effort, the construction of the Jesuit Health and Wellness Center is nearing completion. By March or April, its first residents will be transferred to quarters in this new building.

The Province is also in the process of crafting an apostolic ‘Roadmap,’ a guide to our collective action. In this Province Roadmap, we want to give more apostolic preference to Mindanao, particularly the indigenous and bangsamoro peoples and areas where there is conflict, poverty and environmental degradation. Prayerful conversations and exchanges over the year have enlisted the energy and imagination of both us Jesuits and our mission partners. The entire exercise has made us realize how limited and fragile we are. Yet, as always, with God’s grace, things can still happen.

Finally, this Jubilee Year of Mercy reminds us that, in the end, any work that we do is not so much about ourselves. It is always about God’s loving compassion at work in us.

May we never tire of placing ourselves in the Lord’s hands to serve as real channels of that compassion. A blessed Christmas and hope-filled 2016 to all!

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