Letter for Christmas 2024
A few days to the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, we wish to thank God who allows us to find ourselves once again before the Child of Bethlehem, together with Mary and Joseph, as pilgrims of hope. We come from different places and experiences, but we know that we are called by Christ himself to come to know him ever more closely.
As we contemplate him, from our very eyes emerge other faces eager to gaze upon him. They are the men and women we carry within us, people we treasure as a precious gift entrusted to us by God in the community, in the family, and in the apostolate we serve. They are part of our lives, joys, and concerns. But, as we know, there are still many more. These too, although distant and unknown, are gifts that God entrusts to us. Brothers and sisters as close as the streets where we reside, as ordinary as a refugee who yearns for a friendly shore for himself and for those he carries in his heart. Men and women upon whom the “Herods” of today unleash themselves with insatiable determination to inflict pain. They still fear losing their throne by the murmurs of a little child full of peace and mercy.
For these and for others, Jesus has come. He came for all, “that they may have life.” He himself, according to Fr. Dehon’s understanding, is the life that consolidates ours: “I am the life,” he says, and I have come to pour life into your souls; “I have come that you may have life” (Jn 10:10). In a marvelous way, Jesus is revealing and sharing what he himself is, the beloved Son of God and the life for the world.
He has come to abundantly spread God’s gratuitousness and tenderness, so that we too may know him as Father and recognize ourselves as his children (cf. Jn 1:12). He has come to offer himself and so generate new life, like a seed which fertilizes the earth, like a perfume that inebriates lovers, like the Samaritan who overcomes indifference, like the bread that is broken, like water that quenches our thirst, and like an embrace that does not imprison. He has come to carry us in his heart and, from within it, to transform us into a living offering to the Father as attentive servants of our brothers and sisters, so that the world may believe (cf. Jn 17:21).
Let us therefore hasten with renewed longing to Bethlehem, so that our first “yes”, perhaps a little rusty and set aside, may be restored and revived to better accompany the jubilee journey of the Congregation. There and everywhere, let us adore the Child born of Mary, so that we may joyfully welcome his life, gladly make it our own and, without hesitation, share it with all, because in his glorious weakness, it is he who “grounds our hope” (cf. Cst 9).
To you, to your communities, to your families, and to all people of goodwill who accompany us with their prayers and affection, we wish a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year of 2025.
Fraternally, in Corde Iesu,
Fr. Carlos Luis Suárez Codorniú, scj
Superior General and his Council
