Our Ministry of Presence
Our Ministry of Presence
The coming of Christ, as presented at the beginning of the new liturgical year, is a way of introducing His presence who has dwelt among us. Our Advent celebration is inspired by the spirit of John the Baptist whose detachment to material things and message of repentance speak of the emptiness and transformation required to make Christ’s presence felt in our life experiences. Our Advent celebration focuses on Christ’s coming into our lives.
Our Advent celebration is our liturgical response to renew our faith in these various levels of Christ’s presence in our lives. The season is about re-discovering Christ within ourselves. Advent is a time to be more aware of Christ’s presence in our search for healing and reconciliation in the midst of human brokenness and division.
May the season prepare us to make our own presence to others as Christ’s presence to them. May our ministry of presence fill the absence of love and compassion in lives of so many in our midst. Like the presence of Christ, our ministry of presence is far more precious than all the presents we can give those whom we claim to love and care.
In a very real way, our ministry of presence relates to our sense of hope for this life and life after. Advent affords us to reflect on our readiness for the final moment, while striving to live this life in the best way possible. Hope, like our celebration of the Advent season, is like a two-edged sword that cuts through the curtain of both time and eternity, giving us a vision that sees the temporal from the vantage point of the eternal. The stronger our hope, the wider it cuts through the curtain that conceals the mysteries of life, death and the afterlife. Advent is time to intensify our hope for the world that is yet to come, while re-assuring ourselves that life as we live is worth living.
When we always hope in God, always hopeful for the final moment, we find life as intense, loving, precious and meaningful. Hope makes us see ourselves as pilgrims, living a borrowed life on a borrowed time. Hope makes us say “I am here” when the call to the ministry of presence beckons us to God’s love and forgiveness.