Advent Recollection for AGS Parents: daring to hope amidst life’s challenges

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

This Bible verse, which prompts the reader to see God as provider, was one of the many provocative biblical passages shared during Ateneo de Manila Grade School’s Advent Recollection, “Dare to Hope: An Advent Recollection in a Time of Disruption.” Led by Father Oliver Dy, SJ (nicknamed “Fr. Ody”), “Dare to Hope” was an online Advent recollection held in the morning of Saturday, December 10, 2022.

The world today is full of worry.  Life as people know it has been upended by the pandemic. This Advent season, Fr. Ody taught the AGS community how to use prayer effectively in navigating this new reality.

Fr. Ody began by enumerating and explaining the preliminaries of prayer: Pause, Place, Posture, Passage of Scripture, Ponder, Pen. As such, portions of the recollection were devoted to silence, prayer, reflection, and even journaling. Likening prayer to a fish pond, Fr. Ody emphasized the importance of silence. It is only when we are silent, when the agitated waters of our hearts and minds are still, that we have a clearer picture of what lies beneath. When we are in silence, we are able to encounter Jesus Christ, and thus we discover our true selves and what we are meant to do.

Going deeper into the recollection, the two sides of disruption, positive and negative, were presented. While many are familiar with the negative aspect, which is  filled with unknown variables such as fear and worry, Fr. Ody led us to recall the opportunities that have arisen from seemingly unfavorable circumstances.

The recollection had three prayer themes that divided the title into key moments that we, as Christians, can open ourselves to, thus allowing the Lord to reveal Himself and His plans for us.

During the discussion of life’s disruptions, we were asked to look at Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt from the perspective of a young Mary, and to reflect on the disruptions she had to endure and how she and Joseph overcame them with the help of our Lord, who was with them the whole time.

Under the topic of “praying to acquire the spirit of God’s daring,” Fr. Ody mentioned the need for a leap to happen to show that one is daring to do something. As stated in Luke 6:6-11, we are called to “Stretch out your hand,” so we may be healed.

Lastly, in praying about hope, Fr. Ody shared that the seeds of the future are already planted within each of us. There is always hope because we are assured of God’s presence and support now and forever. This is evident in God’s promise to Abraham when he was asked to migrate in Genesis 12:1-4, and even in Jesus’ promise in Matthew 28: 16-20, when He said, “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Each prayer theme provided passages, prayer prompts, and questions to guide us in reflection, with Fr. Ody reminding us to always focus on how these words and ideas made us feel. Fr. Ody then asked us to put our thoughts and feelings on paper so we could revisit them in the future.

As Christmas draws near, this recollection was a truly timely opportunity for the AGS community to be enlightened and guided in prayer. These moments of contemplation were a grace-filled preparation for our hearts to welcome Jesus Christ with hope on Christmas day.