“The Lord Almighty will prepare on this mountain, for all peoples, a banquet of fine food, a banquet of fine wines, tasty food, delicious wines. And on this mountain, he will destroy the veil that covers all peoples, the linen that covers all nations. He will destroy death forever and wipe away tears from all faces” (Is 25:6-8).
When we contemplate the complex reality of our world, we struggle to understand what hope means. But texts like Isaiah’s, which we read in Advent in preparation for Christmas, help us understand what we expect. This is the key to Christian hope, which does not depend on whether things go well or badly, but on God’s promise. Hope is not the same as optimism. This is simply a state of mind. Hope is a theological virtue, which is given to us by God. That is why one cannot understand, nor live, without faith. Therefore, in the face of God’s promise, human beings wait.
This year we celebrate Christmas at the gates of the Jubilee of Hope. We have a Jubilee year ahead of us in which we are invited to renew our faith and our vocation. As a General Congregation, we wish to invite you to live this Christmas and this Jubilee Year with the profound joy of those who know that God comes to meet us, shares our human condition, and makes all his promises of life and salvation a reality.
As Piarists, we are convinced that only people and institutions full of hope in life, in young people, in the possibility of a new world, can make the bold decision to educate. And that is the option that Calasanz assumed and that is at the center of the Pious Schools. Educating is an act of hope.
We invite you to renew our commitment to building a better world, and to do so together with the children and young people that God places in our path. We are sustained by faith in a poor and helpless child who sleeps in a manger in Bethlehem. Let us welcome him and receive him as the reason for our life and our vocation.
To all of you who are part of the Pious Schools, we wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.
The General Congregation of the Pious Schools
