Dear Friend, 

Reflection by Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D.

And so, we begin our journey.  Monday of the first week of Advent in the Year of Grace 2024.  Our theme for this year is the hospitality of Advent.   

As soon as I heard the theme, one person came to my mind.  I knew I wanted to begin by writing about him as we break into this Holy Season of Advent.  His name was Father Jimmy McCaffrey, and he was a Discalced Carmelite from the priory in Oxford, England.  Born and  raised in Ireland, Fr. Jimmy spent most of his priestly life in England and Australia – and giving retreats around the world.  And more than anything, I remember him as one of the most hospitable people I have ever met. 

If we understand hospitality as the transforming capacity to make others feel welcome and appreciated, of taking time and being present to another, of recognizing the value of someone by spending a moment to listen – all this in the context of relationship – this is the embodiment of Father Jimmy McCaffrey!   

But where did he get this power or how did his creative capacity develop?  I believe Fr. Jimmy would be the first to tell you: through his encounter with Jesus Christ, in particular through brushing up against his own vulnerability and the humanity of Christ.  When he was a young priest, Fr. Jimmy had a life-changing encounter with Jesus amidst the darkness of own his struggles and sufferings.  This experience of Jesus’ light amidst the darkness of his situation made him a new man in the Lord.  And his life would never be the same. 

Each night, this encounter would be recollected and renewed.  At the end of every day, Fr. Jimmy would spend an hour in the darkened chapel before the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist.  In silence and stillness, amidst the darkness, he would be taken up and into the Light of his life, Jesus Christ. 

The truth is: God knows where welcome waits.  The human heart – Fr. Jimmy’s and yours and mine as well – becomes the place of hospitality where Jesus longs to dwell – in the midst of our messy lives, in and through our weakness and vulnerability. Jesus longs to heal us – all of us.  Jesus wants to shine his light – gently, subtly, and with power – into whatever darkness we are dwelling.

Take some time.  And if you must, make some time in your busy life to sit before the Lord in the darkness – from without or within.  Let the words of the prophet Isaiah that conclude today’s first reading from Mass speak to your heart:   

“O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” 

Reflection: 

In the midst of our world, which at times seems shrouded in darkness, how can I allow myself to be more hospitable and to welcome the light of Christ and become a beacon of light to others? 

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Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., Vice Provost for Academics and Catholic Identity, Seton Hall University, and former Rector/Dean, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.