16 December. This 'Wave of Hope' short Advent reflection comes from Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ, a sister of the Congregation of Jesus and a theologian working at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge.
This Wave of Hope short reflection for Advent comes from Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ, a sister of the Congregation of Jesus and a theologian working at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge.
Sr Gemma shares how this year she found hope in the long-awaited union of the two branches of her congregation, which was founded by Venerable Mary Ward in 1609. With this hope fulfilled, Sr Gemma shared how the sisters work to give hope to others:
“Our sisters have been working for centuries across the world to give women hope of a brighter future through education in its broadest sense. Everywhere, women and girls face the frustration of their potential through poverty, lack of opportunity and cultural restrictions but Jesus came to bring all of us life lived to the full.”
Wave of Hope offers 25 short multimedia reflections for the season – one a day – as our contributors share a moment in 2025 that has led them to a place of hope.
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Hello, I’m Gemma Simmonds, a sister of the Congregation of Jesus and a theologian working at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge.
This year, what gave me the most hope was the coming together at last of the two branches of our congregation, founded by Venerable Mary Ward in 1609. We and the Loreto sisters have always been part of the same religious family but were separated by historical circumstances and have been trying for some 200 years to get back together again. In November those hopes were fulfilled.
In 1617 Mary Ward said, ‘There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things, and I hope it will be seen in time that women will do much.’
Our sisters have been working for centuries across the world to give women hope of a brighter future through education in its broadest sense. Everywhere, women and girls face the frustration of their potential through poverty, lack of opportunity and cultural restrictions but Jesus came to bring all of us life lived to the full.
In the book of Isaiah, God says, ‘Loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion’. The coming of Jesus in Advent invites us and the whole world to wake up and seize the spiritual freedom and renewal that God promises us in Jesus.
Fr Issa Thaljieh is a Greek Orthodox priest from the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.
Canon William Agley is the General Secretary of the Bishops' Conference.
