WINDHOVER  JESUIT MAGAZINE:  
3^rd Quarter September 2008

Editorial:

By FRANK SAVADERA, SJ

Fire that kindles other fires:

                               Encouragement from your Love

While in prison, Saint Paul - the great apostle to the gentiles - once joyfully observed: “the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word fearlessly.”  Saint Paul, of course was talking about how the faith was spreading, how even his jail guards began subscribing to the new Christian movement, how his once timid disciples found real boldness to courageously move into territories unexplored.  Saint Paul, in his imprisonment was expressing profound joy that the fire of the new faith was being passed on, and more men and women were ably picking up the baton of discipleship and running  with perseverance the race that was set before them. Saint Paul must have been truly overwhelmed.  The fire of service and selflessness brewing amongst his followers was perhaps more than what he ever imagined.  Such fire, he must have thought, may come not from any human effort (more so not from him) but only from God’s own divine initiative. 

Ages after Saint Paul - now in our contemporary times – we venture to examine how such a fire remains ignited, how it continues to be passed on, and in our case, given an Ignatian flavor.  Thus, from the deliberations and decrees of the last 35^th General Congregation in Rome early this year, a rousing battle-cry which hopes to unite and reinvigorate our diverse energies has been evoked.  We ardently convince ourselves, our fellows and partners to reflect on and examine the “whys” of what we are and what we do. Our hope is to find deep within us the one most compelling force and reason which drives our mission  … the fire that kindles other fires … the charism and identity we imbibe by consistently gazing at Him … Jesus Christ who has lovingly called us to do his work. 

We therefore venture to discover more about that fire from the relevant histories that we share.  We get hold of our desire to remember the significant milestones and anniversaries, the humble beginnings of our current preoccupations and realize for ourselves how it needed but a single spark of inspiration to snowball a holy and most worthwhile vision for ourselves and our communities.  From such an initial spark, we derive joy knowing fully well how God has been faithful to us through the years, how he makes effective use of us and what he has started – we believe - he will bring to completion.   Thus, for simply having been granted the capacity to discern the pervading fire of the Spirit brewing amongst us through the years, our communities hold enough reasons to celebrate.  Necessarily, we commemorate with great joy the 50th year of the Society of Jesus – Philippine Province, the anniversaries of our schools and institutions, our years of life and the generous sharing of that life with others.  Our shared histories indeed speak of how the fire of faith remains enkindled in the kind and quality of our companionship.   

Keeping the fire means nurturing the fire.  We recognize as well the diverse influences that threaten to undermine the flame that struggles to burn incessantly amidst a background of darkness.  Instead of breeding passion and zeal for life, often we succumb to the forces of darkness – that which our new documents suggest as our self-destructive tendencies, our addictions, our compulsions, our natural propensities for what are in the world.   We keep the fire aflame by claiming for ourselves the reality of God thriving even in the darkness of life.  We acquire for ourselves a renewed sense of hope by setting our lives aright, seeking both in prayer and in action our active reconciliation with God, with our neighbor and the whole of creation.  Keeping the fire means recognizing and reinforcing the good that we seek to find in ourselves and others.      

We follow where the fire leads us, ever more so to situations unknown and unfamiliar.  We renew a vision of ourselves as prophets, overcoming fear and weakness and speaking boldly about injustice and social  manipulations.   In the new frontiers of mission, the fire within us translates to praxis.  As our new documents aptly implore, we partner prayer with service, contemplation with action, being with doing … each never standing merely independent of the other.  Our vision of Saint Ignatius contemplating the stars must go hand in hand with an image of the saint gripping his coat and grasping firmly the Spiritual Exercises in his hand as he battles the wild wind before him.  To be in the frontier means seeking always to be where he is sending us. 

For the coming years or so, we shall allude to the theme “fire that kindles other fires” together with the new buzz words and catch phrases from the decrees of the 35^th General Congregation.  We may refer to these documents as the new mode of proceeding with our tasks and mission.  In the long haul however, we are asked to challenge ourselves to gauge our faithfulness to the above themes with our lives constantly being reformed.  We determine so with the kind of positive effect our witness to the faith may eventually have on others.  Saint Paul himself describes the joy of experiencing that ‘fire’ saying: “… I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed by you …”

PSALMS: Praying for Our Leaders

By Frank Savadera, SJ

Quite amusing it was for me to read through a selection of the Psalms of Trust (ie. Psalms 11, 23, 62, 91 and 121) and catch myself praying for our leaders. It is not new for us to formulate our usual “Prayers of the Faithful” during Mass by petitioning our Lord to “watch over” our church and political leaders (and in a special way our pirests and our local superiors). My important discovery in going through the readings, is the realization that we can effectively appropriate the Psalms of Trust to serve a similar purpose of praying for those tasked to govern over us.

For instance, I must accept that I’ve learned to take for granted the value of Psalm 23. The verses have become quite common placed and in most instances, I’ve grown to think of “the Lord as my Shepherd” psalm as appropriate only for our use during funeral, wake or burial services. Quite often as well, we pray with these psalms with only our personal needs in mind (i.e., longings for rest, still waters, comfort, for deliverance from our sins and enemies, etc.). I’m taking up the challenge of John F. Cragman to “test the theology of the biblical imagery” that we find in the Psalms and make it the “springboard” for our more meaningful use in prayer. In the Psalms of Trust says B. Anderson, certain imageries of Yahweh include that of the most concerned shepherd and gracious host. We would like to think that these most ideal imageries that we ascribe to Yahweh are the same ideals that we hope to find in the life lived by our worldly leaders as well. In reality however, our earthly leaders are not like Yahweh. Our leaders fail. They are prone to corruption and the use of violence simply because power, influence and greed can easily eat them up. We remember our very real frustrations with our leaders and we pray and petition our Lord to help and guide them, that is for the sake of our countries, the poor who need help the most and our institutions. It is in this light that I see the Psalms of Trust as appropriate prayers for the further enlightenment and well-being of our leaders. We express our trust in them, by openly articulating our hope that they lead us to greater prosperity, to restful waters (23:2), to more secure situations wherein fear no longer grips us (23:4) and where we will be more free to celebrate goodness and love (23:6) in our societies. In our prayer, we give our leaders their due and think of them as our kings (queens) and protectors from our enemies and pursuers (91:3) and the dispensers of wisdom, right judgement and formidable character. Isn’t it true that we rarely pray for our leaders? May the wisdom we derive from the Psalms of Trust help us acknowledge our longings and desires that our earthly leaders truly serve us as they have hereto been mandated by God and the heavens. It is a joy knowing that we can pray for our leaders by collectively, as a nation, taking seriously in prayer our Psalms of Trust.

PRAISE: ACKNOWLEDGING GOD’S EXISTENCE

By Frank Savadera, SJ

While reflecting on the questions “Have I really praised God?” and “What has been missing in my prayer?,” I’ve felt the need to refer to descriptions of prayer made by Gary Anderson in the article entitled “The Praise of God as a Cultic Event.”

Anderson describes ‘praising God’ as ‘cultic,’ that is, having its roots in the life, worship and piety of Israel as a people. He associates the Psalms of Praise to the generous use of verbs of vocal expressions such as ‘REJOICE’ or ‘Hallelujah.’ Apparently, praising is more than a mental process. It becomes a movement outside oneself and finds expressions in very tangible actions like singing, dancing and active communal worshiping. It is indeed a joyful event which is almost accompanied by some forms of sacrifice. Simply put, “praise” according to Anderson is a public and “vowed” procla

mation of Yahweh’s faithfulness.

In all honesty, I must say that I haven’t prayed and praised God this way in a very long time. Prior to entering the Society of Jesus, I’ve encountered such a public way of praising God as a member of the “Ligaya ng Panginoon” (Joy of the Lord), a covenanted, charismatic community for the lay faithful. I also must admit that Ignatian spirituality has taught me to be more “private” and “silent” in my prayer.

How do I feel about such a sudden digression in the way I pray? In time, I’ve learned to appreciate being alone with my God. Our recollections and retreats often lead us to approximate the Manresa experience of St. Ignatius of Loyola. But then I know that I’m accustomed as well to communal worship … to singing and clapping, to raising one’s hands in prayer … to openly verbalizing my personal prayer … to speaking and singing in tongues … to attentive listening to God’s words for me and my community … to prophesying … to simply feeling the energy of the Spirit reverberating in a room full of community members vocally expressing their prayers to God. This type of praying, to my mind also subscribes to P. Humbert’s invitation to communal praise which addresses a “gathered assembly” and presumes a public audience.

It makes me wonder sometimes why such “too public” prayers hardly find concrete expressions in our own current forms of worship. A “sophisticated” view of praying seems to look down on too external expressions, the charismatic type of communal prayers. Nevertheless, I can sense that many people still encounter real emotions … spiritual in nature, during our ‘formal’ and 'sophisticated' celebrations. But then, a question: Have we learned to keep our emotions to ourselves simply because our services do not make space for their public expression? It appears therefore that our incapacities to fully praise God, in the tradition so described for us by Anderson and Humbert can be rooted in the many restrictions which evolved to promote more formal and sophisticated expressions of worship (as in our current liturgies).

Another important reason why I sometimes fail to worship and praise God to the fullest … is because of SIN and being in a state of ‘disgrace.’ The ‘dead’ - those who have succumbed to the enticements of Sheol - says Anderson, cannot perform the act of praise. I find this very true at times during retreats when I feel very distracted in my periods of prayer. I’ve felt instances when the longing to pray is present yet my condition seems not to permit being more focused in prayer. In such circumstances, I’ve realized the need for certain atonement for sins (i.e., confession, fasting, abstinence, etc.). I also find this true in the way I view ordinary things in life. Often I do not find joy in the activities that I involve in or do not appreciate the simple blessings given me … precisely because SIN is weighing me down. I fail to recognize God or more so fail to give him due worship because my personal sins easily cut me off from Him. Just like in the Psalms of Lamentations, I sometimes feel very frustrated about myself. I feel the despair of being hopeless and helpless for giving in to certain recurring sins. I remember our vow formula – our petition that the Lord provide us the grace to keep our perpetual promise – and often in my despair, I accuse God of abandoning me … of not providing me enough grace to get over my own sinfulness.

Nevertheless, I also find consolation in Anderson’s two categories of praise. He talks about ‘declarative” praise which acknowledges the work that God has performed in the past and “descriptive” praise which calls attention to workings of God in the here and now. I find most positive and optimistic these two types of praise as forwarded by Anderson. Often when I tend to dwell on my many weaknesses or the opportunities for grace that I have missed, I find the need to convince myself of the many good things that the Lord has performed and is continually performing in my life. Simply put, praising God means duly recognizing the blessings one has received through time. Quite ordinary blessings – like the gifts of life and better health, of family and friendships – have become common placed in our systems that we take them for granted. We fail to thank and praise God for such blessings. An interesting interpretation of Anderson of ‘praise’ is that it is a “joyful act.” Now, I take this as an important sign of whether or not I’m truly praising God. Am I happy or joyful? Am I angry or do I complain a lot? Simple as they may seem, the questions are themselves very revealing. The public act of praise now seems to mean how I publicly witness to the ongoing works of God in me. Such a witness, to qualify as praise for God, needs to be truly joyful and inspiring for others.

I find consolation as well in the diversity of ways and means of worship and praise relayed to us by Brueggemann. I resonate primarily with praise as a poetic act … that which is open to many meanings … that which is not coercive (with a wider latitude and accepting of realities other than our own). I think of this as the “more Asian” way of praising (as against the quite rigid and structured western mode of praying). I even think of this poetic type of praising as something which parallels the Ignatian “tantum quantum” (whatever works) principle. The image of Ignatius looking at the stars and beholding the magnificence of creation appeals to me the most … that which inspires us to praise God through the sheer acknowledgement of something greater than ourselves. To recognize with much awe and wonder the power and immensity of God … as we observe in nature … allows us indeed to be more poetic in our expressions of praise. Poems, music, paintings, sketches, sculptures are but few of tangible expressions of our praising our God.

My reflections on the theme are therefore four-fold: Firstly, as in the experience of Israel, praising God remains a communal act. We do not do so simply in the privacy of our rooms. A public and communal dimension to praying is being stressed here. The challenge therefore, for our current practices in the liturgy is to create space and time for more public expressions of worship. Secondly, we note how the current “state of our souls” determines the quality of our “one-ness” with God. By analogy, we refer to our human relationships to help us determine how “burning bridges” with another person may equal our experiences of sin. The quality of relations we keep with God matches the quality of praise that we are willing to offer Him. Thirdly, praising God is much evident in the joyful witness we manifest in the lives we live. Such a witness is anchored on the peace and contentment that mark our lives as we acknowledge the simple blessings that we have already received. And lastly, God Himself already provides us the grace to express our worship and praise through many and varied poetic means. Beyond all these however, we recognize how praising is made possible by the very presence of God himself. We couldn’t thank God enough for giving us the opportunity to praise. To worship, as we know is to acknowledge that there is an object to our praising. God must truly exist!

RESTRAINING OUR SENSE OF MEGALOMANIA

I must confess that I’m a bit megalomaniac.  I must submit myself to some form of therapy for easily associating power and energy with the grandiosity of structures. Tsk! Thus, I remember, after visiting the churches of Vigan and Laoag for the first time some years ago, the compulsive in me was quietly insisting that new churches in the country should be built the old fashioned way, that is as massive and as monolithic -- testimonies to the ingenuity of man paying tribute to a great God.  But then, I was catching and asking myself: What do I mean? And so I thought perhaps that the solid buttresses of the baroque Paoay Church are the closest that we can get to the mysterious stupas of Borobodur in Djogjakarta or the magnificence of the Thai King’s Grand Temple of the Emerald Buddha.   I can be awe struck by the effort of reconstruction being done on the Santa Monica Church (destroyed by an earthquake two months after the Marcos-Araneta nuptials).  Up on the still exposed ceilings, hundreds of cured ancient logs hung uncomplaining side-by-side each other serving as frame-support for the roof nestling above.  And so with pride, I thought, we can also work wonders with our local wood approximating those on the temples at Nara and Kyoto.  Of course,  I can dream on. 

Quickly enough, I was shaking myself off my deranged musings. I’m not merely admiring an ancient monument, a tomb or simply another fascinating tourist attraction. I had to hear myself saying: “These are churches, for heaven’s sake!” As such, they function more than mere backdrops immotalized on our ubiquitous postcards.  I’m sure the ancient builders of these Ilocos churches (i.e., the Augustinians and Dominicans) well subscribed to the claim of a God who “wishes all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.”  Aptly, at a time when catechetical instructions faced a lot of limitations and when technology had yet to invent the public address system, the Church if I may surmised, needed the symbolisms of these massive structures, the stories conjured by the stained glass windows, the phalanx of saintly images, the ornate retablos, the spires that pointed heaven-wards to drive home the point that there exist a great God that remains the sole and worthy subject of all our expressions of worship.  If the life of the faithful then seemed detached from the cryptic liturgy, at least with the visual sensations around them, they can worship God.  The approach seemed logical enough given the context of the old.

To state the obvious, however, we say that times have indeed changed.  We needed to graduate from the pleasure of mere visual sensations to more meaningful and life changing experiences of God.  Thus to my mind, the underlying challenge being posed by our practice of faith is to encounter God in the most proximate and real way.  To this effect, a lot of conscious efforts will need to be made to contextualize our practices and ensure active participation in memorializing the paschal mystery of our Lord.   

We acknowledge the headways done and accomplished in this regard.  Now, we receive and translate the Gospels in dialects closest to our own local psyche.  Our songs now carry the temperament and emotions of our own culture.  We can now sing the Great Amen to affirm and accept our real understanding (hopefully?) of the mystery unfolding before us during each liturgical celebration.  Our participation in such rites, as well, helps us identify with an assembly that encounters God in a multiplicity of ways.  In short, our inculturated liturgy allows us every opportunity to experience the power and energy of God via our supposed participation in the very life of the Church. 

The grandiose buildings of the old have indeed served their purpose.  Every so often, we enter a massive structure and experience the monumental God, the Being bigger than ourselves that the buildings so wished to impress upon our minds and those of the early believers.  Nevertheless, the call of the times points us to a greater participation in the life of the Church than merely being overly concerned with structures and external trimmings.  

I guess, I myself will need to temper my own compulsions or perhaps more … even say a little prayer that our Church may be saved from crazy megalomaniacs like myself. 

ARVISU HOUSE - MARCH 31, 2007

by Frank Savadera, SJ

MAGANDANG UMAGA SA LAHAT!

I begin with a little story. For a very brief moment in my life, I lived in a boat. It was a huge ship … complete with a swimming pool, talking elevators, a huge theater, a ballroom and all the works and amenities. I was seeing places I haven’t even seen in my life. I was 21 years old then, fresh from college and yes and truly … still very FRESH. I was talking and interacting with people completely different from myself. For the first time, I was looking up, beholding the golden pagodas of Bangkok … and telling myself … WOW! What is this about? Do I deserve all these? What a GRAND experience indeed.

When the boat anchors on a port of call, the passengers of the ship, myself included were treated to a tour of the city. Afterwards a local family adopts us for a week. I consider myself very lucky because I lived with families who were very cordial and hospitable. They were very caring … not to mention loving … and all too generous in sharing with me their time and resources. I felt truly loved by them. And I really mean that. I’ve realized how people can simply accept others into their homes and treat them as family … yes, even for a week. Yet after a week, off we went back to the ship. We toured our adopted parents on board until we hear the old time favorite Auld Lang Syne piped in music. We usher our families back to the pier and we rush up back ON DECK to throw those colorful TICKER TAPES down below where our adopted families can hold on to one end.

There were almost four hundred of us on deck and you can imagine what a colorful site to behold those colorful ticker tapes swinging with the wind as we were also throwing confettis in the air.

But then, the huge BELL of the ship begins to toll … KLANG … KLANG … KLANG. Everybody heaves sighs of despair knowing how in a few seconds, the ship begins moving away from the pier. Everybody stays on deck holding onto his or her ticker tapes. As the ship moves farther and even father from the pier … we extend our tapes … and as the ship moves farther and farther … we feel the tapes being stretched … and overstretched … until such a time … and FINALLY … they SNAP … and BREAK … and with the BREAKING … we hear our hearts throbbing NOT so much BECAUSE OF ANXIETY … but because the IMAGE of those people disappearing in the horizon … as our ship moves away … reminds us of how we have allowed ourselves … for a short period in our lives … to be loved sincerely … and to love sincerely in return.

Why this story? Wala lang!

The past few days, the silent and quiter bell of Arvisu has been clanging! Have you been hearing it? We have thrown our ticker tapes and the ship begins moving away from the pier. Last night, during the despedida (when Joven was singing, when Bonel and Saniler were dancing and when Ladi was already too drunk to sing or dance), invisible confetti were being thrown in the air. But then, the reality is … the ship begins moving away from the pier. In a few hours, our tapes will break … and with the breaking … can we hear our hearts throbbing as well … hopefully NOT BECAUSE OF ANXIETY … but because we have allowed ourselves to be LOVED and have given LOVE in return.

Friends, I INVITE YOU … can we give a face to this LOVE and say that the LOVE we have received the past months is GOD himself. Thus, I ask: Isn’t it love … isn’t it God, the reason why Ed, for instance left GMA for TY jobs with JESCOM? Isn’t it love … isn’t God the reason why Dexter stopped pushing Polynerv … in favor of the more difficult tasks of pushing all of us to sing and sing with the right notes; Isn’t it love … isn’t it God, the reason why Jay and Jason tight rope everyday between de more and schedules in the office?

Isn’t it love … isn’t it God the reason why Bryan and Tootsie exchanged the possibility of finding better paying jobs for teaching deaf-mutes to sign language; Isn’t love … isn’t it God the reason why Job exchanged collecting urine samples for counting the minute- hand of the clock and ringing the bell 5 minutes before time.

Isn’t it love … isn’t God the reason why Benja left the shiomai business in favor of bote, dyaryo and garapa; Isn’t it love … isn’t it God the reason why Jereme left PhilHealth for a Jesus-doesn’t-remember-me infirmarian task in the house;

Isn’t it love … isn’t it God the reason why Ladi after delivering the valedictory address during his medical school graduation now contends with making us smile by his KALDERO ng Diyos and SYIEMPRE DEOGRACIAS spiels. Isn’t it love … isn’t it God, the reason, why Saniler and Phil exchanged Manang Roma’s braso de mercedez for Ate Linda’s perennial Kamote Q? Isn’t it love … isn’t it God the reason why Arvin forces himself to listen to boring lectures when he knows he can almost PERFECT the teacher’s exams? Isn’t is love … isn’t God the reason for Rod to exchange the possibility of talking Chinese to 2billion REAL Chinese than settling here with one non-chinky eyed Chinese? And lastly, isn’t it love … isn’t it God the reason why Joven chooses to simply mimic Ate Guy or Jacklyn Jose instead of flaring up because of our liturgical slips.

Friends, remember our experiences of Love and anticipate the coming of our next few life events. From Ezekiel, we learned how the God of love will continue to gather us and make us whole … will continue to deliver us from our sinfulness and compulsions … will continue to make with us a covenant of peace and dwell in our hearts … that will continue to assure us that He remains our faithful God and we, his people.

Remember, as well the first few lines of the Gospel: “Many of those who had come and seen what Jesus had done … began to believe in Him.” The past months, we have seen what Jesus has done. And so with LOVE, we believe in Him. We welcome the KLANGING of the bells, the breaking of our ticker tapes, the throbbing of our hearts with the HOPE that the LOVE we have received … will be the LOVE that we hope … as well … to share with others. Wherever that maybe … after today.

Happy New Year: A FIRE that Enkindles Other Fire

By Frank Savadera, SJ

Welcome back to school! It’s 2009 … the year of the OX and HAPPY NEW YEAR to EVERYONE!   To begin our reflection this new year, let me burden you with my singing of a song I learned when I was in 4th Grade. The song goes:  It only takes a spark to get the fire going … And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;That’s how it is with God’s love one’s you’ve experienced it … You want to sing, it’s fresh like spring.  You want to pass it on.

It’s the New Year and isn’t right to say that we want to feel invigorated as we resume our regular tasks either in school or in the offices.  Question:  How do you return to your office desks, check on the projects and activities you left pending last year and say: WOW! WORK!  I’m so eager … I’m so excited! Let’s get back down to work … QUICK? DALI!  MagTRABAHO na tayo! What about for some of us?  How do we psyche ourselves up and say:  WOW! I have 3 term papers to finish and an exam this week … I’m so EXCITED!  Let me begin with my outline now.  Yeheey!  Magpupuyat na naman ako! Yeheeey! Ang galing!  With all the to-do-list that we have ALL begun taking out again from our pockets … with all the serious businesses that we again anticipate to get into this 2009 … today at the beginning of the year … do we expect at least to derive inspiration, joy and energy from each other.    

Let me plug and promote a new battle cry: We are the FIRE that KINDLES other FIRES … or in Pilipino, perhaps we may say:  ANG APOY NA NAGPAPANINGAS NG IBA PANG APOY. Ang  Ganda!  Isn't it that in times like these when the weather gets cooler  … it helps to find a little warmth, joy, fire and inspiration from others.  

What kind of FIRE would that be … we ask?  We read the Gospels and note that Jesus himself is that FIRE.   If for our new year’s resolution, we say we would wish to be little more patient, a little more loving and compassionate … then the Gospel exhorts us to look at Jesus.  Who is more patient?  Who is more loving?  Who is more compassionate?  We look to Jesus!  Likewise, we can note an image of Jesus as a MAN of ACTION.  Coming from our reflections on Jesus' nativity ... now we JUMP to images of Jesus beginning his public ministry.  He left his town of Nazareth and as the Gospel describes … he went around ALL of Galilee.  A man of action indeed.  Imagine … walking around ALL of GALILEE proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has indeed come. Indeed, Jesus must have been a BUSY-BODY … indeed a man of action ... such FIRE and ENTHUSIASM that we can acquire for ourselves indeed … the ACTION and RESOLUTENESS of Jesus.  

What are our many New Year’s resolutions? Madami ba? These we know, are as good only as our willingness to put them to action.   May the example of Jesus actively involved in ministry, inspires us to see how His FIRE can keep us active and productive in 2009.

Second … again from the Gospel … we pick up a kind of fire so described by Isaiah the prophet … that is, the FIRE … the GREAT LIGHT that shines upon those who sit in DARKNESS.  Sometimes we tell ourselves:  Naku ang dami na nating problema!  How can we all get out of this rut … this collective experience of darkness?  

Jesus was FIRE … but then this Fire was also LIGHT amidst the darkness.  Jesus moved around HEALING the sick, reaching out to those in pain, exorcising the devil from the possessed, letting the blind see and the lame walk.  In him, the people in darkness have indeed seen a great light.   He was “lux in domino,” the light for those losing hope, the optimist for those who have become cynics, the worthy coach for those needing a little more encouragement.  We are exhorted to be that FIRE … that LIGHT … that brings about healing more than greater division … that LIGHT that contributes to the solution to problems than to the problem itself. How are we all asked to be that beacon of light amidst our situations of darkness?    

Thirdly, that same FIRE and LIGHT is contagious and makes possible the bringing together of God’s community of believers. The Gospel tells us that as Jesus moved around curing the sick … GREAT CROWDS from GALILEE, JERUSALEM, JUDEA and even beyond the JORDAN followed Him.  Word truly gets around.  Practically speaking, we stick to products and gadgets that work.  Easily, we can become an advocate … an endorser of this brand of soap or computer or this appliance instead of that other one.  Eventually we are drawn to persons who share with us a common inclination.  Why stick it out with something or someone who or that which is repulsive?  Why?  Because FIRE and LIGHT are things that are meant to provide us a sense of WELLNESS. Isn’t it that we stick it out with people who appreciate us? Who make us feel good about ourselves?  This New Year our wish also is to become NOT the person whom people abhor … whom people avoid. GREAT CROWDS from all over came and followed Jesus because he had a great sense of appeal, wellness and attractiveness in him.  This is why in 2009, we would also like to be more attractive and appealing also in many ways (physically or emotionally) so that we may build a community that shares this same FIRE and LIGHT with others.

Friends, we reflect on our readings today and say simply: This 2009, we want to PASS ONTO  OTHERS the LIGHT and the FIRE that kindles the FIRE of people around us.  We look to Jesus and see how this Fire means always being in ACTION, always wishing to serve as the LIGHT amidst our experiences of darkness and sharing this most appealing and attractive FIRE and LIGHT with the GREAT CROWDS that long to see and experience Jesus.  Friends, this is what we would like to pass on to others this 2009.  And with the same song we sang earlier, we end our reflection and say:  What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding.  The birds begin to sing … the flowers start their blooming.  That’s how it is with God love … once you’ve experienced it.  You want to sing, it’s fresh like spring.  You want to pass it on.  (Jesus … the FIRE that KINDLES OTHERS FIRE. Allow us the grace to PASS ONTO OTHERS your LIGHT and your LOVE this 2009). AMEN.

Young Jesuits in Macau: 2003

Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (old Jesuit Church) in Macau. We were in Macau in 2003 for the Jesuit Scholastics and Brothers' in Formation Circle Meeting.