These nine men seated here in front of you are close to my heart. For two years, I have watched them pray, struggle, laugh, fail, get up again, and slowly allow God to shape their hearts. So, forgive me if I may become a little emotional today, [which Mikee here, by the way, has approved by reminding me of what I often say to him and to all the novices: “just allow it Father. It’s gift of tears.”] But more than anything else, I am simply grateful. Thank you, Luis, Josell, Kelvs, Mikee, Via, Angelo, Isaac, Qiqi, and KJ, for allowing me to walk with you on a little part of your journey. It has been a privilege and a grace.
The past two years, you have walked the road of the novitiate. You began with a lot of desires and hopes, but also with a lot more doubts and fears. You have prayed, studied, worked, discerned, struggled, laughed, and grown together. Through it all, you encountered the Lord quietly at work. Today you stand before us to promise to live like Christ in this least Society of Jesus, placing and committing your whole lives into the hands of God. In perpetuity. Forever and ever. That is nice to hear. But also a little frightening, di ba? And it should be! Because you know all too well that you cannot honestly keep that promise relying only on yourself. Yet today you dare to make it. Because somewhere along this journey, you have come to trust the One who leads you.
That is the example Jesus shows us in our Gospel today (Mt 12:14-21). Jesus faces opposition, with the Pharisees plotting against Him. Yet Jesus does not become defensive. He does not fight to prove Himself. He simply continues walking the path the Father entrusted to Him. Because he knows he is always the beloved Son of the Father. Everything flows from his identity as beloved: His mission, His service, and His sacrifice flow from being loved. The same should be true for each of you. Before you are Jesuits, before you are sent, before you are servants of the Church, you are beloved sons of God! That is the deepest truth of your lives. Today, therefore, is not primarily about what you are giving to God. It is first about what God has already given to you: His love, His Fatherhood, His friendship, His call, His trust. The vows you pronounce today are always your response to that gift.
We know how Jesus builds His Kingdom by using people who are imperfect, ordinary, weak, fragile. People who are still learning, who still carry wounds; people like you and me. That is why one of the greatest graces you have received in the novitiate is discovering that God loves you not only in your strengths but also, and most especially, in your weaknesses. Over these years, God has shown you the truth of yourselves. Not only your gifts, but also your limitations. Not only your zeal, but also your vulnerability. Not only your dreams, but also your need for grace. That discovery is a gift. A difficult consolation, maybe. But a gift. Because now you know a little more clearly that this vocation is sustained not by your strength, but by God’s faithfulness.
The vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience are not promises that you can keep without a struggle. They are not declarations that you are already holy. They are expressions of trust. You are saying: “Lord, Ikaw na bahala; I place my future in Your hands,” because you do not know what awaits you after this day. Well, you know more or less, that you will be missioned to study in Loyola House. But you know not the joys that await you, not the crosses you will carry. Despite not knowing, you say what Angelo always proclaims, “Okay lang, Jesus; I will go”, because you entrust all to Him.
On this day, July 18, we also remember the arrival in Manila of the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage four hundred years ago. St Ignatius knew her by another title: Madonna della Strada. How appropriate that she should accompany you today. Because although today feels like an arrival, it is really another departure. The novitiate has never been a destination. It has been a harbor. You are standing at the shore of a journey whose full horizon you cannot yet see. The novitiate has prepared you for departure. Now the voyage truly begins. And like every voyage, there will be calm seas and rough seas. There will be moments when the wind fills the sails and everything seems clear. There will be moments of darkness when you wonder where God is leading you. There will be times of great fruitfulness. There will be times when you feel small and inadequate. But through it all, Christ will remain in the boat with you. Mary will continue to point you toward Him. She does not promise you a life without storms. She promises that you will never travel alone. That is why she is Our Lady of Peace. Not because she removes every difficulty, but because she teaches us where true peace is found, and that Peace is not having every answer, but knowing that wherever the road leads, Christ is already there.
Finally, my dear brothers, remember that your vows today are also a gift to the Church. Many people are still searching for meaning, for love, for hope, for a place where they belong. Without saying a word, your lives proclaim that the deepest longing of the human heart can indeed be fulfilled. Not by success, not by comfort, not by recognition, but by belonging completely to Christ.
So, Luis, Josell, Kelvs, Mikee, Via, Angelo, Isaac, Qiqi, and KJ, as you kneel before this altar in a few moments, remember this. The journey is not over. In many ways, it is only beginning. There will still be many surprises ahead. But also remember that the journey ahead is most of all about remaining close to Jesus. Never forget what these two years have given you. The greatest grace of the novitiate is not that it taught you how to become Jesuits. It taught you where, or rather, as Kelvs reminded us a few days ago, WHO your true home is. Remain there. Stay close to Jesus, to His Faithful and Sacred Heart. Because that Heart is now your home. From that home, go wherever the Society sends you. Carry His banner. Carry his peace. Carry His hope. And wherever the journey may lead, never be afraid. For God, who has journeyed with you these past two years will continue to walk before you. The Heart that has become your home will always be waiting for you, ready to embrace you, whenever you return, and tell you, “Tahan na anak at huwag ng mangamba, kalong-kalong sa bisig ng Ina. Hindi na mawawalay pa, Ako’y tahanan mo sa twina.”
—–
Preached on 18 Jul in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, Q.C.