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The Word, a Reflection and Prayer

First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2020

By Father Bill Kreutz, SJ, Loyola House of Studies, Scripture from the New American Bible

 R: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

2 O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
   from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
3 Rouse your power, and come to save us.
R:  Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

15 Once again, O LORD of hosts, look down from heaven, and see; take care of this vine, and protect 16 what your right hand has planted the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

18 May your help be with the man of your right hand,
    with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
19 Then we will no more withdraw from you;
     give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R: Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

A  REFLECTION  and  PRAYER

A beautiful Psalm 80 – a plea for God’s help.

The context of this cry of the Israelites that their Lord God come and save them is placed around 720 BC when the Assyrians defeated them in battle, devastated the land and took away men, women and children as prisoners to be slaves.

There was a realization that they had not been faithful to the covenant that Moses made on their behalf with God. The vineyard of the Lord was desolated – they cry out for help.

In our time, more than 2000 years later, the Church uses this Psalm in anticipation for the special coming of the Lord in the Christmas season. It would seem that only a spiritual message was to be communicated, a spiritual renewal to be asked for.

But now, November 2020, we do ask for healing and relief, we are overcome, devastated by the COVID 19 pandemic. We cry out for help. That may be our first thought.

Yet there are many others who need us to cry out to the Savior Jesus on their behalf:       

My thought today is that we pray for so many who suffer so much –

  • those caught in the drug wars in Mexico
  • the persecuted minorities in China, Myanmar, India and in areas of Europe, America and Africa
  • persecuted Catholics and Christians and other faiths
  • the jobless and the hungry because of this time of dislocation

As I consider those above, can I think of those nearby who suffer –

  •  workers not paid just wages
  •  abused staff and household helps
  • the many “little people” who suffer from the abuse of police and military

              Can we cry out for these –

It would be good to read this Psalm 80 each day this week and to take some time for reflective prayer –

The final thought – our mantra these holy days –

    Come, Lord Jesus, Come  – and save us –

And help us in your name to help save others –

Image from Google

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ST. IGNATIUS (4th part)

July 31, 2020

His Story

PARIS to ROME  1535- 1556

Ignatius and his companions join together to make their vows before the Lord on the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, August 15 1534. They promised poverty and chastity and that they would make a pilgrimage and mission to the Holy Land after they had finished their studies in Paris.

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In 1535 all will be finished. It was agreed that Ignatius should return to Spain for some time to recover his health. He stayed in the small village near the Casa Loyola but he did not live there. He stayed at a hospital for the poor. There he taught catechism to the children and engaged in spiritual conversation and advice to others who would come. After some time he left for Venice to join his companions there and to prepare for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

It was their agreement they would stay up to one year in Venice hoping to get a ship to bring them to the Holy Land. If their pilgrimage could not be accomplished, they would go to Rome and offer themselves in the service of the Holy Father.

As they waited they continued some private theological studies and with all ordained priests and, with the exception of Ignatius, offered their first Thanksgiving Mass.

They undertook street preaching to whoever would listen and ministered to poor persons in the hospitals. For a short time they dispersed to nearby towns for mission work and then returned again together to share their experiences. It was a special habit of theirs to have regular conversations about their apostolate’s spirituality and other matters as often as possible.

This gave them great strength and insight for their present efforts and the life that would follow.

That year there was no pilgrim ship to Jerusalem. And so in 1537 as agreed, they set out for Rome to be in the service of the Pope. At the small village of La Storta quite near Rome, Ignatius entered a small chapel.  While in prayer he had another great vision much determining the future of the companions. He saw God the Father together with his Son Jesus who was carrying his cross. Ignatius experienced that God commended him and his companions to the service of Jesus. And Jesus spoke to Ignatius saying that he would be favorable to him in Rome. What this meant was not clear, but Ignatius was at peace and the event would later influence  the choice of the name that they would give to their  companionship.

When they arrived in Rome they presented themselves to Pope Paul III. The Pope was pleased with Ignatius and his companions. But there were others who had heard of events in Spain and Paris and so were wary of them. An investigation was carried out and all was settled to the benefit of the companions.

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After prayer, discernment and conversation , the companions petitioned the Pope that they be a new order in theChurch. A number in the popes circle opposed this, but in September 1540, Paul III issued a papal bull approving of the Society of Jesus.

Previous to the above, on Christmas 1538 Ignatius offered his first Holy Mass at the Bethlehem Chapel of the church of St. Mary Major in Rome. Also, noteworthy to mention, before the papal bull was issued, Francis Xavier was sent to the Far East and India for missionary work in March 1540. He would be the first of the early Jesuits to go to foreign lands.4th-IGNATIUS-2020-pic-6.docx ST. IGNATIUS (4th part)

During his early years in Rome, Ignatius offered the spiritual exercises to a number of people in important positions in Church governance. He and the companions undertook much charitable work among the poor and those in hospitals. They also set up a residence for women who needed protection or desired to lead a new life. Teaching catechism to children was an important part of their early ministry. Many laypersons were part of these apostolates for others.

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It was early in the societies existence that it was asked to take care of the church of Madonna de la Strada.

Over the years to follow, Ignatius would spend much time in writing the constitutions of this new society. He was also engaged in much written communications with others especially concerning the governance of Jesuits and general spiritual advice for others. He was often in dialogue with Church leaders.The constitutions were finished in 1551, but Ignatius had already been chosen to be the superior of the order as early is 1541. In the early 1550s he was persuaded to write his autobiography. He did this with hesitation. Aided by his secretary, he was able to complete the task over the next few years.

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Ignatius died peacefully on the morning of July 31, 1556. His was a life of great strength –originally for himself and his personal glory –and then fully spent for the greater glory Of God. Amen!

Reflection  and  Prayer

For this St. Ignatius Feast Day –

I offer for prayer a beautiful Novena to St. Ignatius.

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Prayers for yourself and for the Jesuits.

Thank You –

Father Bill Kreutz, SJ                                                  

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Fund for the Elderly and Infirm

Helping Aging and Infirm Jesuits

Aging and Infirm Jesuits
Tex Paurom, SJ (second from L, standing) with JHWC staff members and Jesuit priests.

No Jesuit is ever without a mission. The men in the Jesuit Health and Wellness Center (JHWC) are missioned to pray for the Society of Jesus and all of God’s people. These men are our prayer warriors, our constant intercessors both for the mission of the Province and especially for all our benefactors, our partners in mission.

Aged and infirm Jesuits have spent long years as teachers in our Ateneos, as parish priests, retreat directors, and counselors.  Now they need care themselves.

From formation until death, the Philippine Province assumes costs of training, living, health and medical expenses of our priests.

On average, there are 25-27 men in the JHWC. Cost of care are as follows:

Per Month, PHPPer Year, PHP
Monthly medicine costs 529,000 6,348,000
Total cost of the JHWC1,505,00018,060,000
Figures as of 2016.
Excludes diagnostic charges and professional fees.

Your support for their continued wellbeing is welcome. Click here to make a donation.

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Fund for Apostolic Works

Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace Parish, Bukidnon

Nativity of Mary, Purok 6 Silae

There are 5 chapels under the Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace Parish , Bukidnon, which need help in repair and improvement:

 Jesus Nazareno, Nabag-o
 San Lorenzo Ruiz, Nalumusan
 Santo Nino, Mahawan
 St. Francis of Assisi, Pangian
 The Nativity of Mary, Purok 6 Silae

The chapels in Purok 6 Silae and Nabag-o  all need renovations which consist of making parts of the chapel concrete.
The communities of Nalumusan and Nabag-o are among the least accessible (cannot be reached by four wheel vehicle) and the poorest of the 29 chapels we serve.
To donate, click here
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Features Fund for Apostolic Works

The Jesuit mission in Culion, Palawan: Helping the Tagbanuas

Tagbanua children

Introduction

The Literacy Program  in Culion, Palawan aims to develop the reading and writing skills of both the adults and children in selected Tagbanua  communities.   The program also aims to preserve the Tagbanua’s local culture and develop stronger and more confident communities.

 Jesuit presence in CulionCulion-map-138x150 The Jesuit mission in Culion, Palawan: Helping the Tagbanuas

In 1904, Gov. Wright of  the American Commonwealth, established  Culion  as  a leper colony paving the way for the first batch of 370 lepers from all over the archipelago to settle in 1906.   In the same year,  American Jesuits were sent to Culion to start chaplaincy work for the lepers and employees of the Philippine Health Service.  Over the years, the  Loyola College of Culion was established and has seen the chaplaincy to La Inmaculada Concepcion Parish grow and flourish.

tagbanua_photo-taken-from-ADMU-website-225x150 The Jesuit mission in Culion, Palawan: Helping the TagbanuasFr. Bok Arandia SJ, during his stay in Culion wrote, “after the establishment of the leper colony, the indigenous Tagbanua communities who were the original inhabitants of the Culion peninsula were  forced to settle in remote islands, with limited access to basic social services and education. They manage to survive through fishing, food gathering, and primitive agriculture. However, because of their inability to read, write and count, certain devious individuals have taken advantage of their ignorance, cheating them to sell their produce and catch at scandalously low prices.  Politicians have likewise used them to secure victory during elections, gathering and containing them in undisclosed holding areas distant from the influence and access of their political rivals.”

In 2006,  the Philippine province  re-examined its mission in Culion. Since there was no need for chaplaincy work due to the fewer number of lepers in the island, the Province decided to help the Tagbanuas, an Indigenous People community, through a literacy program.

In 2008, through the help of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, a literacy program  was began with some teachers from the parish. In 2011, Cartwheel Foundation brought their expertise and modules to help aid and systematize the program.  Since then, the parish, SPC and Cartwheel have been partners in this endeavor.

The program

Before 2011, literacy programs that were introduced had no sustainability mechanisms in place.  Hence,  there was a crucial and urgent need  to establish  one that will remain a fixture in order to equip members of the  communities with essential literacy and life skills.

The first six-month cycle of the new program began at the end of August, 2011 with forty (40) adult learners from two (2)Tagbanua communities – Alulad and Marabal.

In June 2013, the adult capability-building program ran its third cycle, further expanding operations to four (4) indigenous communities from the original two (2) pilot areas.  They have also instituted an early childhood education program for the Tagbanua communities in Culion.

Currently, the Adult Literacy Program is run by  the Cartwheel Foundation, Our Lady  of  the  Immaculate Concepcion Parish and the St. Paul of Chartres Sisters.  Fr. Arthur Nebrao, SJ is currently Parish priest of La Inmaculada Concepcion.

Culion after Typhoon Yolanda

Typhoon Yolanda hit Culion with devastating effects. These photos were taken during the visit of the Ateneo Disaster Response and Management (DReaM) Team and the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan in Culion, Palawan last December 5 to 9. The team visited the different areas and islands devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.

Why help?

Indigenous Peoples, like the Tagbanuas are generally discriminated not only because of their physical appearance but because many of them have low self esteem due to the lack of reading and writing skills.

Please donate to support the Literacy program and help build their lives  in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda!  The Literacy program’s next steps are:

  1. Collaborate with the Loyola College of Culion to house an IP school that would receive students who are ready for formal education through the Literacy Program.
  2. Bring the Literacy Program  to other far-flung communities.
  3. Conduct Train the Trainors workshops among previous beneficiaries to ensure continuous execution of the literacy program.

Click the Blue box above to make an on-line donation.  Or else, click here.

 

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Formation Fund

Preparing Jesuits for Mission

Photos by Jun Bugtas, Ro Atilano, and Ritz Arandia. From the Windhover.

By Fr. Olivier Lardinois SJ, Assistant for Formation, Chinese Jesuit Province

This article was originally published in Jesuits in Asia Pacific 2015, the annual report of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific.  It can also be found in their website.

Jesuit Commitment

At the very heart of the Jesuit vocation lies a personal commitment to follow the call of Jesus to work through him, with him and in him at the service of the Kingdom of God, which grows anywhere love and justice flourish: “Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men” (Mark 1:17) This is

Hello-and-Goodbye_Entrance-day-2015-200x150 Preparing Jesuits for Mission
Entrance Day 2015. Photos by Jun Bugtas, Ro Atilano, and Ritz Arandia. From the Windhover.

why several documents on Jesuit formation claim that God is the educator par excellence and why training for mission cannot succeed without helping the young Jesuit foster his friendship with Jesus.  Through a solid and regular prayer life, the young Jesuit in formation cultivates his intimacy with Christ, which slowly teaches him how to better discern, teach, behave and love as Jesus himself would do.  In fact, without an ability to convert himself daily in front of the Gospel and a deep desire to grow as a disciple of Jesus, a young man is unfit to enter or to stay in the Society of Jesus.

Gaining a freedom of heart

Another crucial dimension of Jesuit formation is to learn how to gain an ever-growing freedom of heart in front of all those things that can become a real obstacle to serving the mission well.  Some examples of obstacles are over-dependence on the affection of our family or good friends, too great an attachment to material comfort, a recurrent desire to feel 100 percent secure, our own ideas or prejudices regarding other persons or social classes or cultures or religions, our inner fears and anxieties, a lack of faith in God’s actions, having too strong a need to have our achievements seen and praised by others, and giving too much attention to our own self-respect and face.  This is why Jesuit formation endeavors to provide not just solid training in spiritual life towards conversion, but also a few psychological tools to help the future priest or brother to know his own personality better-his talents and limits, the inner wounds brought by early childhood, his patterns for leadership and the maintaining of relationships, his own  gree, sexual impulse, anger or blues, etc.  The more a man learns about how to cope well with his own imperfect character and psychology, the better he can serve others.

Empowering Priests and Brothers

Another important challenge of Jesuit formation is to empower future priests and brothers so that they can serve, accompany and/or train people, with enough joy, abnegation, intelligence, discernment, common sense, discretion, flexibility, humility and creativity.  Without possessing at least a few of these abilities, it will not be easy for them to pursue the main aims of the Jesuit mission: to inseparably promote faith and justice, to train men and women at the service of a more attractive Church and/or a better world, to do mission works at the frontiers i.e. where other priests usually do not go to serve, and to dialogue and cooperate with people of other cultures and/or religious faiths.  This is why even as the young Jesuit studies philosophy or theology, he is asked to serve with confreres and collaborators in different kinds of challenging works to teach him how to work as part of a team and help him become a more mature, wise and loving human being.  These works include service to the sick or to prisoners, teaching in a high school or university, social works at the service of the poor, intellectual research, preaching in front of an audience, youth training or pastoral leadership, media work, and spiritual guidance.

Last but not least, the main characteristic of Jesuit formation is the Magis Spirit.  It means to learn how to reflect and to work at a deep level, so that the result of one’s efforts in mission work can produce many good and long-term fruit. Jesuit formation insists much on the high quality of intellectual Ignatius6-224x150 Preparing Jesuits for Missionstudies, which should not only include a solid introduction to the human sciences such as philosophy, social analysis and anthropology and/or psychology, but also good training on how to reflect,write or speak on various subjects in depth, with a sharp, critical spirit in front of the sources of knowledge which man uses, and with the realization that any reality if often quite complex to understand and judge.  In this spirit, the young Jesuit is encouraged to experience at every stage of his formation various mission contexts, which will help him work effectively in today’s global and multi-cultural world.

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About Us

The mission continues

The only school in Miarayon region with no covered hall to keep children safe from rains and the heat during out of class activities. But the kids don't complain."

The Jesuit Formation

Jesuits in the Philippines are prepared for ministry through a long and rigorous process of formation.  The formation of Jesuits for priesthood takes 11-12 years, indeed a considerable period of time.  For quality service requires quality preparation.  The costs of formation over so many years are very high.  For many years, the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus has managed to cover the cost.  But with rising costs, the Philippine Province is beginning to feel heavily the financial responsibilities of its mission.

The impact of the Jesuits in the Philippines is extraordinary and unparalleled.  They are probably best known as caring and gifted educators, but they are also deeply committed to community service, apostolic missions and religious vocations.0004-372x150 The mission continues

Over the years, so many Jesuits have lived, worked and died in the Philippines.  This is what they do – give their all, no matter what the cost.  Today there less than 300 Jesuits in the Philippine Province, of which 100 are over 70 years old, and so many of them are infirm in one way or another.  Their health and medical care have taken its toll on the finances of the Jesuits.

We appeal to our lay partners to honor and support these deserving men with your kindness, thoughtful prayers, and with your generous donations.

Jesuit Mission

Our Jesuit priests are called to bring hope, reconciliation and peace into situations of hopelessness, strife and enmity.  They are missioned to Bukidnon to serve the people in Zamboanguita and especially the indigenous people in the surrounding mountains, to the poor people and former lepers of Culion, to the prisoners of Muntinlupa, to the sick at Philippine General Hospital, to direct the Emmaus Center to provide counselling for religious and priests, and even to Myanmar, Cambodia and East Timor.

Wherever they are assigned, our Jesuit priests cannot do the work alone.  In most places where they serve, the people have very little money to put in the collection box.

tinaytayan-Elementary-School-Childrens-Mass-444x150 The mission continues
Tinaytayan Elementary School Children’s Mass     

We appeal to our friends to join our priests in their mission with prayers and through generous contributions to their apostolic works.

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Features Formation Fund

Ordination 2015

Ordination of Jesuit priests 2018

We welcome six (6) new Jesuits; Ambrosio F. Flores, SJ; Alvin D. Laput, SJ; Mark Peter L. Lopez, SJ; Arnel T. Ong, SJ; Henry C. Ponce, SJ and Irmo Francis A. Valeza, Jr., SJ

They will be sent to the following Jesuit mission areas: Culio, Palawan, Cambodia, Bukidnon and the PGH Chaplaincy.

New-Jesuit-Priests_2015-150x150 Ordination 2015