Philippine Province Jubilee in Rome

Yesterday, Feb. 2, 2008, the Filipino Jesuits here in Rome were in joyful solidarity with our Province in celebrating the 50th anniversary of our (re)establishment as a Province in the Society of Jesus. We began with Mass here in the Curia at 6 PM. Fr. Ben Nebres (the only one among us Filipinos who had actually been alive and in the Society 50 years ago!) preached and presided. Our brothers from the East Asia and Oceania Assistancy joined us. After the Eucharist, the Filipinos treated our guests to a modestly priced, but extremely filling and tasty dinner in a Chinese restaurant near the Vatican, somewhat unimaginatively named Ni Hao. After dinner, we walked to a nearby Gelateria named Oldbridge which is the favorite of our Ambassador to the Holy See. After sampling the gelato, we understood why! Walking back together to the Curia through the Piazza di Risorgimento, enjoying our Gelato-filled cups or cones (oddly, because we were bundled up against the winter chill), was the final, happy stage of our celebration.

Fr. Ben’s homily

Fr. Ben preached a very moving homily, beginning first with amusing personal anecdotes describing life in the Philippine Vice-Province in the ‘50’s, and then, reflecting on the graces we have received from the Lord in the past 50 years as a Province. Fr. Ben invited us to thank God for so many blessings. He recalled the gift of leaders like Fr. Frank Clark, who, at the cost of much personal suffering, became a symbol, after his term as Provincial, of openness to the changes of Vatican II. He also pointed out our indebtedness to Fr. De la Costa, the first Filipino provincial, who, again at the cost of much personal anguish, managed to keep us a single province during the painful days of nationalism and antagonism between Filipino and American Jesuits. He spoke about the grace the Province has received of having contributed significantly to the nation, as in the EDSA revolution, in which Philippine Province Jesuits played key roles. He thanked God for the important legacy of the New York Province, which gave the Philippine Province the tradition of strong intellectual formation and special studies, as well as leaving the Province with a financial viability that has lasted 50 years. He reminded us of the grace of our schools, which have grown so much in the past 50 years, not just in numbers, but in an orientation of building up the nation and serving the poor. He invited us to be grateful for the attention the Province has given to formation over fifty years, for the Province’s courage in making radical changes in formation programs, and for how these programs have formed not just Jesuits, but also lay partners and diocesan priests. Finally, Fr. Ben spoke of the grace of our long and ongoing tradition of having served the bishops of the Philippines, many of whom are our alumni, and who are bound to us by ties of mutual affection, respect and trust. Because of this humble but important service to the bishops, we can be grateful that the Province has made a real and positive impact on the Church in the Philippines over the past fifty years.

What struck me was the great interest our brothers from East Asia gave Fr. Ben’s homily. I had thought that only the Philippine Province Jesuits would really appreciate Fr. Ben’s words. But right after the Mass, Fr. Matthias Chae, the Provincial of Korea, came up to me to tell me how had enjoyed all the stories, and had wanted Fr. Ben to tell more! And on the way to the Chinese restaurant, Fr. Shogo Sumita, Provincial of Japan, walked beside me because he wanted me to tell him more stories about the Philippine Province!

The Litany of Thanksgiving

For me, the unexpected and deeply consoling grace of that Eucharist came during the Prayers of the Faithful. I heard an unplanned litany of thanks for the Philippine Province.

Fr. Louis Gendron, Provincial of the Chinese Province, began by recalling how, when the Jesuits from China were expelled by the Communists, the Jesuits in the Philippines welcomed them, even giving them their own houses, as well as other facilities. He thanked God for the Philippine Province, because it made it possible for the Chinese Province to survive.

Fr. Renzo de Luca, from the Japanese province and a historian of Christianity in Japan, followed up by pointing out how some hundred years ago, the Philippine Province had also been a refuge for the Jesuits from and going to Japan. Again he thanked God for this tradition of hospitality of the Philippine Province.

Fr. John Mace, the Major Superior of East Timor, continued this theme of thanksgiving for the hospitality of the Province, personally experienced by him during the decade when he was Rector of Arrupe International Residence. He recalled with gratitude how graciously the Philippine Province welcomed the project of an Assistancy scholasticate, even giving the land for the house. He thanked God for our Province, because not only are we assisting the Assistancy missions by sending Filipino Jesuits to places like East Timor and Cambodia, but we have also contributed much to building the future of the Jesuit mission in Asia through formation.

The theme of formation became the next focus. Fr. Riyo Mursanto of Indonesia humorously referred to the “Mafia” in Indonesia of Jesuits who had received their philosophical or theological formation in Manila. Fr. Larry Tan, regional superior Malaysia-Singapore, similarly remembered all the Jesuits in Malaysia-Singapore who had been formed in Manila. Fr. Matthias Chae mentioned all the groups of Korean scholastics who had learned English in Manila. All three prayed in gratitude for the contributions of our Province in the formation of their men.

We had a “guest” at Mass, a Canadian Jesuit named Pierre Belanger, who is part of the communications team for GC 35. I was surprised when he chimed in with a prayer of thanksgiving for the creative and impressive work of Jesuit Communications in the Philippines, and prayed that this ministry continue to be blessed!

I was consoled as much as I was surprised, because I had not thought about the things our brothers from East Asia expressed gratitude for. As I listened, I felt a bit overwhelmed at all that God had made it possible for the Philippine Province to do for the Society of Jesus in Asia. I was also secretly glad that I had not counted this service to the Society in Asia in my inner inventory of God’s blessings to our Province. It suggested to me that we had welcomed and helped our brothers “naturally,” without thought or calculation, simply as a normal part of our being Jesuits.




The gift of holy Jesuits


Without planning it, I offered the final intention during the Prayers of the Faithful. I shared the prayer of thanksgiving that had been with me all of yesterday: my gratitude for the grace of holy Jesuits in the Philippine Province. Over fifty years, despite our weaknesses and defects, God has succeeded in raising up men of holiness in our Province. I recalled Fr. Charlie Wolf, a man of amazing spiritual depth, simplicity and compassion. I recalled Fr. Eddie Hontiveros, who, after composing the hundreds of songs that earned him the unofficial title “Father of Philippine liturgical music,” suffered in silence for seventeen years after a debilitating stroke removed his ordinary powers of speech—suffered in silence, but also with inexplicable joy and peace. I thanked God for these miracles of His grace, who powerfully remind me that God is with us and at work in the Province, and who continually invite their brother Jesuits to live up a little more authentically to our Jesuit ideals.

Because I felt self-conscious that I had already spoken a bit too long, I did not mention the second part of my prayer. But I prayed it in my heart. I prayed for our young men, that, by God’s grace, they too might become like our saints in the Province, always close to the love of God that makes us ever freer to serve and to follow His will.

That, of course, is a prayer, for the next fifty years.