Jesuit News Letter

PROVINCIAL’S PROGRAMME:

Jan  4 - 6                                  RKM, Gol Park: Seminar.

Jan 15-16                                 Consult.

Jan 20-25^th                               Prov. Congregation.

Feb 3                                        Ankurkala.

Feb.4-11                                  Raghabpur: Visitation

Feb 14-15                                Consult.

Feb 16-24                                          PJG: Visitation.

Feb 27- 4^th Mar                       VJ Visitation

Mar 7-11^th.                              Chennai: Visitation.

Mar 11 -17^th                            JCSA, Dhyanashram, Chennai

Mar 18-19^th                             Trichy: Visitation.

Mar 22-23                               Consult

Mar 24^th                                   MC Meeting: Burdwan&Durgapur

Mar 27-31^st.                            Arunoday: Visitation.

  FROM THE PROVINCIAL’S DESK.

    ‘Blessings’ – is the key word of the New Year. We have been saturated with it as we lived through the liturgy of the Christmas season. The phrase -‘You are the favourable one’  - brought about a revolution in the life of Mary and that of humanity. The New Year invites us to hear that word being spoken to us individually and to us as an apostolic team. Let us speak that word to each other – that each of us in the province may be a blessing to one another. The bonding that we prioritized as one of core themes of our vision begins to take form when we address each other as a blessing of the Lord.

    The New Year is also time to mark the quality of our living. Creating personal ‘sacred space and sacred time’ for ourselves, and revisiting them often during the day will energize us, will bring a new harmony within us and thus invigorate us in our mission. We gain psychic well-being, healthy bodies and complete lives by living the Spiritual Exercises, kicking unhealthy habits and accessing the energy zones in each other. We got to be attentive to that BIG GOD and to respond to what God is asking of us, more creatively and generously as our legendary Babu Beckers did in his own way. The core-value, the core-purpose, the key themes of vision and action plans should take us forward to envisioned new heights.  Let us do all that we can in order to take the province to new heights. That is the best tribute we can give to Fr. Arrupe in this year of his Birth Centenary (14^th Nov, 2007; 4^th Feb death anniversary). He called us for ‘holy boldness’ and ‘apostolic aggressivity”; we respond to him by making our action plans a time-bound programme.                                                                                              Fr. George Pattery.

APPOINTMENTS  

  By Father General

s Fr. Paul Locatelli (CGN), Secretary for Higher Education - a new post. Fr. Keller will also continue as President of the Santa Clara University.

  By Father Provincial 

s Fr. Stephen Raj, Acting Superior, Premananda Ashram, Chamrusai  

s Fr. K. T. Thomas, St. Xavier's High School, Haldia, teacher

s Fr. George Ponodath becomes an attached member of the St. Xavier’s Community, Kolkata

s Fr. K. Mathew Jayanth will be with us for some months, residing in St. Xavier's, Kolkata, for a sabbatical

Pastoral Ministry

s Fr. Paul Carlose: Premananda Ashram, Chamrusai

s Fr. Maria Joseph:  Prabhu Jisu Girja Parish

s Deacon Joseph Pulickal (will be ordained priest on13.01.07) Auxilium Parish  

PROVINCE CONGREGATION

    The Province Congregation delegates will gather in Dhyan Ashram on Jan. 20^th, 2007. Transport from SXC at 4 p.m.

    It will last as long as is required to complete the work on its agenda. All delegates must be present right from the opening of the beginning of the first session on the same day at 6 p.m. 

    The Preparatory Commission held its second meeting in Dhyan Ashram on 29.12.06. The requests for dispensation of the following elected delegates – Frs. Aelred Gomes, Korkoniyas Moses and Arjen Tete - were accepted. According to rules, their substitutes will be: Frs. Jimmy Keepuram, A. Carvalho and K.K. Devasy.

    Moreover Fr. Provincial has nominated the following additional members: Frs. Alphonse Crasta, Jean Englebert, Anil Gomes, Jerry Gomes and Joseph Toppo.

    There will thus be 51 delegates: 40 elected, 6 ex officio and 5 nominated.

 About Postulates: the last date for submitting postulates to Fr. Provincial was 15.11.06. However any member of the Province may still entrust postulates to any delegate to the Province Congregation, elected or nominated. The latter will submit them to the Secretary when the Congregation opens.

PROVINCE ASSEMBLY 2006

•     EThis was by far the biggest number of Jesuits that Dhyan Ashram Retreat House ever hosted. 135 Jesuits of Calcutta Province -including all out scholastics and staff studying or teaching anywhere in India - came together for the Province Days 2006 from 27^th to 30^th of December,. This was the culmination of a process starting with the last Province Days a year ago, combined with the Triple Jubilee celebrations.  Culmination, in a way; but also a new beginning of a bigger process.

•  The meet took off with a prayer service followed by the inaugural session at 6.30 in the evening.  Fr Andre Bruylants, the Rector of Dhyan Ashram, welcomed all, after which Fr George Pattery, the Provincial, presented the status of the province, putting forward some of his concerns.  The day concluded with an open air gala Christmas dinner.

•  The resource person for Dec 28 was Fr Paul Coutinho of the Bombay province, who invited us to reflect on the place  Ignatius holds in our personal lives.  With questions like “how big is your God?”, “are you ready to meet God now?” etc, he led us into a reflection on the source of our energy and inspiration. Reflecting on the life and writings of St Ignatius, he showed that our service as Jesuits should flow from his relationship with the divine/Jesus.  One session was on Ignatian pedagogy and methodology.  During the last session of the day, the congregation was divided into groups of 9-10 and was asked to share on (1) the profile of a Jesuit and (2) how we want to affect others.  It concluded with a general session where the various reports were presented.

•  During the Eucharist of the day and the get-together after dinner, the jubilarians were felicitated.  The young ones were surely inspired by the great stories and achievements of these great men.  The Eucharist was presided over by Fr Pierre Jacob during which Frs. Gaston Roberge and Lawrence Abello shared about their life and mission in the Society.  During the get-together after supper, it was the turn of Frs. Ruy Cordeiro, Christian Mignon and Andre Bruylants.  Frs. Van Hove and Raymond Pilette could not make it to the get-together.  Fr Albert Ernst must have cherished the moment sitting pretty up in father Abraham’s lap.  During the get-together, the new book by Fr Mignon, Ek Mutho Beej (A Handful of Seeds) was released by Bishop Salvadore Lobo of Baruipur diocese.

•  The next day was one of hectic work.  The day was anchored by Fr Paul Vaz of the Bombay province, who had guided us during the Province Retreat last October.  Starting from where he had left us during the retreat, and taking note of the Core Values and Core Purpose we had identified, he introduced group discussions to identify and lay down the Core Vision statement for the province for the next five years.  The groups came up with concerns that touched almost every field of our activity, but a specific thrust on Santal education and the need for greater bonding among us were highlighted by most of the groups.  Due to lack of time, we could not formulate one Vision statement; but more concretely the different commissions met and formulated very definite action plans for the next five years. 

•  On Dec 30, during his concluding remarks, Fr Provincial expressed happiness over the whole process that we went through, and hoped that this would be a rich input for the forthcoming Provincial Congregation.  He also requested the various commissions to elaborate on the action plans and then implement them systematically.

•  The concluding open session was chaired by Fr Charles Pollet.  Concerns ranging from vocation promotion and proclamation to respect of culture were raised by several of the participants.  A vote of thanks was proposed by Fr Dipak Gomes.

•  Kudos to all who toiled to hard to make these days fruitful.  The steering committee ably headed by Fr Jeyaraj Veluswamy and his able assistant Deacon Joseph Pulickal deserves special mention.  The hospitality offered by Dhyan Ashram and the excellent food served by Br Marydasan did not go unnoticed. May their tribe increase!

                                                                             Frs. Paul Carlose and Sajeev Painunkal

OUR FOUNDERS’ JUBILEE CONCLUDES WITH A SOLEMN EUCHARIST

      The triple jubilee celebrations for our first three founders concluded  with a solemn Eucharist which was held in the well decorated gymnasium of St. Lawrence High School. The guests were mainly the bishops, priests and religious of the three dioceses in which our Province mostly exercises its apostolate. Many responded to our invitation. As Archbishop Lukas Sirkar was out of Kolkata, the Eucharist pas presided over by Emeritus Archbishop Henry D’Souza who expressed in the name of the Archdiocese and in his own name a very personal note of thanks for the committed work of our pioneers and of the present day Jesuits. Bishop Salvadore Lobo joined him in this.

    It started with a fine power-point presentation on the early founders, and especially on St. Francis Xavier as this was his feast day. The singing mostly by our candidates and boarders of St. Lawrence under the leadership of Fr. Amulya and Sch. Xavier Inigo was soul-stirring. Fr. M. Saju George beautifully danced out the theme of the psalmody. In the homily Fr. George Pattery, Provincial, thanked the Lord for showering graces on us in the past,  and prayed that we may respond to the Spirit’s challenge in our age with the generosity of our three first Founders.

            This was followed by a fraternal dinner on the grounds of the school. A special note of thanks to the St. Lawrence community who set their soul and heart to make this a fitting climax to our Jubilee celebrations. 

  DANCE DRAMA ON THE LIFE OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER

•     v  One of the most significant events of the Jubilee of our three early founders, was the dance drama on the life of St. Francis Xavier, directed and scripted by Fr. M. Saju George.

•     v  It was first performed  on 25.11.05 in Raghabpur. The dancers and actors were 58 boys and  girls from Raghabpur school, our Juniors from Dhyan Ashram and Fr. Saju himself. It was the first time that the people of Raghabpur witnessed such a quality dance-drama production on the life of a Saint. They were very happy to see their own children dancing and acting. The students were also exposed to a high quality production. It may set a trend there for future programmes.
     v  It was again produced in the auditorium of St. Xavier’s College on 16.12.06 . There was good attendance by the religious and faithful of the city, It is rather disappointing that not many Jesuits  and Catholic students from our Jesuit schools turned up to encourage such creative effort to put across our apostolic spirit through the performing arts.

•    v   It may be the first time that such a dance-drama in Bengali (three hours) was produced. It brought out the life of St. Francis Xavier in simplified language, dance and music. It was symbolic, yet realistic in artistic method. The dancers and actors were non-professional village children; for most of them it was their first experience too. All those who witnessed the show spoke highly of its quality in dance and acting. It also touched their spiritual and aesthetic nerves.

•    v  It is proposed to stage it again in March in the St Xavier's College auditorium for the parishioners of Prabhu Jisur Girja and St Teresa's.                                                              - cjnl

  LAST DAYS OF FR. ‘BABU’ BECKERS AND FAREWELL

    In June 1999 Fr. Gerard Beckers had to be called back to St. Xavier’s, Kolkata, from his beloved mission among the Santals as the Parkinson disease made him frequently lose his balance. Since then his room in St. Xavier’s became a joyful adda as well a pilgrimage centre for his many old students and friends. With the ongoing sickness, his movements became more and more restricted, especially after he had a bad fall with hipbone fracture and subsequent operation. He gradually lost his sight, and his speech became more indistinct, but till the end he kept serenely and lovingly communicating with the many pilgrims who kept coming. For the last weeks Babu only sipped a little fruit juice to keep him going. He expired quietly on Sat. 09.12.06 at 6.30 p.m. A warm ‘thank you’ to Fr. George Camilleri, Nurse Chobi and team who gave him motherly care all these days.

     ◊  The funeral has held on 11.12.06 on St. Xavier’s grounds as the chapel could not hold his many friends and admirers. Babu must have watched with approval from the balcony of heaven as the liturgy was replete with Bengali and Santali hymns. Three Bishops - Archbishop Lucas Sirkar, Archbishop Henry D’Souza and Bishop Salvadore Lobo - attended. Fr. P. C. Mathew gave a stirring and challenging homily. When, at the end of the ceremony, the body was taken in procession across the field, the schoolboys were impressively ranged in silent attention along the school building. Doordarshan and several TV channels as well the press covered the event. 

      ◊  As Babu had donated his body for medical work, it was then taken to the Nilratan Sarkar Medical College. Many wanted to follow the hearse on foot in procession. Ultimately only quite a few could follow by car and taxi. The body was received in the Anatomy Department of the Hospital with great respect. No doubt a number of Babu’s friends will be inspired to follow his example.

     ◊  On Sat. 23.12.06 afternoon, the Blood Donors’ Association invited those who had been inspired by Babu’s life for a condolence meeting. More than 200 responded. Fr. Provincial and two other Jesuits attended. The meeting started and ended with fine Bengali devotional singing. Babu’s great friend, Mr. Nandan Bhattacharya, spoke with great feeling, with many reminiscences and anecdotes. The Secretary read a condolence message, mentioning among other things that Babu had donated blood about 136 times during his life    

Fr. ‘Babu’ Beckers Eye & Body Donation Invitation: There was a good response during the Province Assembly in Dhyan Ashram. Those who wish to donate either their eyes only or their body may obtain a registration form from Fr. Socius.

 TRIBUTE TO FR. G. BECKERS, SJ, by ARCHBISHOP HENRY D’SOUZA.

    ◊ Fr Gerard Beckers has died; but he will remain a legend in more senses than one. He was unique as a lecturer in St Xavier’s, where his competence made him an icon for students. He was able to enthuse them through the AICUF to share some of their leisure time with the less privileged- as for example in volunteer service to clean up outlying villages. He was unique as a missionary, where he brought an optimistic dynamism and creative enthusiasm for the uplift of people, and manifested great confidence in the natural wisdom of the local communities. He was unique as a patient in the infirmary, having lived on sips of orange juice for over several months.

    ◊ Babu Beckers had a very deep influence on the Indian Jesuit scholastics. I recall his trip with three of them (including my brother Stan) from Pune to Calcutta via the holy shrines of North India. They travelled by train without reservations; they ate at the railway restaurants the simple food of the commoner; they slept on the railway platforms awaiting connecting trains, using newspapers as their mats; they travelled with a shoulder bag containing a change of clothes and some requirements for daily Mass; they washed and bathed at the tube wells as so many of our people do.

  ◊  I believe that it was this experience that inspired so many of those Jesuits to live lives of great simplicity and obscurity, even though they have held important positions in the Society. Fr Beckers was a scholar, who chose to be a Jesuit first. He was extremely well-read and knowledgeable with a deep intuition and love for the cultures and customs of peoples, especially the Santals in India. He remained a man on mission till the very end. He would often say, “What is not given is lost”. He gave his life for the service of God and man in our country, and in death he has given his body for research.

   ◊  His memory and example will remain enshrined as a precious legacy for the Society of Jesus in West Bengal. The Archdiocese of Calcutta remains deeply indebted to them for their gift of Fr Gerard Beckers to us and for his life, ministry and witness which will remain an abiding inspiration to youth and to all of us!  

h HEALTH BULLETIN   h

Fr. K. Thottam underwent a successful cataract operation on 08.11.06

Fr. Joe Alexander is spending some time in the infirmary of St. Xavier’s, Kolkata, for monitoring various heath problems

PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF MARIA JOSEPH I.

    The ordination of Maria Joseph I. took place with pomp and glory on Dec. 6,  2006 at the hands of Archbishop Chinnappa, S.D.B of Madras-Mylapore, son of the soil and  first priest of the village, along with dozens of priests from the Pondicherry and Vellore Dioceses and a few religious priests. Maria Joseph I. is the fourth priest from his village. Representing our Province, several priests and scholastics were present. The ceremony began with a procession led by the best of the Tamilnadu bands, ‘Police Band’, which the Archbishop himself had brought from Chennai. The local choir sang the hymns with zest and perfection. The ceremony went on for nearly 2 ½ hours. During the felicitation meeting, Fr Kurian Emprayil. on behalf of he Province, thanked the Archbishop, and also Maria’s parents, brothers and sisters for having given one of their own to the Society of Jesus and to the Calcutta Province. The next day at 7 a.m. the new priest celebrated his First Holy Eucharist with fervour, piety and reverence.                                                                                                        Fr Srijon  

& JUST OUT OF PRESS; ‘Ek Mutho Beej” by Fr. Christian Mignon, SJ   

     “Ek Mutho Beej” (‘A handful of seeds’) is a book in Bengali containing a great variety of Christian themes developed against the background of past experiences and concrete facts of life. This selection is meant especially for religion-teachers, preachers, catechists, retreat-givers, all those engaged in apostolic work. It is also recommended for spiritual reading, as well as for catechumens of non-Christians who want to know about the Christian faith and Christianity.

     Available at Prabhu Jisu Girja or Daughters of St. Paul. Price: Rs. 80.

( : < POSTAL AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES, PHONE Nos, etc. ( : <

: Fr. Mathieu Schilling & Shanti Bhavan: schillings.m@gmail.com

: Arunoday Pre-novitiate, Barasat: arundodaypn@gmail.com

 X  THEY FOLLOWED THE STAR TO THE END   X

V Fr. Raymond Keller (BME)    29.11.06     Charleroi (Belgium)     93/75

V Br. Irudayam Maria (MDU)    09.12.06    Dindigul                       88/27

V Fr  Gerard Beckers (CCU)   09.12.06   Kolkata                     82/62 .

V Fr. Adolf Fernandes (BOM)    25.12.06    Goa                               54/26

       V The mother of Fr. Eric Tigga, Esther, on 16.12.06

       V The father of Fr. Cyriac Sebastian, on 18.12.06

         V The small niece of Sch. John Kerketta, on 19.12.06

         V The father of Shanti Tirkey, cook in Xavier Sadan, on 20.12.06

FR. GERARD BECKERS, S.J.

(03.02.1924 – 01.02.1944 – 09.12.06)

Homily delivered by Fr. P. C. Mathew, S.J. at the funeral Mass

in St. Xavier’s College on 11.12.06)

     v Most mortals serve an institution and become part of it, while a few serve to transform the institution. Armed with a D.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Louvain, Fr. Gerard Beckers -  affectionately called ‘Babu’ by most -  came from Belgium to India in 1954, and joined the Department of Chemistry of St. Xavier’s College in 1960.  His teaching, in the words of his students, ‘prepared them not only for the University examination, but also for further studies, research, and life’.

    v His broad vision of education could not restrict him to classroom teaching or mere academics. His more than two decades of association with St. Xavier’s witnessed a radical transformation of the institution. Much before the Jesuits adopted the now famous decree of ‘option for the poor’ in their apostolic endeavour, this humble son of Ignatius initiated a social transformation in the college that had its strong impact on its policies, outlook, administration and pedagogy! Like Gandhiji, Babu wanted his Jesuit comrades to make the poor the centre and ultimate parameter of their educational endeavour. Much before the government and the political parties preached equity and accessibility, he had been challenging his Jesuit comrades with his prophetic vision and ardour to come out openly to the rescue of the marginalized, and to open the doors of St Xavier’s to them, and particularly to the SC,  STs and OBCs. In the 70’s every inch of vacant space in the college was made use of to offer help to the economically backward. This led to the founding of Ananda Bhavan, initially christened Beckers Hostel. If the college today serves more than 500 SC/ST/OBCs, the credit goes to the vision of this friend of the antaja! Far ahead of the liberation theologians, he denounced the pro-rich, colonial mentality of many in the Church and of the Society, and challenged his Jesuit companions to live a simple life adapted to the socio-cultural milieu! Born ahead of his times, the prophet in Babu brooked no opposition and lived out his convictions! The visible social dimension of the college as it stands today is a rich tribute to the visionary and prophet we call Babu!

    v  His pitching the tent with the AICUF and turning it into an effective organization was born out of his conviction that youth power can transform Society. His towering personality and indomitable spirit inspired many young men and women to join the AICUF camps that turned out to be platforms for churning out youth leaders with the spirit of Christian altruism. The fact that many young men of other faiths joined these camps stands as tribute to the secular credentials of Babu and of the movement! Under his leadership, the AICUF movement took deep roots in Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and the North-East. In fact he and Fr Ceyrac, S.J., of the Madurai Province are the architects of the modern AICUF movement. And Providence would bring Fr Ceyrac, a man of 92, to Kolkata to meet his dear friend Babu, just a day before his death! Strange and inscrutable are God’s ways!

      v Fr. Beckers was the initiator and promoter of the National Service Scheme in the College and beyond, from the launching of the NSS by the UGC. Many work camps were organized in rural areas. These were tough in terms of the food served, and of the tiring and demanding manual work schedule, challenging the young ones’ generosity, Babu himself leading the way! Yet there was never any shortage of students for these camps. The Sherpur Project, with its flourishing cattle market and leather industry, stands as proof of the success stories of these camps. A product of the Second World War, Babu had experienced deprivation and hard work as a young man; this came in handy in his days as a NSS leader. 

    The revival of the Students Health Home in the 70s, the Blood Donation movement of the College are proud legacies of Babu to the city and to the college. His altruism gave expression to the movement for Blood and Eye Donation. The donation of his own body for medical work is the ultimate proof of his conviction as a Christian scientist and rationalist!

    v His proverbial love for the unwanted, finally found its fulfilment in 1984. While in St Xavier’s, he felt an irresistible urge to come closer to the ‘Antaja’ and to serve their cause! In 1984, at the age of 60, at his own request, he went to serve the poor and marginalized Santal tribals. He adapted to the rural reality and poverty with amazing ease and zest! ‘Blessed are the poor!’ For the next decade and a half, Babu went round like Jesus, preaching the good news ‘of the liberation of the captives’ of social justice, moving from Chamrusai, to Pandua to Kalna, learning Santali, teaching, pasturing and promoting social upliftment programmes. ‘Blessed are those who hunger for justice!’  In 1978 he obtained Indian citizenship, and now he was sparing no effort to become a  ‘Santal citizen’. Naturally this charismatic Jesuit won the hearts of these simple people. But God had other designs! Parkinson’s disease stood in the way of his fulfilling his wish. He was back in St Xavier’s in 1999, but soon to be restricted to the infirmary.  

  v A scholar, teacher, philosopher, guide, and committed Christian social activist and pacifist, yet a rebel who would join the Jesuit order despite the fact he was thrown out from the Jesuit school in Brussels where he was studying!  Healthy confrontation for him was the best way of sorting out differences. He could challenge and condemn like the prophets of old, any situation or institution, when things did not fall in line with his sense of justice, compassion and love. Any ordinary mortal could feel threatened on such occasions, but the next moment one could experience the suave Babu oozing out love and affection. That was his special charismatic gift. ‘Blessed are the compassionate!’

    v We could talk of Babu’s ordinary and great deeds endlessly… His is the type around whom legends are woven. Ultimately this legend can be understood by unveiling the mystery of this humble human being, servant of Jesus, a Jesuit totally committed to the Ignatian spirit reaching for the ‘Magis’, a Christian in love with the world, ready to spend himself to produce fruit in abundance, a religious who, in his manifold activities, could relate to the divine at the heart of all that is happening, a contemplative in action! He was passionately moved by the love of Christ which he extended in his unique love and bondage for India. It is this love of Christ that inspired him to leave his country and his people and spend himself in the service of India! Yes, he was caught up in the vortex of this infinite love of God manifested in Jesus.

    v Dear Babu you did legendary deeds while alive which we, ordinary humans, cannot measure up to. You shall continue to be a shining icon enshrined in the heart of every Jesuit companion, Xaverian or villager who experienced God’s compassionate love through you.

    Thank you, my brother, for what you are and what you did for all of us. now you are enjoying the presence of the God you loved and died for…Be our intercessor and inspirer from your heavenly abode!