P.T. aUGUSTINE FROM THE PHILIPPINES!

28 August 2011 will always be remembered as a great day for Fr John Manipadam, Saji and myself. We had a special celebration of the Holy Eucharist and get-together to pray and celebrate on the feast day of Saji and myself. As Fr Manipadam was leaving for Taipei, it was a fitting occasion for us to pray for him who was with us for the past two months. His sessions were very much appreciated by his students. Some of them were in tears as he bade good-bye to them. He has the good sense of keeping contact with his friends from different countries and thus we had a good chance to taste the Japanese cuisine in a good restaurant while 17 Japanese friends including 3 Jesuits visited us as guests. The World Youth Day was celebrated in a fitting manner in this part of the world. About 12000 youth from different cities of Philippines gathered to sing, dance and pray together. We had the good chance to be part of the gathering and to concelebrate with the Bishop, Provincial and a good number of priests. The Pastoral Renewal Programme in which I am a participant is going on well. I have friends from 18 countries. Fr Saji has been busy with his assignments ever since he landed in Philippines.

BINOY FROM BERKELEY (US)

It is almost two weeks since I landed in Berkeley, a city in the East shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. The journey was safe with a 16 hour- long non-stop flight from Dubai to San Francisco. Fr Jack Mitchell, The Minister of the Jesuit Community of the U.S. Assistancy, was at the airport to pick me up. Currently I am engaged in an Orientation Programme for the International Students at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University (JST/STU). It facilitates adapting the American academic culture. JST is a part of the Graduate Theological Union
that is a consortium of nine theological schools and affiliates. The students are free to take up courses in any of these schools including the University of California. The registration process for ‘Fall 2011 Doctoral Programme’ at JST/STU is scheduled to be on 4 September. Weather at Berkeley, California is pleasant. However the people at the North-East
Coast are still in panic in the aftermath of the ‘Irene’ storm attack.

VIBIN FROM FRANCE

The last month too was spent in the intense study of language. After finishing the language course at Blomet organized by the French Jesuit scholastics, we moved to different places. At Blomet the course was organized exclusively for Jesuits. There were sixteen Jesuits who attended the course, of whom five were Indians. That was an occasion to taste the international flavor of the Society of Jesus. Moreover that served us the opportunity to get accustomed to the French culture and cuisine. Afterwards, Sooraj left for Montpellier and Vibin left for Grenoble to do another level of language course. These are two major cities in the south west of France. We were given a warm welcome by the community members there. After the intensive courses in language, we are back in Paris.

jOHN mANIPADAM FROM TAIWAN

My two months in the Philippines were happy and fulfilling. There is already an invitation for an ‘encore’ next year. After enjoying a good Japanese Meal with a family of friends in Manila, Augustine, Saji and I bade good-bye to one another and I returned here, bringing rain after a long dry and hot season. This year we are happy to welcome four International
Regents -- one each from the Brazilian Amazon, from U.S.A.(Chicago), from Portugal and from India (Romio Brahma, a Bodo of Kohima Region). Three Mainland Chinese Scholastics whose retreat I directed in Manila will arrive here shortly to begin their study of Theology. In a few days I will be directing another retreat that of Religious, in our Manresa Retreat House, on a hillock two hours from here by bus. During my absence from the Province, our veteran Social Worker, Fr Luis Ruiz (98) passed away in Macau while still in action. We can all take to heart his oft-repeated remark: “For me, the happiest thing on earth is to make others happy”!

POLSON FROM KANDY, SRI LANKA

I arrived here safe and sound after a short flight of about an hour from Chennai to Colombo and an interesting trip via road further up to the lush green and surprisingly pleasant weather of Kandy. The next day we visited Kandy city which is less than 5 kms away. The place has an old world charm and is a blend of modernity with the ancient. The people are so polite and dignified too. Of course the economy is yet recovering from the ravages of the difficult times it went through until about less than 3 years ago. We had the inaugural Mass with the Provincial of Sri Lanka, Fr Jeyaraj Rasiah.
Our Tertian Masters are Frs Baylon Perera (SRI) - (classmate to many of our Province men!) and Priyo Poedjiono (IDO). We are 16 Tertians from more than half a dozen nations. I request your prayers for a fruitful time here.