Introduction

Who am I?

I am an Indian-born Jesuit scholastic (i.e. student training for the priesthood) of the British Province. I entered the Jesuit British-Irish joint novitiate at Birmingham, England in September 2007 and made my first profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in September 2009. I am currently pursuing my studies in philosophy at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV), the Jesuit formation centre in Pune, India and a member of the De Nobili College (DNC) Jesuit formation community. For more details on Jesuit formation, please visit the British Jesuit Vocations website.

Who is this blog for?

This blog is primarily about my experience of Jesuit life, formation and studies at JDV/DNC. It is intended, in the first place, for family, friends and well-wishers who want to know how I'm getting on; but if you're someone interested in becoming a Jesuit or simply interested in Jesuit spirituality, life or formation today, I hope you will find these pages helpful.

Why is this blog called An Unworthy Knight?

Between 1521 and 1541, St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus (aka 'The Jesuits') gathered together his spiritual experience and his experience of aiding people in the spiritual life in a little manual called The Spiritual Exercises (SpEx). Intended for retreat directors directing spiritually committed people through a 30-day retreat, the SpEx is a collection of various “spiritual exercises” (analogical to physical or mental exercises) for the retreatant through four phases called 'Weeks'. In the 'Second Week', Ignatius asks the retreatant to consider the call of Christ to each one of us to participate in his mission of redeeming the world:

“... whoever wishes to come with me has to be content with the same food I eat,
and the drink, and the clothing which I wear, and so forth. So too each one must
labour with me during the day, and keep watch in the night, and so on, so that
later each may have a part with me in the victory, just as each has shared in
the toil.” (SpEx [93])

A response to such a call cannot be taken for granted:

… [Consider how] good subjects ought to respond to a king so generous and kind;
and how, consequently, if someone did not answer his call, he would be scorned
and upbraided by everyone and accounted as an unworthy knight. (SpEx [94])

All progress in the spiritual life, including and especially Jesuit formation, calls for a continuous renewal of one's commitment to answer the call of Christ no matter what the cost, trusting in the hope of Christ's eventual victory over darkness, injustice and sin. I hope that, as you read these pages, you will say a little prayer for me in my ongoing formation and spiritual growth as I will be doing likewise for you.