The Beginning of the End

That's it for me in terms of lectures for this academic year. Now all I have to do is revise, revise, revise and sit three exams (all oral) plus the big comprehensive examination at the end.

15 of our brothers are getting ordained deacons later this afternoon. Normally, Jesuits are ordained deacon at their place of study and priest (presbyter) in their home province or home town. Please keep our brothers in your prayers. The ordaining bishop is Rev. Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Pune. Please keep them in your prayers.

Pune Blasts

We're all fine here at De Nobili College and, as far as I know, no one in the JDV family was involved. Some of our exchange students from Germany had been in the German bakery earlier in the day (one had a narrow escape - she only left the bakery less than an hour before the blast), but they're unhurt otherwise.

Please keep the victims and their families in your prayers. Pray also for God's mercy and repentance for the perpetrators.

The Account of Conscience

A long time ago (!) I wrote that my Provincial (Rev. Fr. Michael Holman SJ) was visiting me in early January for my annual 'account of conscience' (also called the 'manifestation of conscience' or simply 'manifestation' in older documents). But what is an account of conscience and what does it mean in the life of a Jesuit?

Later [1], in conformity with our profession [2] and manner of proceeding, we must always be ready to travel about in various parts of the world, on all occasions when the supreme pontiff or our immediate superior [3] orders us. Therefore, to proceed without error in such missions, or in sending some persons and not others, or some for one task and others for different ones, it is not only highly but even supremely important that the superior have complete knowledge of the inclinations and motions [4] of those who are in his charge, and to what defects or sins they have been or are more moved and inclined; so that thus he may direct them better, without placing them beyond the measure of their capacity in dangers or labors greater than they could in our Lord endure with a spirit of love; and also so that the superior, while keeping to himself what he learns in secret, may be better able to organize and arrange what is expedient for the whole body of the Society. (Constitutions of The Society of Jesus, [93])

Notes:

[1] i.e. after formation

[2] of vows

[3] usually referring to the Provincial

[4] Spiritual “motions” or movements. In Ignatian literature, it refers to the interior desires, feelings etc. that each person experiences as a result of the action of the Holy Spirit (or its opposite). Discernment of spirits is the keystone of Ignatian and Jesuit spirituality.

As a missionary order, Jesuits are called to be ready to accept any mission asked of them. But how does the missioning superior (usually the Provincial) know which of his charges is up to the particular task? Of course, a vital input into any such decision is the feedback the superior receives from the peers, community members, colleagues, previous superiors etc. of his charges. Just as important, however, is the direct knowledge the superior has of his charges in the annual heart-to-heart conversation called the 'account of conscience'.

Every Jesuit makes an annual account of conscience to his Provincial or Regional/Mission superior. In addition, Jesuits in formation make an account of conscience to their local (i.e. community) superiors once every six months. The mode of giving/receiving the account of conscience can vary from place to person and person to person. Most commonly, the account of conscience takes the form of an interview/conversation that lasts about an hour. However, I do know of an instance where a superior received the account of conscience spread out over a whole morning whilst the two of them visited museums, coffee shops etc.! Often superiors take great pains to to help Jesuits (especially less experienced ones) relax into the process (Many superiors of Jesuits in formation refer to it simply as the annual or six-monthly “check in”). I should point out that the annual account of conscience is not an obligation under pain of sin as per Canon 630. Great care, especially in recent decades, has been taken to foster an environment of openness between superiors and charges that allows spiritual conversations like this to take place.

Why is the account of conscience so important in Jesuit mission and life? After all, the vast majority of religious orders (or non-religious organisations like the armed forces or even corporations, for that matter) get along perfectly well without it.

I think the answer has to do with our particular charism and spirituality. As I mentioned above, the keystone of Ignatian spirituality is the conviction that the Holy Spirit can and does interact directly with the created person. God's will for each Jesuit is mediated through a number of channels – personal movements of spirit, mission given by superiors, decisions of the hierarchical Church etc. By engaging in a personal, spiritual conversation (which is what the account of conscience is, at its heart) with each Jesuit, the superior participates in the discernment process of, for and with that individual.

Busy!

I realise it's been a while since I posted last. It's a busy period at DNC with all the second-year philosophers preparing hard for the comprehensive examination (to see the draft study guide we've prepared, visit the Praxis blog - which is run by a fellow scholastic in my class). The Comprehensive Examination is a combined written-oral exam that evaluates one's synthesis of two years of studying philosophy. We have a 3-hour written paper in mid-March followed by a 15-minute viva-voce at the end of that month.

Goodbye 2009

It's nearly the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century since the birth of Our Lord or the third millennium of the Common Era. (Actually, there's another year to go but I've stopped being picky about these things...)

Here at DNC we have a special thanksgiving Mass at 11pm tonight. Tomorrow, a whole group of us is going to Lonavla (a hill-station about an hour's drive from here) for a conference on Nano-science and Religion (organised by the JDV's Association for Science, Society and Religion). We'll be back on Tuesday, when my provincial - Rev. Michael Holman SJ - will be visiting me (all the way from London, no less!) and receiving my annual manifestation of conscience. More on that next year...

2009 has been a memorable year for me. The most important moment, of course, was my profession of first vows in the Society of Jesus on September 5th. This year I've been an assistant chaplain in a South London comprehensive (high school), the sacristan of a suburban parish church and a philosophy student. Some of my favourite memories of the year:

• Fun in the snow in London in January (unfortunately I'm missing this season)
• The sight of Stonyhurst College, Lancashire as one comes up the drive for the first time
• Relaxing in the pub with freshly-minted Jesuits the evening after vows
• The hospitality of the Indian Jesuits when I got here in October
• Many many long meaningful conversations - with family and friends, strangers and dreamers, laypeople and consecrated and priests

I hope and pray you will have a blessed new year and your heart's deepest desires will come true. See you in 2010!

Christmas at De Nobili College

The house has gone quiet now that the Christmas festivities are over (not all – there was a Santhal Christmas Mass in the house philosophers' chapel this morning). Over half of the scholastic

s have now gone back to their Provinces to celebrate New Year's in the provinces, home visits etc.

The main Christmas programme in the house began at

10:30pm on Christmas Eve with the Hindi Mass. The music was largely in the Central Indian style (distinct from the Punjabi bhajans you'd hear in a Hindi Mass in Delhi, for instance). A few of the scholastics (particularly those who weren't feeling too well with the cold snap Pune's being having recently) stayed around to attend. The Mass and following function was organised by the tribal Jesuit scholastics of

DNC.

The main celebrant was Fr. Thomas Kuriakose SJ (Delhi Province), who teaches Church History here at JDV. About 300-400 people must've turned up: the chapel was overflowing and there were people standing in the hallway. Following Mass, there was coffee, cake and tribal dancing! My Phenomenology professor calls dance “the interplay between motion and stillness” - but I doubt there was much stillness in the tribal dance! A few courageous scholastics manfully tried to master the increasingly intricate steps that our tribal brothers and sisters flowed into so effortlessly. The dance went on till about two in the morning, by my reckoning.

The following morning there was no morning wake-up bell in the house. The community Christmas Mass was a sober but cheerful event at 11 a.m., presided over by the Rector himself. Instead of the usual homily, we had an extended period of praying for intentions, particularly remembering those we had prayed for at other times in the year.

After Mass came the DNC Christmas gathering. We sang a few carols, played some silly games and received gifts. Then Christmas lunch – mutton biryani, chicken curry, vegetables and ice-cream. Unfortunately one of our theologian-scholastics got a rather large bone stuck in his throat while swallowing and had to be rushed to hospital (he's fine now and back with us). The afternoon was free for visiting friends etc.

For most Christians, Christmas is the time for being with family, remembering what our loved ones mean to us and (hopefully) evaluating our priorities to see if our families still come first. For consecrated, that togetherness is found in our communities. It is a really sad thing for a person to be alone and lonely at Christmas. The truth of Gabriel Marcel's dictum “esse is co-esse” is incontrovertible at Christmas. Being is being-with; to exist is to co-exist, with others.

Joyeaux Noel

The Christmas decorations are up here at DNC. The crib is ready (well, almost). The afternoons are taken up with carol practice for the Christmas Mass. Some groups of scholastics have already been out carolling in neighbouring parishes.

I won't be blogging on Christmas day itself; so I'll leave you with an adaptation of St. Ignatius's Contemplation of the Nativity (Spiritual Exercises [110-117]):

Take a moment to be still and realise that you are in the presence of God.

Visualise, in the mind's eye of the imagination, the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem. How long is it? How wide? Is it level, or does it wind through valleys and hills? Imagine also the cave or manger where the birth of our Lord is to take place. How big or small is it?

Now imagine Our Lady, St. Joseph and the infant Jesus after his birth. Imagine yourself a poor, little servant, gazing at them, contemplating them, and serving them in their needs just as if you were there. Freely interact and converse with either the Holy Family or anyone else who happens to be there.

After a while, when you feel satisfied, take a moment to take stock of what has just been happening.

End with an Our Father.

Have a very Merry Christmas!