Walk with us!

The parish church in Dumaliano

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, is in the Philippines assisting with the English program for SCJ students. Today he posts from Dumalinao. Also, Fr. Tom has been doing interviews with his students. They are being posted on the US Province website as they are written. Click here to view them.

Getting used to rainy season

It’s now 7 p.m. as I sit in the dark before my computer. Our electricity has just gone off and I’m waiting for their new generator to kick in. I think yesterday was the first time they used it, and it functioned well when the power went out. I’m told that losing power is rather common around here even more so then what I experienced in Cagayan del Oro. I think we all have to give the power company some slack on this one as we have had a constant heavy rain and thunderstorms for the past three hours. They’ve now ceased and once again you can hear the insects of the night.

Today was the first of our celebration days. This morning at 9:00 we had the Religious Profession Mass with Fr. Frank Pupkowski, SCJ, as regional superior, the principal celebrant. One other important person to note Fr. Rino Venturin, SCJ, the district superior of Vietnam. Our Vietnamese students study both philosophy and theology here in the Philippines.

Because this week also marks the 25th anniversary of our presence in the Philippines a number of SCJs from around the congregation, including several provincials from Europe, were also present today. In the group making their final profession were four Filipinos and two Vietnamese while all five of those making first vows were Filipino. The entire ceremony lasted about two hours and was followed by a meal held on the novitiate grounds. Fortunately the rains did not come until later in the day allowing us all to eat in comfort. Because of the large crowd the meal was catered by a local company that I presume came from Pagadian.

I would love to show you pictures of the vow ceremony but somehow my pictures did not appear in the iPhoto app and I’ve been deleting photos off my phone when I transfer them. Alas I’m afraid their lost forever. Too bad as plenty were taken with the help of Fr. Khoa Nguyen, SCJ, my travel companion from Cagayan del Oro who had a better vantage point to take pictures this morning. I will try to see if I can scrounge up a few photos from one or the other photographers in the house.

I managed to finish my walk just before the rain began a little after 3:00 this afternoon. Staying at the house is the young niece of Fr. Arthur Guevarra, SCJ, who followed me around on my 90 minute walk, well at least for some of it.

Today’s rain was the first of what I would consider to be a typical day in the rainy season. Heavy rain for a time with thunder and lightning to accompany the storm. If there is one difference I noted there is not the strong wind we often associate with thunderstorms in the Midwest.

Tomorrow morning we head to Kumalarang for a 9:00 Mass to kick off the feast day celebration. It is the last of the original three parishes that we SCJs still staff. It is about an hour from here by car. Last evening many went to Margosatubig for a dinner given by one of our former parishioners. As I had just completed a six-hour car ride to get to the novitiate I opted to stay home and rest. Magos and Dimataling were two parishes we had to give up some years ago at a time when some of the rebel groups were kidnapping foreign nationals for ransom. This step was taken after one of our own priests, Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ, an Italian, was kidnapped and held for close to six months before being released.

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy is in the Philippines for the next few weeks, teaching English. On April 30 he writes:

Today is the last day of the month and tomorrow we begin May with the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, and in much of the world its May Day, which compares to our Labor Day celebration back in the States.

After class yesterday the students told me they were going out to play soccer. The players were all Vietnamese plus two from the formation staff. I learned that soccer is not popular with Filipinos, or at least with the three enrolled in our program. I’m not sure what is the most popular sport but as I mentioned in an earlier entry basketball may well be.

Unlike India, where I found at least three channels devoted to cricket, I have not found a similar local TV dedication to a single sport. I have to admit I have not explored the entire spectrum of stations at our disposal. As in India the preferred method of reception is via satellite. I have run across both Fox and ESPN sport channels that devote time to local and international sports. Perhaps the one exception is that neither channel pays much attention to baseball, but certainly to a lot of European soccer and the NBA playoffs.

Keeping up with the Brewers has not been difficult. It is a bit strange to turn on a game after coming to my room following morning prayers and breakfast. Stranger too to keep in mind the game is being played the night before according to my local time setting.

Turning to weather, Cagayan de Oro is at a latitude of 8.4833° N, 124.6500° E meaning we are close to the equator. Sunrise this morning was at 05:26 and will set this evening at 17:51. There is not much change year round so most days, the average daylight hours are just slightly over 12 (today it is 12 hours and 25 minutes). It also means there is very little twilight as once the sun goes down it is almost immediately dark.

Looking ahead to May and the start of the rainy season our days will begin to cool off just a bit. Right now we are running between 32° Celsius (89.6 F) and 35° C (95 F) for highs and 22° C (71.6 F) and 23° C (73.4F) for lows. Towards the end of May the highs will hover between 30° C (86 F) and 32° C(89.6 F) and the lows will be about the same as we have presently. I was told the rains can last into October though as the summer begins to wane the rains lessen as well.

The Philippines are subject to typhoons. According to the internet on average 20 typhoons enter the Philippines each year. Mindanao, as the principal island in the southern part of the country, seems to experience less major storms as most of these seem to go through the center chain of islands.

The SCJs, in conjunction with a number of other religious communities, are working on a project to rebuild homes on Leyte Island for those who lost all in Typhoon Haiyan that struck the central islands last November.

SCJ Formation House, Cagayan de Oro

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy is in the Philippines for the next few weeks, teaching English. The following are recent reflections that he wrote for our province blog:

April 25, 2014: SCJ Formation House, Cagayan de Oro:

It is now 09:00 and later today I will meet with the students so I’ll save talking about them until tomorrow. I’ll try to explain the building complex that will be my home until early June. This is indeed a formation community as there are three levels of formation that take place here before the students move on to the novitiate and then to Manila for their theological studies. Here are the levels:

1. Postulants — these men are preparing to enter the novitiate the program in most provinces lasts for a year.

2. Aspirants — these men are studying philosophy at Xavier University and will move up to postulancy upon completing their philosophical studies.

3. Orientation Year — these men are beginners and are being introduced to religious life, the SCJ way of life, and working to develop their English language skills.

The campus grounds are spacious and include garden areas as the buildings form a square and like so many Mediterranean structures, there are interior courtyards. As this is a tropical climate it is filled with plants and greenery.

There are two sports fields available as well: a small soccer field and a basketball court. Basketball is a popular sport in the Philippines along with badminton. Actually, I may be off on badminton as the Indonesian SCJs who have come to the Philippines brought their passion for badminton with them.

In addition to the three formation programs Cagyagan is also where the regional superior has his office. Fr. Frank Pupkowski, SCJ, is the current superior and will complete his first three-year term next spring. I will have to check if their development office is also on campus. Fr. Frank was responsible for it before becoming regional superior. The US Province Development Office assisted the SCJs in the Philippines to establish a similar program here and it has proved to be rather successful in helping the region to aim toward financial self sufficiency.

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A few of Fr. Tom’s students

April 26, 2014:  First Day of Class

It is now 08:50 on Saturday morning and it seems rather strange to be listening to the Milwaukee Brewers play the Chicago Cubs at Miller Park on Friday night — it’s the bottom of the second as I begin my writing.

I met the students for the first time yesterday in a get-acquainted session. As I indicated previously my task is to work on English pronunciation. In the morning the students have English classes with another teacher.

I met with nine students yesterday and two more will join the group on Monday. When all 11 are present there will be eight Vietnamese and three Filipinos. Each group presents pronunciation issues given their native languages. I suspect all the Vietnamese will have similar issues while that may not be the case with the Filipinos as they come from two different language groups: Cebuano and Tagalog.

They seem like an eager group, but it’s the first day and time will tell how well we work together. I did get one piece of sound advice from Kelly Kornacki, the director of ESL at Sacred Heart School of Theology: use a lot of humor! Having to struggle to learn Italian when I went to Rome in 1991, I think that gives me both empathy for the students and hopefully some ways to help.

I decided to use a book by John Grisham: Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer. The Theodore Boone series is written for children, about the same age as the Harry Potter series. I’ll use a technique that Fr. Bernard Rosinski, SCJ, used last year in having the students record their reading of sections of the book and then going over with them their pronunciation.

April 27, 2014: Mercy Sunday

Sacred Heart Parish

About 08:00 Fr. Khoa Nguyen, SCJ, drove me to the Santuario Eucaristico – Sacred Heart Parish about a 10 minute drive from our house into the heart of Cagayan de Oro City. I was asked by Fr. Arthur Guevara, SCJ, to celebrate the 09:00 and 11:00 English Masses. The SCJs were covering the Sunday Masses so the shrine staff could go on retreat for the week.

Actually, almost everyone was out of the house by 09:00 either scheduled to celebrate Mass or for the students to go with one or the other priests to attend Mass. Today is Divine Mercy Sunday and a big day of celebration here and around the world as John XXIII and John Paul II were about to be canonized by Pope Francis. Rome is six hours behind our time so the actual event at the Vatican was still in the future when most Filipinos went to Mass.

Sacred Heart Parish/Shrine has seven Sunday Masses (one on Saturday and six on Sunday). Two are in Cebuano and the rest in English. Neither Mass I had could I claim that the church was packed. This is summer and the nearby university is on break as well, and I’m sure that cut down on the number of people attending. There we lots of kids and youth in attendance.

They have two cute customs for the younger children (from 3 to about 10 or 11). At the offertory the kids bring up their envelopes and hand them to the celebrant and these are added to the collection. Then at the end of Mass just before the final blessing over the congregation the kids come up to the celebrant who gives them a special blessing.

After the 11:00 Mass I went to have lunch with family friends of Fr. Guevara. Fish played an important part of our meal as there were at least three kinds on the table. In addition there was a meat dish that they called a stew. It was more like a semi-clear broth in which the meat was cooked rather then what we would think of as stew back in the States. I particularly liked the spinach-like greens that came in a vinegar based dressing along with onions. It is something I hope to eat again.

Finally, one of the three fish dishes served was a fish delicacy, or at least that’s how Fr. Guevara described it: “The Jaw of the Tuna.” I don’t know if they really consider it a delicacy but it tasted good to me and happily did not have bones to contend with, or at least the pieces I procured.

The family might be typical of many educated Filipinos. A sister is a US citizen living in New York and is a doctor of physical therapy. A brother is a nurse and along with his wife, who is also a nurse, they live and work in a suburb of Belfast, Ireland. The father of the clan is now 77 years old lost his wife to a stroke several years ago but continues to visit his children abroad. He told me he goes to the States about every six months. As for mom and dad, they introduced me to their four daughters; the oldest is now in high school.

From India to the Philippines. After a short break at home for Holy Week and Easter Fr. Tom Cassidy is back in Asia, this time the Philippines, where he will be assisting with the English program there. This is the first of his blog posts from the region. 

Dehon House, Manila

It is now late afternoon as I am completing my first day in the Philippines. Today is a recovery day from my travels and tomorrow I’ll fly down to Mindanao to begin my time as English teacher. Actually, if I am correct, it would be better to say Assistant English Teacher. As I understand my job it will be to work on pronunciation with the students, but time will tell as to what my real duties will be. I did come prepared with several texts thanks to Kelly Kornacki who heads the ESL program (English as a Second Language) at Sacred Heart School of Theology. These will form the basis of my work.

I am staying at our scholasticate, Dehon House, where our SCJs live while studying theology here in Manila. If I counted correctly there were 20 students living here during the school year that ended in March. The students are a mixture of Filipinos and Vietnamese. At least up until now all our Vietnamese SCJs have done both their novitiate and theological studies here in the Philippines.

As you may know the Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia, thanks to  its long colonial period under the Spanish. That in many ways makes Manila the center of Catholic studies in Asia and it is sometimes called the Vatican of the East as it has excellent theological schools and universities. It is also a good place for sabbatical studies and refresher courses.

On the drive from the airport last evening I was told the education system (at least at the university level) is in the process of revamping its scholastic year. Two years from now it will go on a semester system similar to what we have in the States, i.e., a fall semester beginning in late August and a spring semester ending in May. Right now they begin the school year in June and end in March. While I am not aware of all the reasons for the change it will make it easier to attract visiting professors from places like the US and Canada as it will not require interrupting their home schedules.

Right now the house is quiet as most of the students are gone. I was lucky enough to be here just before our SCJ group leaves for a new mission in Asia. Many of them participated in the ESL program at Sacred Heart School of Theology since English will be their common language.

Perhaps it is fitting they are using the Philippines as their jumping off point. Next month will mark the 25th anniversary of our presence in the Philippines. It marked a new way for our SCJs to operate in foreign missions. Prior to that a province would mark out a mission territory and staff and fund it. For example, the US Province had the De Aar Region in South Africa as a mission from after World War II until De Aar and Aliwal North (under the German Province) were joined to form the South African Province.

After the Indonesian Province requested that the congregation expand in Asia a study was done by the general administration and it settled on opening a mission in the Philippines. However, instead of asking a province to take up this responsibility; under the leadership of the general administration volunteers were sought from around the congregation, and they were then sent to Hales Corners to learn English as it would be both their common language, and one needed in the Philippines for higher studies.

I always remember what Bishop Virginio Bressanelli, SCJ, said about this  method (he as general superior). He liked it because instead of Italy or Germany or the US SCJs going to a mission country and in it forming little Italian, German or American islands the fact that the team was international made that less of a possibility. In any case, it has worked well for us as our Philippine Region has steadily grown and has taken on a local flavor as more and more Filipinos are finally professed and ordained.

Our presence here has also allowed us to begin our Vietnam project, which though much younger then our 25 years in the Philippines has also shown much promise. I plan on visiting Vietnam in early June when my teaching stint is finished.

Let me close with a few words about this house. When we began 25 years ago all the SCJs were in Mindanao though it was known sooner or later a presence in Manila would be necessary; first and foremost as the center for theological studies and as the national capital everything tends to flow in and out of the city. After the first five years the community began to accept candidates and the hunt for a place in Manila began in earnest. This property was purchased from another religious community that needed more room. We have expanded it by adding a second building. I asked at the noon meal how many could it hold and was told about 50. Certainly that is more then sufficient for current and projected needs.

Just like Eluru in India or our own Chicago House of Studies the students live here but go to school at local universities/schools of theology. From a past visit I believe they go to at least two theological schools, but that’s something I’ll have to confirm when I have the chance. I’ll close today with several pictures I took this morning that might give you a little better idea of life here at Dehon House.

The dining room with the kitchen in the distance

New building and exercise area

Community chapel

Typical SCJ hospitality is found everywhere in India

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy spent much of the past two months in our Indian District. What follows is his final reflection on his time there, written upon his return to the United States:

I want to take a moment to reflect briefly on my two-month sojourn to India. First of all, let me note these are my own personal reflections and while I tried to be as truthful and accurate as possible in these blog posts, from time to time misinformation has slipped in. Perhaps this is another way of saying that you’re seeing India through the eyes of a tourist, a stranger to its life, culture and customs.

A wise Dutchman, Fr. Case van Passen, SCJ, a missionary in Indonesia for many years, once told me that even after 20-plus years in Indonesia each day brought with it a surprise. It took me some time to truly understand what he was trying to say, but I agree with his observation. Unless you are born into a culture and steeped in its traditions and ways from birth there are aspects to that culture you’ll never fully comprehend.

After two months in India, and this being my second visit, I do have a better sense of its life. India is a vast country composed of many languages and cultures. In fact, as I have said on more then one occasion, I marvel that it has been a functioning democracy for over 60 years. That is not easy with such a diverse population. Perhaps being a land of ancient culture has provided the glue to hold it all together. While there are differing cultures, languages, customs and foods there seems to be an underlying cultural unity to it all.

Fr. Tom and Fr. Joseph Gopu

Religiously, the country is dominated by Hindus. I was struck by the fact that while there are 150 million Muslims (one of the largest populations in any single country) it is but a small percentage out of a population of 1.2 billion people. Christianity and more precisely, Catholics, are a much smaller percentage, about 1.6% in 2009.

However, Christianity is not a “Johnny-Come-Lately” to India. Indians trace their faith to the Apostle St. Thomas. One of the highlights for me was the opportunity to celebrate Mass at his tomb where he is believed to be buried. It’s located in the coastal city of Chennai. 

Religious tensions are not unknown in India. One of the factors to pay attention to in the upcoming parliamentary elections is the strength of the Hindu BJP party. There is a real possibility they will take power from the Congress Party and will have the opportunity to form the next government. From what I have read and been told, most likely, given the number of parties vying for seats, neither the BJP or Congress will gain enough seats to form a government on their own and will thus have to bargain with the small parties to form a coalition government. That may be best hope for religious tranquility for the next five years.

I spent most of my time at our theological house of studies in Eluru. It gave me the opportunity to know both our current first and second year theologians and the postulants heading for the novitiate. I thoroughly enjoyed living with these young men. They were most receptive to my presence and made me feel right at home. I was reminded that hospitality is a hallmark of SCJs. What I marvel at in this regard is, to the best of my knowledge, no classes are offered anywhere in the congregation on hospitality but we sure do practice it.

I was impressed with the quality of these men, both the theologians and postulants. It amazed me how easily they get around from place to place via public transportation. If I have one regret it would be not having the opportunity to use a bus to travel from one place to another. Several times we had trips from Eluru to Nambur or Guntur and lacking vehicles to carry us all many would use public transport (an auto rickshaw from our house to bus station, etc.) to get to our destination.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the SCJs arrival in India. Circumstances have thrust the responsibility for their growth and success on to their shoulders. Just what the future might look like only God knows. I was interviewed by Fr. Vilmar, SCJ, for The Mustard Seed, a publication of the Indian District, and in that interview I said that I believe something the Indian SCJs have to figure out is: What do they want to be known for? Or to put it another way, when someone asks who you are and you say “I am an SCJ” or “I am a Dehonian” will they readily recognize who you are and what you do?

Let me close by saying how privileged I feel for having made this journey; it has indeed been a blest time for me. I learned a lot and hope in turn that my presence was of value to them. I do believe that by rubbing shoulders with one another for two months something of me has rubbed off on them, and I know something of them has rubbed off on me.

Our theology house in Eluru, India: “Christu Dehon Nivas”

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy, SCJ, spent much of the last two months with our theology community in Eluru, India. Before leaving last week he had a final Mass with the students. 

“The Mass was my last opportunity to address the students in a formal setting,” he said. “Basically I told them that when I get back home I’m sure one of the questions I’ll be asked is: ‘What did you do?’ My answer will be: ‘All I did was eat and pray with the theologians and postulants.’

“I call it a ministry of presence.

“Then I told the students that if I had any advice to offer it would be this: The people of God are not stupid and all the beautiful words you offer them will count for nothing if you don’t live them. 

“’Think everyday of St. Francis’ admonition to ‘preach the Gospel always and if necessary use words.’”

One of Fr. Tom’s last blog posts from India was about going to a First Mass of Fr. Gopu, SCJ, and Fr. Gangarapu Marianand, SCJ. In it he writes:

At supper last evening Fr. Gopu informed me that we would leave for Sacred Heart Parish at 5:30 a.m. rather than with Fr. Jojoppa, SCJ, and the three theologians who would depart at 4:45 a.m. Getting up at 5:00 a.m. is so much better sounding then 4:15 a.m.!,” wrote Fr. Tom.

It was to be a First Mass for both Fr. Gopu and Fr. Gangarapu Marianand. Fr. Gopu’s first assignment will be to assist Fr. Jojoppa at his parish in addition to his duties as the new treasurer of Christu Dehon Nivas.

Fr. Marianand’s will be at our Sacred Heart parish/shrine in Nambur. Last year he did his deacon ministry with Fr. Jojoppa while Fr. Gopu worked with Fr. Dharma, SCJ, at the parish in Nambur.

Since Fr. Marianand previously served in the Eluru parish he was the main celebrant at this morning’s liturgy, along with Frs. Gopu, Jojoppa and me as concelebrants.

It was a long Mass! We started at 6:00 a.m. and it was about two hours before the end was in sight. Of course I did not understand a word of it as the entire Mass was done in Telugu. At times like this during a long homily one’s mind begins to wander and mine began thinking of all the places around the world that I have had the opportunity to celebrate Mass.

Some of the places I recalled included Uganda Martyrs parish in apartheid South Africa, pre-Amazon forest parishes in northern Brazil, and my little favorite of Bualan on the Island of Mindanao (Philippines).  I have had many opportunities in the course of my service as general councilor and later as provincial superior. In each case, while the language was foreign to me the heart of the liturgy was not. And while there are always some local customs particular to a country and/or culture the liturgical drama always unfolds telling the same story over and over in only God knows how many languages and dialects.

A couple of examples of Indian practices we would not find back in the States:

(1) There is always a long introduction to the liturgy, almost a mini-homily at the start of Mass.

(2) Frequently the Prayer of the Faithful is not said, especially at weekday Masses.

(3) Music is essential to the celebration and all songs are sung from start to finish, or at least I presume they get through all the verses given the length of each song.

(4) Intinction is customary for the priest as well as the people (when the cup is offered).

(5) There is a very small spoon (similar to what some Eastern Rites use) to mix the water with the wine at the offertory.

(6) The Sign of Peace is a bow with hands folded. The priest will first offer this gesture to the people who return it to him and then to any priest on his immediate right and left.

This morning at the offertory procession everyone came to offer either money, rice or another food item such as eggs. The food items are for the use of the parish priest.

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy is assisting with the formation program in the District of India. Today he writes about the some of the SCJs in the district, noting that youth is both a blessing and a challenge for the congregation’s presence in India.

Yesterday Fr. Gopu Bala Joseph Reddy, SCJ (Gopu) moved to Eluru as he will assume the duties of treasurer for the community on April 1, 2014. He will replace Fr. Jojoppa, SCJ, who will then be able to devote full time to his duties as pastor. I believe Fr. Gopu, SCJ, will split his time between the theologate and assisting in the parish.

Fr. Gopu, SCJ, did not arrive alone; he came in a novitiate vehicle along with some of the novices and Fr. Gangarapu Marianand, SCJ. He and Fr. Gopu, SCJ were ordained earlier this month.

Finally Fr. Ajit Kumar Basla, SCJ, accompanied the group. Fr. Ajit is from north India where at the moment the SCJs are present only in Mumbai. Indians tend to think of their country in terms of north and south with Andhra Pradesh being the boarder state, i.e., anything north of here is in the north and Andhra and any state south of here is southern India.

Fr. Ajit, will be going to Spain this summer to study at ESIC, a well-known business school run by the SCJs. I presume he is being groomed for future work in finance. He has already completed the formation program for treasurers our general administration offered several years ago

Fr. Ajit, main celebrant, will be going to Spain this summer to study at the SCJs’ ESIC business school

I am not sure what assignment Fr. Gangarapu, SCJ, has received, but in addition to Fr. Gopu, SCJ, being assigned here he will be joined by Fr. Siju Saloman, SCJ, who was ordained on March 1st in Kerala. I met Fr. Siju at Kumbalanghy where he served on the formation staff as a deacon while also assisting in a local parish. Now that the number of theologians will increase (they will double next year!) and with the postulant program moving elsewhere, having at least two full time formation staff is important.

The fact that both Frs. Gopu and Siju are so young underscores the reality of both the challenge and the blessing of our young district. 2014 marks the 20th^t anniversary since our arrival in India. Starting from scratch is never easy and it was even more difficult here since the Indian government does not permit foreign missionaries to work. With the help of some benevolent bishops and lay people, and the efforts of many SCJs from around the congregation, we were able to plant the SCJ charism first in Kerala and now in several other states including Andhra Pradesh as well as the metropolis of Mumbai.

The challenge for the district is that they are so young and lack the experience that comes with age. Fr. Thomas Vinod, SCJ, is the first Indian District Superior and he will turn 35 this coming December. His age may be the average age of the district. It also might also be lower as the nine novices will make their first profession on May 1, 2014, and the nine postulants who were here will begin their novitiate year.

The first US Provincial Fr. Richard Keefer, SCJ, is often quoted as saying: “You build with the bricks you got.” That certainly was true in the early years of the US Province and is most certainly true here!

The Indian District has made a conscious effort not to isolate itself. It has sent men to study and minister in:

• Indonesia
• Philippines
• Brazil
• South Africa
• Cameroon
• Scotland and Ireland
• Venezuela
• Rome
• Germany [two Indian SCJs are awaiting visas]

Here in India many men are involved in formation programs to ensure a future for the community. The district also staffs three parishes. I have spoken of all three: Mumbai, Nambur and here at Eluru. Again the pastors are all very young SCJs. Fr. Dharma, for example, at Nambur was tasked with building his parish church, which was dedicated in January. He will turn 31 in September. Fr. Jojappa turns 34 in June and he will relinquish his duties as treasurer here so that he can devote all his time to time to the parish, including the challenge of finding the money for the land and construction of a parish rectory. Fr. Benzigar Aji, SCJ (Mumbai), will turn 40 in October and was among the first to join the SCJs.

Actually the genesis of my coming to India was a request made by Fr. Thomas Vinod  at our last General Conference held in Neustadt, Germany. Fr. Thomas asked provinces to consider sending older SCJs to spend time with their Indian SCJ brothers since they are so young and don’t have the historical perspective that older SCJs represent.

While I have spent most of my time living with the theologians and postulants, by the time I complete my stay here I will have visited most of the houses of formation. I will miss the philosophy house in Aluva though I am familiar with it as it was the first stop on my trip in 2011.

As noted previously, Fr. Tom Cassidy has spent the past month with the theology community in Eluru, India. He wrote the following after a week’s retreat with the students:

I just returned from a pilgrimage with the postulants. When we met Friday evening as a group for the last time Fr. Vimal, SCJ, was kind enough to thank me for my presence not only for being on the pilgrim journey, but for the time I gave to the postulants. I filled in for him and taught class for four days early on in my stay at Eluru. He and the postulants gave me a small statue of Our Lady of Health as a remembrance of our time together. In turn I told the group this.

“Any first-year teacher, and I think Fr. Vimal will attest to this, will say: ‘You [postulants] have taught me much more then I have taught you.’ I can say the same I have learned much from you and am most grateful. Earlier I said, partly in jest, that in saying ‘yes’ to coming on the pilgrimage with you I might regret it. But I can say honestly that I have no regrets! It has been a wonderful journey for me — well I suppose the train rides leave something to be desired, but you can’t get here if you don’t take the train. Besides, I’ve now fulfilled Gandhi’s admonishment: ‘If you want to really experience India you must travel by train.’ There were many highlights for me, but certainly saying Mass at the tomb of St. Thomas the Apostle, ranks as my No.1 as he is my patron saint. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and know you are in my thoughts and prayers. If I have the opportunity to return next year I certainly hope to have time in the novitiate to see where each of you are on your spiritual journey and in discerning God’s will.”

We enjoyed our last meal together in one of the many small local restaurants. Fr. Vimal did something I like to do as each day: we ate at a different place giving us the opportunity to experience cuisine from the many styles that can be found in this vast country. A few even featured Chinese cooking on the menu. I suspectChinese cooking can be found almost anywhere in the world.

It took me a day or so to know that if you ask for a meal you’ll get rice and several kinds of curries and condiments to go with it. I opted for this style once but the rest of the time I went for a specialized dish such as egg chapatti.

We were informed that the train would depart at 10:15 p.m. and that we should be prepared to meet in front of the priest guesthouse at 9:00 p.m. I thought to myself “Good, it gives me time for a bath, shave and to finish packing.” I had just finished my bath and shave when there was a sharp knock on my door. Dressed only in a towel I met Fr. Vimal, who quickly announced: “Mega had the time wrong and the train will depart at 9:00 p.m., we need to hurry!” Luckily I had most of the packing done and I rushed as fast as I could to dress, pack and be in front of the guest house ASAP!

Now began what I can best describe as one of those scenes from an early Charlie Chaplin silent movie where the cops are chasing after the robbers in a typical Keystone Cop routine! With muster called and all present we rushed (fast trot you might say) with bags in hand or on our backs to the nearest motor- rickshaw stand. Fr. Vilmar, did his usual negotiations for three rickshaws and off we raced. I was in the first rickshaw with Fr. Vilmar and Manish (he usually traveled with us as he’s the smallest of the postulants). I think Fr. Vilmar got his message across to our driver as it was FULL SPEED AHEAD — well, as fast as a fully loaded motor-rickshaw put-put engine would carry us. Fortunately, the train station is not very far and we arrived with a couple of minutes to spare. I suppose with a bit of apprehension in each of our heads we waited for the other two rickshaws to come flying around the corner with the other eight postulants.

Wouldn’t you know it, the train was on track No. 2 so most of the postulants jumped down onto track No. 1 as it was by far the shortest way as we only had a couple of moments to spare!

I blurted out: “I can’t do this!” So Fr. Vilmar rushed with me across the overhead bridge as Jesu grabbed my bag.

At the last moment I said to myself “Go for it!” And so Fr. Vilmar and I jumped down and crossed track No.1 and luckily the doors on the cars were open on both sides and all managed to get on board with just seconds, or so it seemed, to spare!

Though I would have preferred to stay in second class with the postulants and Fr. Vilmar, he had purchased a ticket in a sleeper three-tier air-conditioned class. He was kind enough to take me to my bunk and I settled down for the night journey. We’d arrive in Chennai around 5:45 a.m. It was the last stop so I was told: “Don’t worry about getting off.” I was a bit anxious about that as trains do not make any announcements on station arrivals and depending on where you are in the car and tier arrangement you may or may not catch sight of a stop’s name.

My anxiety was well founded! At about 5:50 a.m. we arrived at what looked like Chennai and the station from which we departed Wednesday evening. Many people were getting off so I got off as well. I know my car was near the front of the train and the rest were somewhere behind my location. I started walking toward the rear a bit surprised I did not see anyone from our group. At about that moment from the window of one of the cars Libin called out:

“Father, this isn’t our stop it’s the next one!”

I got back on the train, this time in second class and road the rest of the way with the postulants. And that was the real end to our Keystone Cop experience!

The start of a new pre-Lent custom?

Perhaps a week ago at the supper table we were talking about Fat Tuesday and differing customs, and from that conversation I said that I would take everyone out for pizza the day before Lent begins.  There seem to be no local customs such as donut eating that we do in Milwaukee the day before Lent begins.

When our house cook had to return home unexpectedly (his uncle was seriously injured in an accident), we moved up our pizza day.

In the afternoon I gave Fr. Mariano some US dollars to convert for me to pay for the meal. He got a good exchange rate of 60 rupee for one US dollar. I was well armed with plenty of local currency.

On Saturdays adoration and evening prayer take place at 7:00 p.m. so the plan was that we would leave after that in the van and jeep. Fr. Jojoppa and one of the students would come later by motorbike as someone had to wait for the milkman to make his Saturday delivery. All together we had 20 people headed to a U.S pizza parlor. I was told Guntur has an honest-to-god Pizza Hut.

Looking back we probably should have held a class on what is pizza, and how to order it as there was some confusion when first we got there. The pizza parlor was not very large, but we managed to grab enough tables and chairs for the 18 of us who arrived first and saved room for the two coming later.

As for the pizza, it was similar in style to thick crust pizza or Chicago style. I’m not sure how each table decided to place its order but at ours we each ordered a medium pizza which would be comparable in size to the personal pizza one finds in Rome for example. At my table we ordered different combinations, like Texas Style, or Mexican, or Sicilian, etc.

As this is India there was a good selection of vegetarian pizzas on the menu as well. Best as I can tell no one went with vegetarian. Our drinks consisted of water though I had a cup of espresso at the end. No beer or wine is served, nor sodas, though one could get a fruit drink or what I would call an ice cream soda.

As it turned out, no one, with the exception of Frs. Mariano and Vimal, who studied in Rome, ever had pizza before. That accounts for some of the confusion we started with. I said to Fr. Mariano that it was funny to watch everyone at the other tables eat the pizza with a fork as pizza is certainly a dish that in the States that is socially acceptable to eat with your hands. For a group that, if given the choice, much prefers to eat with their hands I found it a bit funny.

We ended the meal with ––  yes, you guessed it –– ice cream. In an e-mail I received this morning one of my sister’s remarked: You seem to get a lot of ice cream. I just had the good fortune of being here for the month of February when the community celebrates six birthdays. I also think given the hot climate and hot food ice cream is appreciated.

In this post Fr. Tom Cassidy, who is spending February with the theology community in India, writes about a recent car trip with the community to an ordination; he promises to write about that ordination in a future post.

Our drive took just under three hours. We (Fr. Mariano and six of the theologians) left Christu Dehon Nivas at 1:35 p.m. and arrived more or less around 4:30 p.m. Our trip home took a bit less time as there was less traffic. Since the theologians are young men around 24 to 26 years old I was treated to almost three hours of what I could best describe as Indian rap or Indian hip-hop music. Every once in awhile a couple of familiar words would come out between the Telugu: “Michael Jackson.”

I was glad we got to the ordination early as it gave me an opportunity to meet up with some Indian SCJs I have met over the past couple of years. I was not the only foreign SCJ present. Joining in the ordination celebrations were Frs. Sebastian Pitz, SCJ (Brazil), Martin van Ooij, SCJ (Indonesia, but Dutch by birth), Jesus Manuel Baerna (Spain) and Dwijo, SCJ (Indonesia). I have spoken of all but Fr. Dwijo before. He came because one of the newly ordained is working in Gisting at his parish.

Gisting is famous among SCJs for its mild climate. It is located several thousand feet above sea level, which accounts for its very mild condition (temperatures much cooler than the rest of the country). Perhaps the one downside for visitors to Gisting is that the water for bathing, which is heated only by the surrounding air, makes for, let me say, a rather invigorating morning bath! Fr. Dwijo is the parish priest, our Indonesian novitiate is also located in Gisting.

As we waited for the ceremony to begin I got a chance to speak with our  altar  boys  (the boys were surprised when I told them that in  the States  we  had  altar  servers  and many  of  them are girls).  Their English was of varying qualities; the young  man  in  the shirt (pictured above) was  my  chief  interpreter as  he  is  going  to an English School. He eventually got into a server’s outfit before we processed into the cathedral.

Look closely to the two servers standing next to him and note the holes in their surplices near the hemline. The server who carries the thurifer (incensor) keeps the lid open and swings it back and forth. Believe me it is filled to the brim with burning charcoal. I have visions of burnt feet but they assured me it doesn’t  happen, but as for burn holes in the surplice, now that’s a different story. It was fun talking to the boys. I have found that often when a stranger comes to a foreign land, especially from North America or the British Isles, young people like to ask questions and show off their command of English.