On renewal, indifference, collaboration, vocations and formation – Fr General

After meeting with the Maltese Jesuits at Mount St Joseph Retreat House in Mosta, on Thursday 12th May Fr General was greeted warmly by all Jesuits presently in Malta, and while celebrating Mass at Loyola House in Naxxar, he spoke of listening for and discerning new needs.

Aware of the difficulties presented by the creation of a new and much larger province that consists of four diverse countries, Fr Sosa urged the local Jesuits to change difficulties into opportunities.

“Where is God leading the Maltese Jesuits today, what is he asking of them in this concrete situation? Today you are once again invited to experience the transformative power of change, in a time of diminishment, allowing the process of a new Province and the new directions of your mission within it, as expressed in the Universal Apostolic Preferences, to reshape your path.

Having experienced faithfulness in the past, you are called to trust and embrace this present, to listen to the Spirit and allow change to mould you to meet the needs of today. You are being called to new growth and renewal of spirit, to new life.

Therefore, let us reflect on our ways during the last years, letting go of nostalgia, of wanting to do things exactly as we have done in the past in order to be ready for the new.

Let us seek new ways of doing things and of being together. Let us be bold and look at what being a new province really means, the novelty and the new responsibilities it carries”.

A question and answer session followed, with topics touching on ways to facilitate the process of integration in a new province; vocations; how to continue to foster the strong sense of collaboration with lay partners in mission which Malta had; and the ongoing formation of Jesuits and lay collaborators.

In the face of change Fr General reminded the Jesuits that “we are not historians, we are evangelizers and apostles. Reconciliation is key at this moment in history – we are being called to be agents of reconciliation and agents of fraternity.

We must move on from the traditional way of doing our apostolates  to a different mindset that is not linked with territories, a new way of being present and organising ourselves for our apostolates. There are a lot of tensions here, between ‘cura apostolica and cura personalis’. For Jesuits, the whole Society is the apostolate, we are consecrated to do this apostolate.

We need to use our manpower in the best way possible, with more mobility of our men. I dreamt of living my whole Jesuit life in Venezuela, but look where I am now! An essential part of our charism is to not be attached to a territory or a way of doing things.

Once I as visitng the Midwest USA in a meeting with young Jesuits and I was asked what is the most important virtue for a Jesuit? My response was ‘indifference’, it is our most important virtue today. Without indifference we cannot discern – it is crucial for a good discernment. So we must ask ourselves – Are we really free to follow the spirit? We don’t need doctors in the Society, we need Jesuits!”

On Vocations

“Vocations come not of our own initiative but from the Lord. We are convinced that the Lord is calling young people to the Society.

The first element of vocation promotion is to pray for vocations and this is in the hands of all of us. We are all vocation promoters through our prayers.

The second element is that people see us. Are we living in a way that is attractive to young people? Jesus said ‘Come and see’… Will they see in us a style of life that attracts? We have to change and be more transparent.

The third element is to have a plan for vocations promotion, with people, resources and time. And to have at least one Jesuit brother and a woman on the team! Why women? Because they have a special intuition to identify candidates and a point of view that is very important.”

Lay collaborators

“We are blessed by having so many good lay people who help us to be better Jesuits! How can we continue to foster this collaboration? Well, we don’t ‘have’ collaborators, we ARE collaborators – otherwise there will be a tension of powers… who will have the last word?

Our founders put us at the disposition of the Church through the Holy Father. We are to collaborate with the world and the Church. Over time the Society has developed different kinds of collaboration, and now we have a huge gift through lay women and men participating fully in the apostolates. This is a great gift from the Lord!”

Ongoing formation of lay collaborators

“Having so many people engaged is a huge richness but also a huge responsibility. How much time and resources do we invest in forming one Jesuit? 15 years or more? How many people accompany him? How many expenses? But how do we form those who share the mission of the Society? How do we invest in their formation?

Not everyone is a collaborator. We have many employees, who do very good work. But we use the term ‘collaborator’ for those who serve with us because they are following a call, it is a spiritual experience, a vocation.”

At the moment the Curia Generalizia is gathering the experiences of ongoing formation of Jesuits and lay persons from different provinces to see what resources we have to share.