After the excitement of Fr. General’s visit and the festivities in conjunction with the Feast of St Ignatius, August seemed a quieter month. The sad demise of Mrs Corazon Aquino on August 1 brought an end to a chapter in the history of the Philippines. Her funeral on August 5 saw a number of Arrupeans taking part in the day’s event, having been given the honour, together with scholastics of the Philippine Province, to be marshals at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranãque City, where Mrs Aquino was laid to rest in the family mausoleum, next to Ninoy Aquino. It was raining for most of the week, a poignant reflection of the people’s sentiments at the passing of a heroine of our times.
Some departures from, and arrivals into the AIR community this month: Roberto Encarnação (ETR) left for Indonesia on August 1 to pursue his philosophy studies after completing the 2-year Juniorate programme at AIR. Bernardus Dirgaprimawan (IDO) arrived on August 12 to begin his theology studies while Deacon John Tang Yong (CHN) left on August 22 for Boston, USA, to pursue further studies in theology.
The JCEAO’s Social Ministries meeting from August 17 – 21 saw a number of the delegates staying over at AIR as well as at the other Jesuit communities on the Ateneo campus. AIR hosted all the delegates to dinner on August 18. The evening gave many Arrupeans the opportunity to meet with key personnel in the ministry as well as to catch up with the delegates from their home regions and provinces. A special visitor to AIR this month was Msgr Kike Figaredo (CAS) of the Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, Cambodia. An avid photographer, Fr Kike left a wonderful pasalubong (souvenir) for the community – a picture book simply entitled Cambodia featuring a collection of his photo shots of the beautiful country and its people.
Last but not least, August is also the month of national day celebrations for a number of the Arrupeans. Singaporean scholastics took the opportunity to cook a quintessentially Singaporean dinner for the community on August 9 while the Malaysians prepared a Malaysian lunch on August 31. All in all, a busy month with the mid-semester examinations thrown in for good measure. (Contributor: Sch. Alvin Ng Sze Syn)