JCAP Formation Delegate Fr Norris Seenivasan SJ of the Malaysia-Singapore Jesuit Region was one of the early residents of the Arrupe International Residence. As a scholastic, he called AIR home from 1993 to 1997. In 2015, as AIR celebrates its 25th anniversary, he recalls how the house of formation helped him become the Jesuit he is today.
No one is so good that he does not have a single fault, and no one is so bad that he does not have a single good point. Those of us at AIR fell between those two extremes. Some would become saints but we did not realize it when we lived with them. Most of us were in the middle, and we had to learn, grow, and become better persons and truer Jesuits; in other words, we needed to be formed. It could be for this reason that, besides the saints, my formators at AIR stand out.
In my humble opinion , we had some excellent formators at AIR. When I first went to Arrupe in 1993 the chief formator, the rector, was Fr Bill McGarry SJ. Fr McGarry would be the first to admit his many limitations, weaknesses and sins. It was probably because of that that he stood out for me as an extremely compassionate and understanding human being, an excellent formator. He was understanding of us scholastics who had our own limitations, weaknesses and sins.
He tried to gently guide us into the ways of being a Jesuit. Looking back I feel that my stay at AIR was a time of growth because of Fr McGarry. As a scholastic I felt trusted by him. He gave me what I thought to be some important responsibilities at AIR. Even though he was the rector and I merely a scholastic he was humble enough to consult me on matters connected to my responsibilities. For me it is such men who truly capture what it means to be a Jesuit and inspire us to continue the mission.
Fr John Mace SJ, who took over as rector in 1996, was very much committed to his work of forming us. He was always available for us. He was detailed and systematically looked into many areas of formation in the house. He cared for each scholastic at AIR. I believe that it was due to his hard work that AIR grew into a huge community. He was able to attract scholastics from all over the world. He remained in that job, if I am not mistaken, for about 10 years, before moving on to become the Major Superior of Timor-Leste.
Besides the two great rectors, I had also lived with two saints at AIR. The first was Fr AT Thomas SJ, who had come from India to study. He had lived for the poorest of the poor and faced threats of violence in India. He was violently killed in 1997, when he returned to India to gather data for his thesis, investigating why some people in Jharkhand State were being abused. His death enriched the Jesuit mission in Hazaribagh.
The second was Richie Fernando SJ, a Filipino scholastic who was later assigned to do his regency in Banteay Prieb, a technical school for landmine victims in Cambodia. He was killed trying to save students at the school when a student who had been asked to leave threatened to release a hand grenade. As Richie wrestled with the student, the student dropped the grenade. Richie fell over to save him and died still grasping him tightly in his arms.
Four days before his death Richie had written to a friend:
“I know where my heart is, it is with Jesus Christ, who gave his all for the poor. The sick, the orphan… I am confident that God never forgets his people: our disabled brothers and sisters. And I am glad that God has been using me to make sure that our brothers and sisters know this fact. I am convinced that this is my vocation.”
I believe that what Richie had become is what formation at AIR is supposed to do for us Jesuits. It is supposed to make us who belong to the Society of Jesus live our lives in service of people, especially the poor, for the greater Glory of God.
Arrupe International Residence celebrates its Silver Jubilee in 2015. Read about AIR’s 25th anniversary celebration here.
Read a reflection by another AIR resident in its early years: Diversity was something we celebrated by Fr Tony Moreno SJ