Fr Phongphand Phokthavi, known fondly as Fr Jub, pronounced his Final Vows on January 3, Solemnity of the Holy Name of Jesus, in St John’s Church, Siem Reap. Bishop Enrique Figaredo SJ, Apostolic Prefecture of Battambang, celebrated the Mass. On the Altar with him were Fr Jub, the Delegate of the Korean Jesuit Provincial to the Cambodia Mission Fr In-don Oh SJ, Siem Reap Parish Priest Fr Totet Banaynal SJ and Australian Provincial Fr Brian McCoy SJ, who was Fr Jub’s Tertian instructor and had come all the way from Australia for the occasion. Also concelebrating were nearly 14 of the Jesuits serving in Cambodia and two diocesan priests.
Present to witness this special event were Fr Jub’s sisters, Kep Phokthavi, who is the director of the Jesuit Foundation – Prison Ministry in Thailand, Sr Anna Pranee Phokthavi SPC, and Ladda Phokthavi, who is now based in Portland, USA. They flew in that evening from Bangkok.
Jub is the Thai word for the number 10, which indicates that Fr Jub is the 10th of 11 siblings in the family. Kep related that Ladda and Pranee took care of them siblings and helped send them to school.
Kep gave the first reading while Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Cambodia Director Sr Denise Coghlan RSM gave the homily. In 1990, Fr Jub (then a lay volunteer) was one of four people who were sent to Cambodia by JRS to initiate the future presence of Jesuits in the Cambodia Mission. In her very special way, Sr Coghlan told us a bit about Fr Jub and then what the Final Vows are about. Fr Banyanal translated the homily for the benefit of the many Cambodians who had come to join in the celebrations.
At the end of the service, Fr Jub thanked all those who had accompanied him and were present for the celebration. “The calling to the Final Vows is the fruit of God’s providence in my life. God is always present and has journeyed with me long before I accepted the invitation to join the Jesuits”, reflected Fr Jub.
After the service, the community was invited for a meal at the Reflection Centre where Sr Coghlan had arranged for a get-together.
By Br Noel Oliver SJ
Photos courtesy of Fr Enrique Figaredo SJ and his team
Read Fr Jub’s reflection, “Gifts given and gifts received”