Filipino Jesuit Fr Jason Dy professed his Final Vows before Philippine Provincial Fr Primitivo Viray Jr SJ on 29 June, Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, in the Immaculate Conception Chapel of the Jesuit Residence in Ateneo de Manila University.
While feeling immensely grateful to be invited to pronounce Final Vows, Fr Dy says he was also troubled with lingering feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, and unworthiness. “Could I live up to the expectations of the Society for me especially in a world disrupted and changed by the current global pandemic? Am I really fit and ready to be incorporated into the Society that, though least, is a huge missionary enterprise?” These were some of the difficult questions that confronted him.
On the eve of his Final Vows, Fr Dy sought the counsel of the community’s spiritual father, Fr Noel Vasquez SJ, who suggested that he look at Jesus—the Lord of the seas who can calm the storms. That night in the chapel, Fr Dy reflected on the times Christ accompanied him in his Jesuit journey, from the time he felt the initial stirrings of the call when he was a third year Engineering student on a visit to a Jesuit mission parish in Cabanglasan, Bukidnon, to his current ministry as a lecturer at the Fine Arts Department of Ateneo de Manila, and assistant chaplain to Jesuit Volunteers Philippines and Loyola Schools Campus Ministry.
In his prayer and reflection, he saw how Christ chiselled his life and initiated relationships that would shape his person, perspectives, and passion.
“This opportunity of encountering people and being missioned to various places and diverse communities is the reason why I resonate with Kenny Roger’s song, Through the Years,” shared Fr Dy. “For I can’t remember when God wasn’t there for me; when he’d turned my life around; through all the good and bad I know how much we had; and I’m so glad I stayed right here with you through the years,” he said, quoting the lyrics of the song.
Fr Dy considers his Final Vows as God’s invitation and confirmation for him to live his life entirely in the Society of Jesus, but he also acknowledges that his life as a Jesuit is a work in progress.
“The patrons for today’s Mass, Saints Peter and Paul, have taught me valuable lessons for my ongoing journey,” he said. “St Peter taught me to consider always the three-fold question of Jesus, “Do you love me?” as an invitation to ever love and ever serve Jesus. And St Paul’s words to Galatians remind me that my vows are not about me and my self-offering but about God and his mission so that, ‘I [can be] crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.’”