Let us not forget the poor.
This was the main message of Fr Totet Banaynal SJ to an international group of Jesuit regents and young priests gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from 29 to 30 August.
Fr Banaynal recalled his own experience as a regent when he first arrived in Cambodia from the Philippines in 1994, around the time the Cambodian Mission was formally established by then-Superior General Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ. The mission was a concrete response to the heightened need to care strategically for refugees, the disabled, and all affected by the civil war.
“When we were discerning the possibility of opening a mission in Cambodia, we had the poor as our priority,” Fr Banaynal said. “At that time, they were victims of the war, many of whom were maimed by landmines.”
After his ordination, Fr Banaynal returned to Cambodia in 1999 and has since embraced the mission. He is currently the parish priest of St John Catholic Parish in Siem Reap and St Ignatius Parish in Piak Snaeng, where a new chapel is being constructed on a 21-hectare plot of land fondly called “Jesus Farm”.
The Jesuit Cambodian Mission is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and for Fr Banaynal, this marks an auspicious moment to renew their commitment to service. “Let us not forget the poor, and let us recommit to never leaving the Cambodians,” he said.
He reminded the group of the ultimate question that the Lord would ask at the final judgement: “Did you love the poor?” This, he said, was the point Jesus made in Matthew 25:35–36: “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; a stranger, and you welcomed me; naked, and you clothed me; ill, and you cared for me; in prison, and you visited me.”
In the same spirit of service, Fr Banaynal personally prepared the welcome meal for the participants of the gathering, which included three regents and seven young priests. The regents comprised an Indian working in a parish and student centre, a Vietnamese studying the Khmer language, and myself, a Filipino assigned to the prenovitiate community in Vietnam.
The seven young priests consisted of three Vietnamese involved with Jesuit Service Cambodia, two Koreans engaged in parish and youth ministries, one Indonesian affiliated with Xavier Jesuit School, and Fr Damo Chour SJ, the first-ever Cambodian Jesuit priest, who is currently involved in vocations promotion and youth accompaniment.
The following morning, after Fr Banaynal’s reflection, we spent time in individual prayer and reflection, followed by faith sharing in groups in the afternoon. The gathering concluded with a Mass presided over by Vietnamese Jesuit Fr Đỗ Thành Nguyên SJ.
Rogelio R Nato Jr SJ is a Filipino regent assigned to the Jesuit prenovitiate in Vietnam. He was gifted to join the gathering of Jesuit regents and young priests working for the Cambodia Mission when his visa run aligned perfectly with the schedule of their gathering.