Photo by Alvin Teoh
Surrounded by family, friends, religious sisters, and Jesuits, Fr Albert Tan Kim Seong SJ pronounced his Final Vows in the Society of Jesus on 13 November at the Jesuit Church of St Francis Xavier in Petaling Jaya. The Mass held on the Memorial of St Stanislaus Kostka was a beautiful yet simple ceremony presided over by Fr Francis Lim SJ, the Regional Superior of the Jesuits of Malaysia-Singapore, who represented Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ.
Fr Tan serves as the Director of the Jesuit spirituality centre in Malaysia, Maranatha House of Prayer in Janda Baik. He is also the Delegate for Spirituality and Assistant Vocations Director of the Malaysia-Singapore Region.
In his homily, Fr Lim urged the congregation to persistently hope in the Lord for the relevance of vowed religious life in today’s world, in spite of the declining response of young people to this kind of vocation. He reflected on the example of St Stanislaus Kostka, one of three Jesuit saints who are patrons of the youth. St Stanislaus walked great distances to fulfil his desire to join the Jesuits: from Vienna to Dillingen (400 miles), and from Dillingen to Rome (350 miles). He never gave up and finally ended up in the novitiate in Rome. However, God had other plans for him. Despite St Peter Canisius’ hopeful words in his reference letter to Francis Borgia, “I expect great things of him,” St Stanislaus died of illness just 10 months into his novitiate.
Photo by by Chris Wee SJ
At the end of the Mass, Fr Tan gave an impromptu speech at the encouragement of Fr Lim. He likened the experience of pronouncing his Final Vows to the renewal of marriage vows, where a married couple, after many years, reaffirms their perpetual commitment to each other.
“There are similarities between my final profession and a married couple renewing their marriage vows on their 50th wedding anniversary,” he shared. “Although they are the same vows, what the vows mean to me now is very different from what they meant to me when I first professed them in the novitiate 29 years ago. I was only 23 years old then, and I was filled with desire and hope for the new life I was about to live as a Jesuit.”
Fr Tan continued: “Though the past 29 years have not changed much of my desire and hope, they have, nonetheless, grounded my desire and hope with real-life experiences. I have gained ‘interior knowledge’ of what the vows mean to me as a Jesuit committed to community life and ministry. I have tasted the ‘bitter sweetness’ of the vows—the tensions I experience with occasional loneliness and the attraction of stability and security versus the joy and the peace that come with serving the Lord under the banner of the Cross. These tensions, under the demands and joy of the vows, have changed me. I am no longer the same person as when I first entered the novitiate. Like clay in the hand of a potter, the vows have moulded me a little closer to being like the One whom I love, Jesus Christ, my Lord. I desire him more than anything else, and during my Final vows, it was the mature me saying ‘yes’ again to the Lord who called me many years ago to serve him. This ‘yes’ is the same and yet different from the ‘yes’ I once gave 29 years ago.
Fr Tan’s foster brother, Alvin Teoh, reflected on the ceremony:
“I never knew Jesuits make one more ‘final’ vow decades after their first ‘final’ vow. And I loved the explanation of using marriage as an example. You make a vow to love and serve one another through every imaginable future, good or bad. Then usually during the 50th wedding anniversary, you renew your marriage vows, but this time it’s different because you’ve lived those vows through the best and worst times, and here you are, decades later. Those vows are not a hope for the future. They are a promise kept through a long journey. They have depth and meaning and a deeper understanding of the hard work, struggle, and sacrifice required to love, and you’re saying, ‘Yup, I get it now; it’s tough, but here I am, with eyes wide open, to say yes again.’ So here he is, my brother, Fr Albert SJ, kneeling before the uplifted Eucharist and recommitting his service to God, to Church, to community, according to the spirit of their founder, St Ignatius of Loyola. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed.
After the Mass, a fellowship with good food was held in Loyola Hall with invited guests celebrating. [MAS Communications]
