On Saturday, 11 April, Bishop Étienne Guillet, Bishop of the Diocese of Saint-Denis, presided over the diaconate and priesthood ordination Mass of 17 Jesuits and one brother of the Order of Saint John of God. This was a celebration of a particularly remarkable international character: the ordinands came from 13 different Jesuit provinces (Canada, Kohima, French-speaking Western Europe, Brazil, Bombay, Portugal, Ranchi, Madagascar, Vietnam, Dumka Raiganj, USA West, USA Central Southern, and Peru), and all of them had studied or are currently studying at the Facultés Loyola Paris.
The Mass took place in the very distinctive setting of the Basilica-Cathedral of Saint-Denis, considered the poorest diocese in France, yet, at the same time, a very vibrant and challenging missionary field. This place bears witness both to the long history of the Church in France and the missionary vitality of a Church on the peripheries. Choosing Saint-Denis for this Mass was not only symbolic but also conveyed a message of peace, unity, and hope in a society still marked by many fractures.
In his homily, Bishop Guillet developed with great depth two major themes: the light of the Resurrection and the missionary mission. He reminded the assembly that, in this very basilica, everything is oriented toward the light of the Risen Christ, a light stronger than darkness and the source of hope for the Church. He said:
“This basilica, oriented toward the east, toward the rising sun, invites us to keep watch for Christ victorious over darkness. Here, among these columns, in this somewhat vertiginous architecture, the words of Saint Paul seem to resound: ‘O death, where is your victory?’ The light of the Easter morning reaches us all.”
Furthermore, when speaking about the lives of the ordinands, he invited us always to live as disciples who allow the light of Christ to penetrate our lives:
“You who are to be ordained today, may you never cease, throughout your lives, while being apostles, to remain disciples—disciples who, in simplicity of heart, in daily prayer, in the contemplative reading of Scripture, allow the light of Christ to penetrate their lives as men.”
From this light, the bishop then led the assembly to the dimension of mission. He recalled Saint Denis and his fellow martyrs as models of a Church that does not live for itself but always goes forth, always reaches out to the “Lutèce” of our own time—that is, to wounded and fragile places where Christ is still little known or is present in those who suffer.
For me personally, this Mass also carried a very special meaning, because I was the only deacon from the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific among the ordinands. This made me experience even more deeply the international character and the communion of the universal Society of Jesus. Each vocation has its own face, own history, and own point of departure, yet all converge in one single call—to dedicate oneself to the mission of Christ and of the Church, in obedience to the Lord’s command: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mc 16,15).
