Five Indonesian novice Jesuits professed their First Vows at La Storta Chapel in Girisonta on 24 June, before the Indonesian Provincial Fr Benedictus Hari Juliawan SJ and in the presence of family, guests, and several other Jesuits. The five scholastics came from various parishes in Indonesia, namely Lampung, Sleman, Salatiga, Batam, and East Jakarta.

The theme of the Eucharistic celebration, “Being Placed with Christ in Our Christifying Pilgrimage”, grew from reflections during their two years of novitiate formation. The scholastics described how they feel called and sustained by God through consolation and desolation and how their individual vocation journeys have helped them to become more like Christ in His suffering.

In his homily, Fr Juliawan encouraged the new scholastics in their quest for self-Christification. He related a story from his time in London when GPS was just an emerging technology and taxi drivers had excellent knowledge of the intricacies of London’s streets. Once, while inside a taxi, he was amazed to discover that there was another route to reach the Jesuit house on Goldhurst Terrace. He used this to illustrate that growth requires effort and patience, and instant conveniences like GPS can short‑circuit the formation process. He outlined St Ignatius’ three stages of spiritual journey: via purgativa (awareness of our smallness before God), via illuminativa (enlightenment), and via unitiva (union with God), and urged the scholastics to embrace the challenges that shape them into Christ’s likeness.

Speaking on behalf of the scholastics’ families, Scholastic Halford’s parent described letting their son join the Society with prayerful trust. Halford’s parents live closest to Girisonta and often miss him, but they learnt to accept that he now belongs first to God and to the Society, and they pledged continued prayerful support for his vocation

After their First Vows, the scholastics will study philosophy at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta and accompany visiting scholastics, walking together in step with Christ.