This reflection was shared during EAPI’s grand homecoming celebrations from 11 to 15 September 2026.
Everyone has a home that they long for. We long for the places where we grew up. We remember our childhood days. We remember the friends with whom we played and shared our dreams. We miss our parents, our brothers and sisters, and the familiar places where we once lived. There is something about home that remains in our hearts no matter how far we travel or how many years have passed. And the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) has become that kind of home for us.
For several months, we lived together at EAPI. We ate together. We slept under the same roof. We studied together. We prayed together. We went on pilgrimages together. We laughed, shared stories, and enjoyed many beautiful moments together.
We came from different countries. We spoke different languages. We belong to different cultures and races. But somehow during those months, the barriers disappeared. We became like brothers and sisters. That is why, when we meet again after many years, the faces of our classmates are still so familiar and so precious to us. They are not simply the faces of former classmates; they are the faces of home.
There is a beautiful song from Antonin Dvorak’s New World Symphony that says, “Going home, going home, I am going home. Quiet-like, so still day. I am going home.” These words touch something very deep in us because, in the end, all of us are on a journey home. We long not only for the places we came from but, ultimately, for our true home in heaven. We long for the Lord. We long for the day when we will finally see him face to face and hear him say, “Welcome home.”
This is one of the beautiful meanings of our EAPI homecoming. Today, we come home to the place where many of us discovered new friendships, new cultures, new dreams, and perhaps even a deeper understanding of our vocation and mission. And today, we also come home to one another.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all our classmates who made this gathering possible. I am especially grateful to our dear Director, Fr Chong Chechon SJ, Fr Pham Dinh Khoan SJ, and to Sr Ley Salazar FDNSC, who accompanied and guided us during our time at EAPI. We remember them with deep affection and gratitude.
In many ways, this homecoming happened because we missed the people who walked with us during those precious days at EAPI. We missed our classmates. We missed our formators. We missed our friends. And we wanted to see those familiar faces once again.
Today, I also remember with a special affection our classmates who could not be with us, especially those who are coming from Africa and other distant countries. We miss you.
When I was at EAPI, I asked our African brothers if they would come to the 60th anniversary celebrations. They smiled and said, “It takes two days to travel by airplane. How can we possibly come?” So they asked me to come on their behalf.
Today, I am happy and honoured to say that I am here representing my African brothers. Although they could not be physically here, their hearts are here with us.
That is what EAPI has taught us so beautifully: distance does not erase friendship. Years do not erase memories. Different cultures do not erase brotherhood. And separation does not mean that we are truly apart, because once we have shared life together, we carry one another in our hearts.
Fr Pyo Joong Kwan visiting his EAPI classmate in Ivory Coast
Sixty is not simply a number. It is 60 years of friendship, formation, mission, memories, sacrifice, and grace. And for those of us who had the privilege of being part of EAPI, we know that our time was more than a period of study; it became part of our life story.
So today, let us celebrate not only the 60 years of EAPI. Let us celebrate the people who made EAPI our home. Let us celebrate the friendships that survive distance and time. Let us remember those who have come before us. Let us remember our formators and teachers with great gratitude. Let us embrace one another again—not simply as former classmates but as brothers and sisters who have come home.
May EAPI continue to be a home for generations to come. And may our journey together ultimately lead us to the greatest homecoming of all, our homecoming to the Father, our homecoming to the Lord, our homecoming to heaven.
Until that day, let us continue to walk together, pray for one another, and carry one another in our hearts.
Related story: EAPI celebrates 60 years of ongoing formation for a synodal Church
