Ten tertians from nine provinces recently completed the 2014-2015 Asia Pacific Tertianship in Manila. For six months, from September 7, 2014 to March 6, 2015, the tertians were engaged in ministries, chosen with the guidance of their spiritual directors. These were varied and included working in prisons, migrant service, orphanages, parishes, high schools, hospitals, and with indigenous people’s ministry. The tertians also made the full 30-day Spiritual Exercises, guided by tertian instructor Fr Agustinus Priyono Marwan SJ of the Indonesian Jesuit Province and assistant to the tertian instructor Ramon Ma. L. Bautista SJ.
This year, six tertians from our Conference were joined by tertians from South Africa Region and the Jesuit Provinces of French Canada, California and North Poland.
Below are reflections by three of the tertians: Fr Rampeoane Hlobo SJ (SAF), Fr Peter Pichet Saengthien SJ (TAI), and Fr Nobukuni Suzuki SJ (JPN).
Fr Rampeoane Hlobo SJ, Region of South Africa and British Province
I entered the Society of Jesus on July 1, 1993. After ordination I worked as an Assistant Pastor for two years in our inner city in Johannesburg. I was then sent to be JRS Country Director in South Africa.
It has been argued that “the Jesuit cannot know himself without including his whole past in the present. It is especially good, particularly during tertianship, to reflect on the journey from its very beginning up to now, not in order to count up the scars of old battles, but rather to rediscover the qualities of one’s own Jesuit self.” (André de Jaer, Together for Mission, pp 18-19). In light of this assertion and to conclude our long formation years, 10 of us from nine different provinces began our six-month tertianship program in September 2014. We journeyed together and shared the challenges, the joys and the graces we each received. We began as total strangers and ended on March 6 as true companions in this least Society of ours.
It was in the sharing of our rich and diverse life stories that I became more appreciative of the graces that we received before and after entering the Society. Although it felt like every moment of the tertianship was a period of grace, I think that the one grace surpassing all the graces received during these six months was doing the Spiritual Exercises again. The experience was richer, better, and more challenging than it was 20 years ago. It was, in many ways, liberating as well.
At the end of tertianship I feel felt like Peter, James, and John after the experience of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Mark 9:2-92). It was good and should remain good. I would have liked the good experience to last but like the apostles, the time had come to come down the mountain of the Transfiguration, or tertianship. One hopes and prays that the graces received during this time will sustain me in my ministries. Most importantly, I hope that through them I will be able to help the people of God to truly come to know and experience God’s love.
Fr Peter Pichet Saengthien SJ, Region of Thailand
I entered the Society of Jesus in Thailand, a dependent region of the Indonesia Province, on May 23, 1997. I was a lecturer in moral theology at Saengtham College, Thailand, where I also taught moral philosophy and biology.
The core of the tertianship program is the Spiritual Exercises. The 30-day retreat was an occasion for me to dwell more deeply in prayer and renew the love and commitment for God and others. The consolation I received during the Spiritual Exercises confirmed God’s personal relationship with me. I also learned from the retreat to be more flexible and creative both in relating to God and to people.
I enjoyed my time with the other nine tertians from other countries. We had to adjust to one another but the Lord bound us together through our spirituality and our common desire for community life. Our director and co-director played crucial roles in our community building and the other aspects of tertianship.
Our nine-day stay with two host families in Navotas allowed me to experience urban poverty first-hand. I felt special this year because the local Catholic Bishops declared it the year of the poor. Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines in January also encouraged us to be with the poor. After the live-in experience, the host families came together to visit us at Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University. I also went back to visit the host families in Navotas twice with a few other tertians.
For our Christmas ministry, we were sent to Northern Luzon to help with the Novena and then Christmas itself. I spent those two weeks in the Kayan mission of the Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe. I learned to be more humble and patient as I tried to celebrate Mass in their preferred languages of Ilocano and Kankana-ey. I was warmly welcomed by the mission rector and the parishioners there.
I went back to the same vicariate for my elective ministry in February, this time mostly to give high school recollections. The western part of the Mountain Province is of various Christian denominations, so I had an opportunity to practice ecumenism at public school recollections. I also helped the Holy Rosary School at the Kayan mission estimate the total mineral content of a local water source, making use of my scientific background.
I received much more than spiritual growth during tertianship.
Fr Nobukuni Suzuki SJ, Japan Province
I taught at Sophia University in Tokyo before joining the 2014 to 2015 Asia Pacific Tertianship in Manila. Seventeen to 22 years of formation preceded this opportunity.
Tertian life was simple enough, especially during our exposure to the local communities and churches that Pope Francis blessed during his visit in January.
For Christmas ministry we were sent to parishes in the Apostolic Vicariates of Bontoc-Lagawe and Tabuk, both in the mountains of Northern Luzon. Some of us had difficulty handling “Filipino time”, which could set schedules at the last moment. There were no maps for the location of the mission stations where we were to go—sometimes nobody knew who would lead us over valleys and mountains to the villages. Gradually, however, we adjusted. Where there was no transportation except for our feet and no signal in our phones, we learned fixed time meant little. Water was taken from the creek; rice from the paddy – everything from within the village except for clothes. Life was simple.
What we learned instead was that people were waiting for the missa de gallo, a Christmas Eve mass celebrated since the 16th century. It took several hours of struggling in the dark through bushes and climbing muddy slopes in the rain. Upon arrival, I rang a bell hanging beside the entrance to the chapel and saw the villagers gathering. I stood outside observing the gathering parishioners crossing hills and valleys.
During the masses, people found the homilies relatable since poverty or the simple way of life, which was the reality of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, was also their reality. Their “trust in God alone”, one of the dictums of St Ignatius, challenged and enriched me, after years of a sometimes hectic apostolic life in Tokyo where, though fruitful, its demand for efficiency and competence almost overwhelmed me.
The Asia Pacific Tertianship is an international work of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. It accepts a maximum of 10 participants each year. The 2015-2016 Asia Pacific Tertianship will begin on September 7, 2015. To learn more about the programme, email tertians@admu.edu.ph or jcapsj@jcapsj.org