The annual meet of Jesuit Novice Masters of South Asian Assistancy (JeNMaSA) was held at the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality (CIS), Beschi Illam, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, on 20 -28 August, 2023. All 14 Novice Masters of JCSA were present.
The meeting commenced with the inaugural Mass presided over by Fr Thomas Amirtham, Provincial of Madurai. Extending a cordial welcome, he said he appreciated the crucial mission of the Novice Masters with the Z generation youth of today who are accustomed to the world of social media, and whose language is SMS, memes, reels and mind voice etc. He exhorted the Novice Masters to accept, accompany and assist the Novices who enter the Society of Jesus with varied multiple identities, orientations and aspirations to discover and find their true identity and a sense of purpose in their human and Christian life.
In his introductory talk, Fr Amirtham shed sufficient light on the development and consolidation of the old and the new Madura mission. The days spent together enabled us to gather several insights for our inward, upward and outward journey.
Input for inward journey: The initial two days were devoted to mull over the insights gathered for our own inward journey in the light of the interesting input sessions offered by Fr Wilson, OFM Cap on Psycho-sexual-spiritual integration.
Inspiration for upward journey: We drew a lot of inspiration for our upward journey during the Xaverian pilgrimage. Our flying visit to the places where St Francis Xavier, Beschi and Henrique Henriquez laboured with utmost dedication to spread the gospel in innovative ways elevated our body, mind and spirit to God and filled us with much gratitude to God and reverence for our own Jesuit missionaries and rich Jesuit heritage. We visit also some Marian shrines and spent some time at the shrine of the Martyrdom of St Devasagayam Pillai. The Jesuit communities all along the pilgrimage route went out of their way to provide us with sumptuous meals and splendid accommodation.
Interaction for outward journey: We spent the last couple of days in interacting with each other, sharing news and views about the novitiate formation, and suggesting ways and means to reach out to the budding Jesuits with a compassionate heart during our outward journey with the novices. We gained a number of insights to address the issues concerning the integral formation of the novices in the current situation.
This memorable meet was made possible due to the meticulous planning and execution by Fr Anthony Inigo, the Novice Master, his Socius, Fr Anto Arputharaj and all the novices. They left no stone unturned to make the gathering truly an enriching experience. We are greatly indebted to the Provincial and the Maduralaya community as well as to Fr Michaeldoss SJ, the Superior and Brs Santiago, Royappan, Joseph Raja, and all at Beschi Illam, for all they did to make our meeting memorable.
– John Pradeep, SJ (KAR)
