The endangered species

The Society of Jesus in the Philippines has a Vocation Promotion Team. They will hold a vocation seminar tomorrow, Sunday, March 11, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Loyola House of Studies, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

They are inviting male college students and young professionals who are trying to decide what they will do with their lives, and — among other things — should they become a priest or a brother in the religious life. "Religious life" means that they would join an order and take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, until death.

The seminar will explain the Jesuit priesthood and brotherhood — what it means to be a Jesuit priest or a Jesuit brother — the Apostolic Works of the Jesuits, the different stages of formation, and discernment of vocation.

"Vocation" means "calling". Every soul is called by God to something. Most are called to marriage. Some are called to remain single, serving God in a career that is not compatible with marriage, or with religious vows. And some are called to serve God as priests, brothers, or nuns.

Saint Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, in his Spiritual Exercises, has shown great wisdom in directing souls through the complicated process of discovering what God wants of them. He instructs the retreat master, the guide, to remain absolutely neutral, as in a balance, not pushing the soul to marriage, or to religion. His rules of discernment have always been an excellent way to discover the will of God.

Lunch and snacks will be served during the seminar. There will be no charge. For details, contact the Jesuit Vocation Promotions Office at telephone number 4266101. Or e-mail [email protected]. You can find the website of the Philippine Jesuits at www.jesuits.ph.

At this moment there are 327 Jesuits in the Philippines. One of them, Father Juan Ledesma, is 101 years old. He will be 102 on September 5, 2007.

Six more are in their nineties. Forty-four are between the age of 80 and 90. There are 59 in their seventies. So 110 Jesuits, out of 327, are seventy years old, or older. One out of three.

Thirty-one are in their sixties. Thirty-one more are between fifty and sixty. Sixty Jesuits are in their forties. Sixty-nine are in their thirties. Twenty-six young ones are in their twenties.

In 1965, Jesuits all over the world numbered more than 36,000. As of today, we are barely more than 21,000. We are an aging breed. An endangered species.

Still, the spirit of the Society of Jesus, all over the world, is strong. As we decline in numbers, we see more clearly the need for personal sanctity, for prayer, for leadership — and, above all, the need for training lay people to do the work which was formerly done by priests and brothers.

Vocations in the Philippines are still strong, though the number of young men applying to the Society of Jesus in the United States and in Europe has decreased terribly. This has led to Filipino Jesuits being sent as missionaries all over the world.

The Jesuit schools in the Philippines keep growing. We have universities in Naga, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Zamboanga and Manila. We have schools for the Chinese in San Juan, in Cebu, in Iloilo.

The Ateneo de Manila will open a Medical School in the Meralco compound in June of this year, 2007. And among the 327 Filipino Jesuits, nine are medical doctors!

We live in a swiftly changing world. But some things remain stable, even with the Jesuits: loyalty to the word of God in the Gospel; thinking with the Church; implicit obedience to the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth. We have never had a special "thrust". We have always been shock troops, sent to carry the cross where it is needed most.

It is that way with all religious orders. We are losing men. We are losing battles. But with God, we can do all things. Tomorrow, young men, in that vocation seminar, will reach out to God. With them, we will win the war!

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