Asking the Holy Spirit for Light

8:15 am

The dews at Richmond's Eastern Catholic Church parking lot that crested on the green blades of grass were still glistening. They were quite content to bask in the warm sun that embraced them on a Saturday morning last September 6 2014. Quietly. Little did they know that their somewhat unknown church was about to open its doors to the second Jesuit Alumni Group’s retreat for the Ignatian community to celebrate in one faith, in one love and in one God.

This year's theme was: Finding God in Your Life.

Fr Richard Soo SJ, ECC's pastor and the JAGs retreat master, likes to say “on a good day my parish has about fifteen people attending Sunday service.” I wondered, would today be one of those days where we will have to invoke Mother Cabrini to make room for all the cars of the retreatants? 

By 8:45, ECC's parking lot filled up. Mother Cabrini, once again sensed our need for her help, sent Uncle Phil Chuatoco and Charlie Ramirez to help manage the parking lot.

For the JAG, who are quite used to Fr Soo, his opening remarks, came as no surprise: "Do not believe what I am about to say this morning." Further: "We can read many books but still don’t “hear” God talk to us; as we have tune to a different channel." 

With the stage set, he invited us to experience the 15 minute Examen.

At the morning break, Georgia Kwok remarked: “This is wonderful; I know it is not easy to practice by ourselves."

In between short prayers and a couple of group sessions, it was hard to believe that it was time for lunch. We ambled from the church to the parish hall to enjoy our new found friends' company.

With lunch almost done, with many questions responded to, Georges Gracieuse, who was responsible for managing the JAG's spiritual affairs, finally managed to sit down, in the few seconds he had to catch his breathe, I asked him how he was feeling. His one word response: happy.

Then he added: "Happy that JAG was able to host its second retreat; happy that we are flourishing from the seeds that Fr Elton planted to the encouragement of Fr Richard; and happy that our reputation continues to be well received by the Ignatian community."

I too was happy, and proud to watch Ignatius Lee give our Ignatian community a warm welcome. You have to appreciate that he had less than five minutes to craft his remarks, which he delivered without looking at his notes. 

I was happy to see GG Francisco sharing his prayerful journey, though his intrepid remarks were uncharacteristically a tad short. I have always enjoyed listening to a Filipino alumnus of Ateneo who professes to being born to a faith not of his choosing …. deliver his perspective to an audience which included a significant number of alumni from Wah Yan College Hong Kong who had to make a choice to follow God, sometimes with difficulty.  You have to be at JAG to appreciate the fullness of the sharing of our faiths and how we have trodden different paths to be together. Prior to joining the JAG, I had not realized that there were nuances of Jesuitness. 

But the biggest reason for my happiness would not appear until much later. Last year, Fr Elton Fernandes, SJ sensed that for a few of us who were busy helping with the retreat, it was difficult to focus. This year was no different. With Fr. Richard repeating his message “ask the Holy Spirit for light”, I was at a loss and had accepted my fate that I would not find the light. Not today. There were just too many things going on.

During lunch I began taking pictures of the 61 retreatants; and on a lark bounded up to the balcony of the church to take more pictures. 

It was not until I got home that I had a chance to view the pictures, and one stood out. There it was the light of the Holy Spirit shining on us! It was at that very moment that I realized that the Holy Spirit had been in my back pocket after all!

Nitz Carvajal who is with the Christian Life Community St. Augustine group would later write: "It was a wonderful experience to be there – just to be physically present – in a church unknown to me, till yesterday. Fr Soo's energy and words allowed me to feel the life of the community and a sense of belonging. The Jesuit community is indeed growing, AMDG!" 

Fr Richard ended our retreat by reminding us that as a community in prayer we have contributed in increasing holiness in the Universal Church. 

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JAG blogs can be read in English, Chinese, and French at: jagvancouver.wordpress.com

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Source for all photos:  Dom Bautista