Bill Robins, SJ, is a Canadian Jesuit who lived at Godavari, our original school at the south-east edge of the Kathmandu Valley. He lived in a community of six Jesuits and taught 11 and 12 English until his return to Canada in 2021.
49 posts
April 25, 2015 was a day of a tragedy for the people of Nepal. The massive earthquake killed 8,000 people and injured 19,000. But one event - the ordination of Nepal's first native born Jesuit priest - saved the lives of about 150 people. Canadian Jesuit, Bill Robins, SJ - Socius to the Provincial, described what happened. The post begins with Bill's letter to me that accompanied his posting....
A few years ago, an electrical grid failure left most of Europe in darkness. Over the next week, one could watch night time satellite photographs of Europe go from almost dark to rather bright, as the system was being repaired. Similar pictures taken over Africa would show huge dark areas which are always dark! We regularly receive news of the economic woes in developed countries, but can easily forget the constant struggle the poor in Africa have to survive. Such poverty is certainly unjustified in a world of instant communication. We see material and people move all too quickly into war zones, hopefully to correct evils. Would that the bearers of Christ's peace be able to move as efficiently!...
On the morning of Sunday, 14 December 1997, I was looking forward to a relaxing day off, first by cleaning my room. I was busy with the vacuum cleaner when a community member burst into the room. Bishop Anthony just phoned. Tom has been killed!" I turned the machine off, put on a jacket, raced to the cycle shed, and after five minutes was at Tom's rented bungalow, a simple four room house. Rachan, the house boy, had come to work at 8:00 A.M. as usual. He found the front door ajar, and Tom lying on his floor sleeping matt, his throat slit. "...
The flight into Kathmandu, in front of the splendour of the Himalaya; the drive through Kathmandu's chaotic traffic; the first trip to a village where one eats rice with one's hands while squatting on a wooden plank – so the life of a volunteer begins! For almost two decades, the Jesuit International Volunteers in Washington, D.C., sent college graduates on two year volunteer assignments to Nepal. These talented and dedicated young men and women served our school students and provided social service to the poor....
For Evangelization (8) : That Christians, inspired by the Word of God, may serve the poor and suffering....
For Evangelization (7) That Christians in Oceania may joyfully announce the faith to all the people of that region....
For Evangelization (6) : That the Holy Spirit may support the work of the laity who proclaim the Gospel in the poorest countries. Two examples from Nepal....
In May 2014, igNation launched a series exploring the Jesuit identity as it is expressed in works of fiction: "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Fiction". This was followed by the series "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Biography". In these two series we hear what others think about what it means to be a Jesuit – in fiction and in biography. This new series – "Keyword: Jesuit, Genre: Autobiography" – will explore what it means to be a Jesuit today – as told in their own words by Canadian Jesuits. The articles – written for igNation –are as different in expression and format as the men who wrote them. Today's Posting - What It Means to Me to Be A Jesuit Today - is s by Bill Robins, SJ...
Pope Francis' election has sent me scurrying to atlases and history books to learn a little more Argentine and Jesuit history. I've learned that Latin America includes all of Central and South America, Mexico, and most of the Caribbean, home to about 590 million people in nineteen countries. About 70% are Catholic and another 20% of other Christian denominations. Spain and Portugal colonized the area, starting in the sixteenth century. Catholic Christianity came with the colonists. The Church was quick to evangelize the indigenous peoples of the continent, with marked success. Missionaries provided education, protection from greedy colonists, and financial security, along with the Catholic faith. The Jesuit reductions flourished until 1767, when the Spanish government expelled the Jesuits. The Jesuits had failed to teach the people to manage these missions on their own, so the reductions collapsed, but the Catholic faith remained!...
Let's add, "Mary, Star of Evangelization" to our Litany of Our Lady! I love the image of a star leading people to Jesus, just as the star led the Magi to him. These men were lucky to live under clear desert skies, not spoiled with light pollution. They had time to study those starts, name many, and create stories around the patterns the stars make in constellations. The Magi rose to the invitation the stars offered them, and found Jesus....
