Message Closing of Ignatian Year

Maayong Aga! Zǎoshang hǎo! Good Morning!

It is interesting that Helen Keller, the famous American author, disability rights
advocate, political activist once said that, “The only thing worse than being blind is
having sight but no vision.” In this she seems to lament that while many people are able
to see with their eyes, they are not able to see with their minds and their hearts to think,
imagine, or envision a life beyond our mundane existence. Many of us have sight but no
vision. We are able to see but we choose not to live life to the fullest.
Last year, in response to the invitation of Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ, we joined the
worldwide Ignatian Family in its celebration of the Ignatian Year. In the past year, we
once again relived the cannon ball moment of St. Ignatius and the transformation it
brought about in his life. We spent time praying and deepening our understanding of
Ignatian values like loving service, generosity, magis, and excellence. We too went back
to our personal cannon ball moments, the moment when the Lord invited us to
conversion.
But why did we do all this? It is to allow the Lord to reveal to us a new vigor and
enthusiasm, new ways of following Christ and living out our faith. “To see all things new
in Christ,” was our hope as suggested by the theme of the Ignatian Year. At the beginning
of the Ignatian Year, it was our hope that the entire school community will be able to see
with their minds and hearts the vision of Christ of our world—a world of loves, peace,
justice, and truth.
Today, as we close our Ignatian Year celebrations, let us bear in mind the words of our
dear Fr. General Sosa who reminds us:
It is good to remind ourselves that the wound Ignatius suffered in Pamplona was
not so much a happy ending, but rather a happy beginning. Conversion consists
sometimes of great moments of change, but it is also a never-ending process. We
need to put Christ in the center every time, again and again.
We need to put Christ in the center every time, again and again. We need to
choose Christ daily; we need to choose to be centered in Christ daily. This perhaps is the
meaning of “Seeing all things new in Christ.” It is a daily conversion to decide to live our
lives for the sake of gospel values like love, service, justice, truth, and peace. And to help
us in this daily conversion, Ignatius gives us the gift of discernment. We may not always
get things right, but through discernment, we are able to see how the good spirit moves us
to live out the values of Christ.
My dear students, teachers & staff, and administrators, there is much that remains to be
done to realize the Kingdom of God here on earth. For the sake of the Truth, we need to
continue to combat wrong information maliciously spread by people of evil intent.
Perhaps this is the call for students to take their studies seriously so that they will be
sources of truth and not un-truth. For the sake of Justice, we need to continue to identify
and dismantle unjust structures like poverty. Perhaps this is the call to give ourselves in
all our outreach activities. For the sake of Peace, we need to find ways of engaging what
divides us and enter into authentic dialogue. Perhaps this is the call to good
communication in our school community so that we are able to find solutions to whatever
divides us.
Indeed, there is much to be done. Hence, let us remember that as we close the Ignatian
Year today, the process of conversion continues. We need to be able to see what Christ
sees, to dream what Christ dreams, to envision what Christ envisions for our world if we
are to establish his Kingdom here on earth.
And I would like to suggest that as a sort of daily examen, we always end our day by
asking ourselves the following questions:
1. Was I able to create a space today where goodness, justice, peace, and love was
able to grow and thrive?
2. What is the Lord’s invitation for me tomorrow? What more can I do to create a
space where goodness, justice, peace, and love will surely grow and thrive?
With that, welcome to our closing program for our Ignatian Year celebrations. I pray
that the year brings us a renewed vision and vigor to carry out the task of carrying the
banner of Christ forward in our world.
Daghang Salamat! Xie Xie! A blessed day to all!