Passion & Warmth
Homily delivered by Fr Roberto C Yap SJ, University President
Mass of the Holy Spirit 26th June 2013
Founded in 1933, Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan celebrates during 2013 its 80th anniversary. Ruby is the anniversary stone for an 80thyear, so in 2013, we are celebrating our Ruby Jubilee. The most important thing about this precious stone is its color. ‘Ruby’ was derived from the Latin word ‘rubens,’ meaning ‘red.’ The red of the ruby is incomparable: warm and fiery. Two magical elements are associated with the symbolism of this color: fire and blood, implying warmth and passion for humankind. Our Ruby Jubilee then must be a celebration of life with passion and warmth. Marking our 80th anniversary means living our life with Ruby Passion and Ruby Warmth.
The mass we celebrate this afternoon, the Mass of the Holy Spirit, is also known as the Red Mass. We come together at the beginning of this academic year to invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit. Red is the color associated with the Holy Spirit. “When the time of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. … Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit ...” (Acts 2: 1,3-4). During this Red Mass of our Ruby Jubilee, we implore the Holy Spirit to bestow on us Ruby Passion and Ruby Warmth.
Living Ruby Passion means pursuing our dreams and aspirations with enthusiasm and excellence. The Ignatian word for Ruby Passion is magis. The motto of the Society of Jesus is AMDG, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, for the greater glory of God. St Ignatius did not want his Jesuits to strive only for God’s glory, not even for God’s great glory; he wanted them to aspire for God’s greater glory … mas, more, magis. In a key meditation in the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius instructs the retreatant to come before Christ hanging on the cross and ask himself three questions: not just ‘What have I done for Christ?’, not just ‘What am I doing for Christ?’ but especially ‘What more can I do for Christ?’
In living Ruby Passion, we have to be careful that we are not just mindlessly multi-tasking, doing as many trivial things as we can. Fr Adolfo Nicolas, the Jesuit Superior General teaches us that “depth is perhaps a better translation of Ignatian magis.The trouble with translating magis simply as ‘more’ is that it can too easily be understood as the ‘more’ of a competitive, consumerist culture. Ignatius was always concerned with depth.You have heard many times, I am sure, his principle of non multa sed multum, literally, “not many, but much.” Onecould paraphrase this as “not quantity, but depth”: “what satisfies the soul,” Ignatius says – in other words, what really matters in the business of becoming human and Christian – is not many superficial bits of knowledge and information, but a deep understanding and appreciation of what is most important.” (Talk on Jesuit Education, 2009, Manila, #12-13)
St Francis Xavier was someone who lived with Ruby Passion. When the one who was to go on mission to India suddenly fell seriously ill, Xavier was the only Jesuit left to send. Ignatius called him in, told him the situation, and said simply, “Master Francis, it looks like this is your job.” Francis answered with equal simplicity, “Sus! Heme aqui. Right, Here I am.”
Driven by magis, Xavier set out on a long and torturous passage to India. For two years he catechized poor pearl fishers on the eastern coast of Cape Comorin with basic Christian prayers he had had translated into Tamil. As more Jesuits gradually joined him, he established Goa as the principal center for Jesuit ministry. Xavier’s zeal for the care of souls carried him farther and farther from the home base of Goa, to Ceylon, the Malay peninsula, and the Molucca islands, four thousand miles beyond India.
Hearing wonderful stories about Japan, he turned his missionary ken to the Land of the Rising Sun. Two months after his arrival there, Xavier’s enthusiasm was still high: “We shall never find among heathens another race equal to the Japanese. They are a people of excellent morals – good in general and not malicious.” For two and a half years he remained in Japan, where he won permission to proselytize, impressing high-placed Japanese with gifts of clocks, spectacles, music boxes and wine. He hoped to create liaisons between the learned class of Japan and the great universities of Europe, especially his alma mater, Paris.
When he heard from the Japanese that the most erudite people in the world were the Chinese, he determined to enter the Celestial Empire, ever striving for God’s greater glory. After many frustrations and hardships, he died on the island of Sancian, December 3, 1552, within a few miles of his goal.
This afternoon we ask the Lord that St Francis Xavier’s Ruby Passion inspire the life of the University that bears his name in Cagayan de Oro. May the students, faculty and staff at XU always be inspired by the ideal of magis. May we pursue all our activities with excellence and depth. Whether teaching or learning, instruction or formation, research or social outreach, administration or support services, may we always strive to give our best, all for God’s greater glory. During our Ruby Jubilee, we fervently ask the Holy Spirit to bestow on us the gift of Ruby Passion.
We also beg the Spirit to bequeath on us the grace of Ruby Warmth. The Ignatian word for Ruby Warmth is cura personalis, ‘personal care’ or better translated as ‘care for the entire person.’ Cura personalis means individualized attention to the needs of the other, distinct respect for his or her unique circumstances and concerns, and an appropriate appreciation for his or her particular gifts and insights.
In his instructions for retreat directors, St Ignatius insists that “The Spiritual Exercises should be adapted to the disposition of the persons who desire to make them, that is, to their age, education, and ability.” (SpEx 18) … in other words, individualized attention. Cura personalis were also the words St Ignatius used to describe the responsibility of the Jesuit Superior to care for each man in the community with his unique gifts, challenges, needs and possibilities. “The function of the rector will be first of all to sustain the whole community by his prayer and holy desires … He should watch over all his subjects with great care … He should strive to promote their progress in virtue and learning and care for their health and for the temporal goods [they need] …” (Cons 424) … put simply, care for the whole person: body, spirit and soul.
St Francis Xavier possessed in the highest degree the quality of Ruby Warmth. He was an authentic practitioner of cura personalis. In a letter to Ignatius, he offers from the missions in India a beautiful description of Jesuit life in common. “I have treated with love and charity those whom I have thought were suitable for the Society in order to strengthen them the more in it, since they endure so many hardships in these regions in order to serve God our Lord, and also because it seems to me that ‘Society of Jesus’ means to say ‘a Society of love and in conformity of minds’ and not ‘of servility and servile fear’.” (Letters, 2217, January 12, 1549). Knowing that he was separated from the Jesuits in Europe and often separated even from the Jesuits in India, we necessarily have the image of Xavier as the strong, solitary missionary. Yet he himself felt strong ties – and needed these strong ties – to the apostolic body of the Society. St Francis Xavier famously declared: “… if I should ever forget the Society of the Name of Jesus, may my right arm be forgotten.” (Letters, p. 180) To this day, Xavier’s right forearm is enshrined for public viewing in the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
At this Eucharist, let us implore the Lord for the grace of Xavier’s Ruby Warmth, the gift of cura personalis. May all of us at XU always take a personal interest in the intellectual, affective, moral and spiritual development of each other, helping each one to develop a sense of self-worth and to become a responsible individual within the community. Let all of us strive to listen to each other’s cares and concerns, to share our joys and sorrows, to help with our personal growth and interpersonal relationships. May Ruby Warmth not be limited to our relationships but also influence the curriculum and the entire life of our University. May our care for the whole person extend especially to the poverty-stricken and the persecuted, the despised and the downtrodden, the bedeviled and the bewildered. May our caring likewise manifest in our relating to creation with reverence and respect.
The theme of our Ruby Jubilee is Forming Leaders the Ateneo Way. Each one of us at XU is called to be a leader. And we are challenged to exercise our leadership the Ateneo Way … the way of magis … the way of cura personalis. During our 80th anniversary, we pray: Come Holy Spirit … fill our hearts with Ruby Warmth … cura personalis … Kindle in us … Ruby Passion … magis. Send forth your Spirit, O Lord … Renew Ateneo de Cagayan … Renew XU … Renew us during our Ruby Jubilee. Amen. Amen.