Formation

The common tertianship ends March 8. Fr Bill McGarry (MIC) will leave the Philippines on March 13, in time to join the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Pohnpei.

The month of December was a month of celebrations, having parties with friends, sharing gifts and joys with others, especially with the poor and needy. It was a month of enormous blessings for each one of us.

On December 3 some scholastics went to St. Francis Xavier School together with Fr Bill Currie (JPN) to celebrate the feast of Francis Xavier.

We all have some difficulty to believe it but the fact is that we are nearing the end of the present Tertianship program. After the Ministries of the Christmas Season, spent by all ten tertians in the mountains of the Cordillera, in the Vicariates of the Mountain Province and of Kalinga-Apayao, January has been dedicated to an intense but still “sapiential” and “spiritual” reading and study of the Constitutions.

Sch Chrysostom B. Exaltacion will spend his regency with the Chinese Province, while Sch Erik John J. Gerilla is assigned to East Timor. Thank you, Philippines, for sharing your people with other EAO units.

The month of November has been a month of blessings for the Arrupe International Residence Community in many ways.

In the first week of the month the Rector, Fr Matsumoto (JPN), and Fr Jimmy Meehan (PHI) made their annual retreat. In the absence of Fr. Matsumoto, Fr Bill Currie (JPN) led the community as an acting rector.

On November 12 we started our classes and life began to move as usual.

After a thorough evaluation and much reflection, JCEAO and the South Asia Conference decided that the inter-assistancy tertianship program, based in Sri Lanka, would resume on September 2008. Fr John Joseph Amalados (AND) would be the Director, and Fr Laurentius Priyo Poedjiono (IDO), Co-director. As of date, Fr Vinai Boonlue (TAI) and Fr Petro Young-min Choi (KOR) have signed up.

The month of October has been one of the busiest months for the Arrupe community. From October 1 –10, Fr Adolfo Nicolas officially visited the Arrupe community, spending sufficient time for personal chat with each member of the community. Our heartfelt thanks to Fr Nicolas for listening to our concerns.

East Asia Theological Encounter Program Tentative dates for 2008 are: January 10-February 14, 2008; April 9- May 9, 2008; July 25- August 24, 2008. Programs will go depending on the number of applicants. Visit the website http://www.freewebs.com/johnjshea/ for application forms and syllabus. On the site, you will also find a bibliography with pictures of previous programs and lists of EATEP alumni.

The EAO Tertianship has been on for almost three weeks already. After the closing down of the Sri Lanka Tertianship for this year, the present group has reached its maximum of ten members, with a composition that reflects the colorful universality of the Society: one tertian is from Ethiopia, one from the States, one from Italy, one from India, two from Singapore, two from Korea (one of them is applied to Japan), and two from the Philippines.

Schol Richard Anthony (MAS) will be ordained a deacon on October 20, 2007 (Saturday), 10:00 a.m., at St. Augustine's Church, Oakland, by Archbishop John R. Quinn.