The last few weeks in the Jesuit novitiate...

Second part.... mail sent today.

Greetings to all!

I have not been a Jesuit novice for a little over a month...I figured this one month milestone would be a good time to send you all another update about my life here. To all of you that have written over the last few weeks, thanks...obrigado...gracias...merci.

I believe in my last letter I discussed the apostolates in which we may be working -- either juvenile hall, a local hospital, or a local homeless shelter. As it turns out, I was assigned to the hospital with two other novices. So, twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays), the three of us head over to a nearby hospital and help the sisters who work in the pastoral care department with their work. All we do is simply visit patients, each on our own, and listen to patients who want to talk. Our first priority is not to give spiritual advice, but simply listen to the patients. Thus far, I have visited some people who were suicidal, others who felt abandoned by their families, and still others who are filled with faith and thankful that someone came and visited. We never know what we will encounter. All in all, we are learning a lot, and people appear to appreciate the work that we do.

As I said, Wednesdays and Fridays are spent in apostolates. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, we usually have class in the morning, and work ordo in the afternoon (except during Thursday afternoons, when we are free). Sundays we are usually free to do what we want, and on Mondays are known as our "Villa Days." Our "Villa" is a house in Redondo Beach, located about a 15 walk from the beach, owned and maintained by the Jesuits for recreational use. We spend the day there and relax -- reading, watching movies, taking walks on the beach, etc..

Our classes thus far have led us to read the autobiography of S. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits and a study of the Formula of the Institute. In studying Ignatius, I was struck by propensity for careful discerning over any decision he had to make, and his approach towards people when it came to listening. (Maybe this has to do with my work in the hospital.) The Formula of the Institute is the papal proclamation of 1550 that established the Society and defines its mission. Right now we continue to look at the Constitutions of the Society, written by Ignatius -- these spell out the rules and regulations of the Society -- as well as the Four Gospels.

Some of you asked about my brother novices, so let me tell you a little about them:
As you may recall, I am one of 7 first year novices. The others include:
Joe, the oldest in his early 40s, who comes all the way from Boston and has worked for some years in state politics there;
Joseph, a musician by trade who has a lot of experience in musical conducting. After three weeks in Korea which saw his grandmother pass away and during which he had to have an emergency tonsilectomy, due to an infection in his throat that kept getting worse, he returned to us this week;
Elias, originally from Mexico who has worked at Delores Mission, a Jesuit Parish in East LA with extensive support services for the homeless;
Andrew, who is originally from the Philippines, and has experience working as an elementary school teacher and registered nurse;
Sam, who has been working on a PhD in medieval Spanish history at UCLA; and
Chris, the baby of the group, graduated from college this past winter and spent a semester as a high school Spanish teacher before joining the Society.

The second year novices left almost two weeks ago to work in l'arch communities, or homes for the developmentally disabled, in Oregon and Washington. They will be gone until December, so until then the house belongs to the first year novices. The second year novices are certainly a different group -- they are much louder than we are, almost to the point of being a little obnoxious, at times. In terms of temperament, they are more diverse than we are. We are quieter and more serious about our work -- in the words of the novice master, we are quite "capable." And for better or worse, we can be quite sarcastic.

Since it is just us, the first year novices, in the house right now, this means that we have had to assume responsabilities for running the place -- cleaning bathrooms, washing dishes, taking care of the house cars (2 Toyota Corollas, a Mercury, and a Van). I have been given the role of scullery boss, so I am in charge of the clean up in the kitchen after meals, and assigning tasks to people. Clean up can be quite a chore -- It almost appears sometimes as if our cook, Jim, cannot help but use every single pot and pan in the kitchen when it comes to preparing a meal.

This next month will be work month, so we will engage in some sort of project around the house. Rumor has it that it will involve painting. And we will prepare for the 30 day spiritual exercises during the month of November. More about these things, and other matters, in my next update...I realize some of you are receiving this email for the first time, and I am sorry for having mistakenly left you off of the last email list. Thanks for reading to the end, and stay tuned for more...

Until next time, Godspeed...