To be Creative and Happy in the Mission

To be Creative and Happy in the Mission

(Reflection on our Immersion Programme in Sukorejo Parish)

December 21, 2012 – January 2, 2013

Antonius Siwi Dharma Jati, SJ

The First Disposition and Hope

                I have all along been grateful as a Jesuit, because since I was a child, I often dreamt that one day I could become a Jesuit. After taking my Vows 6 months ago, I promised to do everything in the Society of Jesus as well as I could. Here, I have recently returned after a mission, that is an immersion programme. Doing it well meant for me living well the spirit of Jesuit life. Before the Juniorate Staff Members told us that the immersion would include Christmas day, I had a plan to celebrate it with my family and friends in Yogyakarta. I had made an appointment with some of them. However, I had to cancel my plan, because of this better mission.

If I looked at this programme superficially, it would have seemed useless for me, a native. It would not really be challenging for me. My friends would certainly have their own challenges in the language and in understanding the culture. Meanwhile, I am both Indonesian and Javanese and already have many experiences of this kind. However, for me, this programme would not only be a language and culture exercise, rather it would be helpful for me to experience living and being present among the poor. This idea motivated me to do my immersion programme well from the very beginning. I looked forward to experiencing God’s work among the poor, finding God in them and developing the spirit of mission. I was not really confused and did not complain when I knew that the immersion programme would include Christmas Day. For me, the mission should be my first priority. In this mission, I was asked to bring the good news to the people. Therefore, I welcomed this programme joyfully.

Living and Celebrating Christmas with the poor

                The first disposition, I cultivated evidently worked in my mission. I felt happy during the whole immersion programme. In fact, I enjoyed every encounter with the people there.  During the immersion, I lived with a small and poor family in one part of Sukorejo Parish named Ngaliyan. The wall of the house was made of wood and the floor was only the soil. There lived only a husband and a wife. The husband’s name was Mr F.X. Luwarto and his wife was Mrs Surat. Both of them are farmers that have all along been working in the rice field and garden. I was asked to help them every morning in the rice field and garden. They farmed paddy, avocado, durian, rambutan, vegetables and so on. They also had 6 goats at home. I usually helped them to look for the grass and leaves to feed the goats. The stable of the goats was very near my room, in fact, just next to it! That was why I was able to smell the goats every day. At first, I could not sleep there, because of the smell and also because of the mosquitoes.

                That was not really within my comfort zone, but at that time, I realised that during such an immersion, I should go outside my comfort zone into the risky zone. That was why I tried to accept the situation and always said that everything was good. My thinking was as follows: I am Javanese here and I know well the Javanese culture. They do not want to say things directly and they always say that everything is good even though the real situation is not really good and comfortable for them. Therefore, I tried to maintain the feeling of that family. The family in which I lived was very friendly. Both Mr. Warto and Mrs. Surat always gave me special things. For example, they provided me with their best food. At this time, I am sure that every day they do not eat the kind of food that they offered me during the immersion.  After 3 days, I could feel well living with that family. They considered me as their own son and treated me well.

For me, celebrating Christmas in that small parish with the people was my first experience. Before I entered the Society of Jesus, I only celebrated it with my family after celebrating the Mass with our fellow parishioners. I never pondered over the meaning of Christmas when Jesus was born poor to save me and to take away my sins. Since I joined the Society of Jesus, I just celebrated Christmas with the Jesuit community in the house. In Sukorejo, I celebrated Christmas with the people, and after the Mass, we had simple meals. I enjoyed it very much, and that time I was really grateful for experiencing that new and interesting Christmas celebration.  The meaning of the presence of Christ in the world could be found there with the poor.

Being Creative

One thing that made me interested in that family was their participation in the church activities. They were very active in the church. Mr Warto was the one who liked to advise the Catholic youth so that they would not fall into promiscuity. Since I lived with them, I was always invited to join them in the church. That was why I tried to be friendly with everybody there. For me, it was not difficult to be a friend with them. I liked to make a joke and to help them. They had great respect for me, because I am Jesuit. That was why they always wanted me to give some talk to them. I was asked to give a homily on Christmas at short notice and also to teach the altar boys and girls. For me, all this was very interesting. It was a right time to bring the good news of God to the people there. Besides that, it stimulated my creativity. I could be creative, because I had a good opportunity to immerse myself with the people there.

I used this opportunity to understand my Jesuit life and mission in this framework. The Jesuits are working among the poor in the parish too.  There are only 2 Jesuits who serve more than 6 thousand people in Sukorejo Parish. It is certainly not easy for them; moreover there are many complicated problems such as pregnancy outside marriage and marriage between members of different religions. There, I tried to help the priests by visiting the people and inviting them to pray together with me. I was not alone when I visited the people. My Catholic young friends accompanied me. I did not know why they liked to accompany me everywhere I went. I had one interesting experience when I visited one of the old people. He was said to be more than 100 years old, but his spirit and eagerness to pray was still strong. I invited him to pray “Our Father” and “Hail Mary” 3 times in Javanese. He looked very happy after we had prayed together. Then he blessed me and prayed for me so that I could become a good Jesuit Priest in the future. I was very touched at that time, and after returning to Mr. Warto’s home, I cried.

I got to know some young friends, because I liked to join and immerse myself with the Catholic youth there. Every night, in my Examen before I went to the bed, I liked to remember the people that I had met that day. When, I was asked also to teach the altar boys and girls. I taught them how to prepare for the Christmas Mass, and we had some activities like games and other things. I felt that they respected me very much. They did well everything that I had instructed them to do.

Being friendly with the young people was easier for me, because their way of thinking is not really different from my way of thinking. That was why I could be close to all of the young people. Some of the young people had problems of relationship with their boy or girl friends. They came to me for sharing, and I was confused at first. For me, it was not common to advise the people or to give them solutions in order to solve their problems. What I mainly did was only listening and then I tried to help them. I was surprised also, because they felt comfortable to share their problems with me. Even now, they oftentimes share with me via email. During immersion, I did not want to be a hero to the people there, but I just wanted to do my best for them and immerse myself in that community totally.  

Union of Minds and Hearts

                I was the one who was in charge during this immersion programme. I had to help my friends to communicate with the parish priest, his assistant and the families where we were living during our immersion. Because of that, I had the wonderful opportunity to know some Jesuits working in different places. It made me indirectly feel the union of minds and hearts among us. First of all, I felt united with Stephen, Arow, Gil and Levi, my friends of the immersion. We did not live together, but we were spread out in 5 different places. Moreover, we still tried to communicate with one another. We met accidentally on December 25, in the Church. We used that encounter for sharing together. In my opinion, that sharing was good to build up our community life. Secondly, I felt the union among us Jesuits when I visited 2 Jesuit families in Ngaliyan. They are the families of Br. Sarju, SJ, and Br. Agustinus Daryanto, nSJ (Second Years Novice. In both homes I was considered as a member of their family.

Conclusion

                I am very grateful now for having had a lot of meaningful experiences during the immersion programme. The most important point is to be creative and to be happy in one mission. The first disposition I had when I welcomed this programme helped me to think clearly and creatively. In this Juniorate, I will be bored if I do not have creativity. Sometimes, the daily programmes are not clear and overburdening me. However, if I can see all that is offered in this programme as fitting in with a good paradigm, then I can make it interesting for myself and useful for my Jesuit formation. I offer my reflections on this unique experience for the greater glory of God.