MY MONTH-LONG IGNATIAN EXPERIMENT
MY MONTH-LONG IGNATIAN EXPERIMENT During my Tertianship, I had the privilege of spending a month at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Balangoda as part of my Ignatian experiment in December 2024. The home is run by the Holy Angels Congregation, an order founded by Rt. Rev. Joseph Van Reeth S.J., the first Bishop of Galle. Established in 1903, this Indigenous Catholic congregation is committed to serving underprivileged communities in Sri Lanka. This connection provided a sense of continuity and depth to my Jesuit experience journey. St. Joseph’s Home accommodates 55 elderly residents, supported by ten staff members and four dedicated sisters from the congregation. While the home primarily serves elders, only five of the residents were significantly ill or incapacitated. The majority remain primarily independent, managing their daily needs with minimal assistance. Attached to the home is a parish serving 650 families, with 15 substations under the care o...