News and Views from Arrupe House Jesuit Tertianship Sri Lanka

 Dear Brothers, As the bus left the familiar small road at dawn this morning, we closed the chapter of our beautiful and warm memories from these six months of grace: the smiles, the jokes, the aroma of curry, the Uno cards, the sharings, and the silence in prayer… I think we have lived and will live it again the experience the origin of the Society through our shared past experience. I hope that the name Kandy 24-25 in WhatsApp will not only be nourished by old memories, conserved on our phones, but will also be updated with our latest news in the future. More than that, may it become our own schola affectus , so that when we return to that small and deeply meaningful space in the house on the mountain city, we will carry the longing for one another and find each other again in our stories and future service. As I once joked—see you all at the General Congregation! Fr. Joseph Bui Quang Minh,  Vietnam

 The first time I learned about the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus was during my Novitiate from 2002 to 2004. Throughout this period, our Novice Master encouraged us to engage with Part VI of the Constitutions: The Personal Life of Those Admitted and Incorporated into the Body of the Society. I did not comprehend much regarding the structure of the Constitutions or the content of each chapter. Nevertheless, I loved the Society and aspired to become a Jesuit because I experienced a model of holiness through our Master’s life. Like a compassionate father, he cared for and cherished me and my fellow novices. He was the one who brought me to life spiritually, guiding me to encounter Jesus through the Spiritual Exercises and connecting me to the life and mission of the Society through the reception of the Constitutions. Twenty years after my first vows in the Society, I rediscovered the Constitutions during my Tertianship in Sri Lanka. I realized that the Constitutions are a gift...

  The flower that blossoms in the  tranquillity of the night undergoes a profound interior transformation in silence, unseen by the world. In the stillness of the night, the flower unfolds its petals and shares its essence through the fragrance, touching every passerby without discrimination. People are attracted to this fragrance and cherish the flower's beauty and serene presence. Though the greatest transformations often happen in silence, the fruits of those transformations, like the fragrance of the flower, have the power to reach and impact the world. St. Ignatius of Loyola experienced a profound interior blossoming in the stillness and solitude of Manresa cave. This period of silence awakened him spiritually and allowed him to encounter God deeply and intimately. This transformative experience enabled him to emerge with the gift of Spiritual Exercises, a tool that carries the essence of his interior journey. As the fragrance of a flower brought by the breeze, the Spir...