Languages
Last night my family and I had the privilege of attending a mass celebrated by the Jesuit Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, who was visiting the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. The school had to set up a tent and seating on the patio outside the chapel in order to accommodate the standing room only crowd.
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás had prepared a homily, but in light of some conversations he had earlier with students and faculty, decided to speak extemporaneously. He spoke of the need for those doing theology in the Church to be conversant in three languages. The first is the language of theology itself, its traditions and technical vocabulary. The second language, proper to the Jesuits as missionaries, is the language of what he called “the frontier,” and in particular the frontier where the poor and marginalized are found. Finally, there is the language spoken by those at the “center,” the language of institutions and those charged with authority.
All three of these languages are necessary and we need to be comfortable speaking each. The problem is that they are not the same languages and they require translation. We need to be patient with one another in this process. The contemporary speed of communication-particularly with the Internet-can make it hard to have this kind of patience. He joked that remarks made in Berkeley can be known in Rome 30 minutes later. I suspect this post is only proving Fr. Nicolás’s point!
In light of the feast day of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Fr. Nicolás spoke of a fourth language, that of “witness.” He told a story of meeting an older Catholic during his time in Japan who had been catechized by Pedro Arrupe himself. “That must have been wonderful,” said Fr. Nicolás, expecting to hear that the experience had given the man profound insights into the faith. On the contrary, said the man, often I couldn’t understand what he was saying. “But I watched him and at the end of a year I said, this man is a good man and if this faith can produce such a man, I will become a Christian.”
I’ll close with an anecdote about my eight-year-old daughter Megan, who was particularly interested in meeting Fr. Nicolás. “Can I touch him,” she said, “or is he too holy?” When my wife laughed, Megan said “I know, I’ll creep up behind him and touch his clothes like the woman in the Bible did with Jesus.” I’m happy to report that no such subterfuge was necessary. We were able to meet Fr. Nicolás at the reception and Megan got to shake his hand. Perhaps she’ll remember this moment if she’s ever ordained a Jesuit…:-)
All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening and one that I thought other members of the community here would be interested in reading about.
Thanks for this post. I think a lot of Fr. Nicolás and wrote a few posts about him and the Jesuits on my own blog when he was elected.
I also think a lot of Fr. Nicolás. I hope some day young girls like Megan can grow up to be priests and perhaps even Jesuits.
“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in
love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what
seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what
will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your
evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
~Pedro Arrupe, SJ
Thank you, Peter. This seems like good advice for anyone who preaches.
Peter Nixon, thank you for sharing a personal story of listening to and meeting Fr. Nicolas, the Father Gemeral of the Jesuits. In his prior position, he was Father Provincial of the Japan Province. He is from Spain. There is a remarkable coincidence with Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, from Spain, a Provinicial in Japan, and General of the Society of Jesus. Jesuits and those educated by them are grateful for two such men of God Men like these are the leaders we pray we continue to have in the Church. Fr. Nicolas’ story of the man who was taught catechism by Fr. Arrupe reminds us of a saying that should always be kept in mind when listening to leaders preaching: “What you are thunders so loud I cannot hear what you say.”
Forgive my carelessness in not spell-checking, please. Corrected copy here.
Peter Nixon, thank you for sharing a personal story of listening to and meeting Fr. Nicolas, the Father General of the Jesuits. In his prior position, he was Father Provincial of the Japan Province. He is from Spain. There is a remarkable coincidence with Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, from Spain, a Provincial in Japan, and General of the Society of Jesus. Jesuits and those educated by them are grateful for two such men of God Men like these are the leaders we pray we continue to have in the Church. Fr. Nicolas’ story of the man who was taught catechism by Fr. Arrupe reminds us of a saying that should always be kept in mind when listening to leaders preaching: “What you are thunders so loud I cannot hear what you say.”