Fr Erwin (Secretary, JYMSA) visits Mount St Joseph

It was a cheerful occasion to have Fr Erwin Lazrado SJ, the Secretary for Jesuit Youth Ministry in South Asia (JYMSA) in our midst last week. His enthusiasm, youthfulness and dynamism were reflected through the inspirational talk that he delivered to us, Novices. He shared with us his thoughts, ideas and strategies about his Mission i.e. working with the unorganized and backward youth in various parts of our Assistancy. The South Asian Assistancy comprises of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh divided into 18 Provinces and 2 Regions. When asked about a few guidelines as help for our Saturday and Sunday ministries since we work with village children we had four interesting notes to make:

(a) Highlight the problem to the youth and give them freedom to decide, don’t take decisions for others, all learn by committing mistakes and God certainly loves and accepts everyone. (b) Find out their burning needs, the issues and challenges that they face and be with them in times of struggle besides there is no substitute for personal contact. (c) Make a leader out of them and not a soldier thus accompany them in their journey. (d) Never be result oriented. Humbly prepare the way, thus carry on God’s work. There will be oppositions but we must be aware that only when a tree bears fruits people start throwing stones at it. Hence make them responsible for their lives and give them the assurance that you are there.

These principles have certainly lead us to look at our ministries with a different perspective and have got us closer to the depths of reality. We are thankful for his presence amidst us.