Being a Compassionate Face of God for All His Peoples
Girish Santiago, SJ (GUJ/MYN)
Till 18th March 2021 I belonged to the Myanmar Jesuit Mission (MJM). On 19 March Father General has erected MJM into a Dependent Region of Myanmar (MYN) with the Philippines Province. So, currently I am happy to belong to this NEW Myanmar Region. For 19 years as a Priest I was fully involved in the socio-pastoral services in Gujarat Province, India. All these years I was fully engaged in the pastoral and social ministries, especially at the inclusive educational services of the persons with disabilities of all types and categories. ENABLE THE DISABLED is my life’s motto. The poor, orphans, widows, pregnant women, disadvantaged and disabled were part of my caring and compassionate mission in the strong Hindutva land of Gujarat, India. This was my way of New Evangelization, of imitating Jesus, the Person of the anawim!
Myanmar is not an alien land to me. My parents were born here in Pyapon, lower Myanmar. They were baptized, married and bore three children. Their happy living was disturbed and they had to leave the country in 1964 due to the unrest situation. Some of our relatives remained here. My family left for an unknown land; Tamil Nadu where later my younger brother and I were born. We were displaced. After 49 years, I encountered many of my relatives in Yangon and was happy to be reunited. What a joy to have an experience of such!
For four years now I have been serving as an Associate Director at St. Luke’s College, a socio-pastoral formation Center at Myitkyina, Kachin State, upper Myanmar. This is one of our MJM socio-pastoral initiatives to train young men and women to be frontier lay socio-pastoral ministers and community leaders in their respective northern Myanmar Dioceses. Besides, with our Jesuits presence we are opening a college to form not only the catechetical leaders, but also to train other denominational and other faith-based students with other courses to become men and women for others as part of nation building exercise. In all I do I endeavor to be a person for others. Besides class room activities the staff and students are motivated and directed to accompany the marginalized persons of our society, especially the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who suffer a lot in various camps since 2011 due to internal war. War continues even now. Dictatorship has snatched the political power of Democracy. Protest against such power continues right now. So, due to this, peace is at stake. It is in this context that our interventions are a movement towards reconciliation and peace!
As a pioneer missionary in the upper Myanmar region, I play an important role to witness, actualize and spread the socio-pastoral aspect of the Spiritual Exercises among the youth, excluded, clergy and religious. Truly, it is worth being part of such a mission to encounter the Joy of the Gospel! With greater discernment now we have made an Apostolic Plan for 2020 – 2030. From now on, time will reveal our initiatives, interventions and involvements in our Myanmar context. With greater zeal we have planned to continue and to extend in accompanying the rural and urban persons like the IDPs (displaced), poor, marginalized and excluded (disadvantaged) and disabled through various concrete participatory programs at this time of covid-19 and coup crises!
I would like to highlight two major experiences where and how I felt the presence, support and love of God in my journey in the Social apostolate and when I felt some desolation.
In Gujarat, India
After my ordination in 1997, for four days a week I regularly visited villages for my pastoral ministry. During one of these visits in 1998 I encountered a group of disabled persons who, though found it difficult to walk, were crawling to meet me. In this event felt the call of God to do something for them. This was a call within the call of my pastoral ministry where I felt God asking me to accompany all His people. This completely changed my pastoral approach. The mere presence of the poor challenged me to be poor and to walk with the poor and needy persons. In all these encounters I strongly felt the presence of God. I felt the need to accompany all, the way Jesus of Nazareth accompanied the anawim of his time! Because of this outlook in my ministry, the Church, Jesuit Province, State and Central government of India very much supported our socio-pastoral involvements. All could see our approach as Care with Compassion for the Nation.
In Myitkyina, Myanmar
The painful life situation of the persons in the IDP camps really shook me in Myitkyina, Kachin State, upper Myanmar. On a certain Sunday while I was celebrating Mass for the people, I choked when I greeted them – “The Lord be with you.” The Mass participants were generous with their offerings. At the end of the Mass I was given a lot from their offerings to our Clergy home. I was touched by their generosity. Despite their hardship they were very generous to us. I felt the need to do something for the poor and IDP children in our neighborhood. I strongly felt that God was calling me not to remain within the college campus, but to also accompany the persons in need outside of our campus too. So, today besides within the college service, we render outside various services to poor, IDPs, widows, orphans and persons with disabilities.
In both places my desolation has been to experience much criticism of a few stagnated clergy and religious. When persons fail to see the dynamic works of God for His peoples I do experience desolation and asked a basic question like, “Why God is this way!?”
Finally, I am ever grateful to God for one thing. That is, he has made me realize, I am the caring and compassionate face of God for all His peoples at all times and in all places.
