Adjust Font Size:

Papel Ocasional Numero 38

Bienvenido / Página Inicial (Español) / Noticias & Información / Publicaciones / Papeles Ocasionales /

In Christ, In Cali

by P. Wallace Platt, C.S.B.

JANUARY 2006

Whenever, at some future time, when Basilians gather to recall memorable moments in the history of the Community, the events of January 2 and 3, 2006, in Cali, Colombia, will be remembered with joy and gratitude. For this was certainly a significant moment in the life of our Congregation, marking, as it did, both achievement and promise. In the events of these two days, five young men were received as “postulants,” three novices took first vows, and one young man was ordained to the priesthood. Archbishop Michael Miller came from Rome to do the ordination, his first to the priesthood.

The roster of professed Basilians present, both those stationed in Latin America, and those from other parts, reads as follows: Frank Amico, Bob Barringer, John Boscoe, Ken Decker, Mario D’Souza, Jose Edward Escobar (scholastic), Alberto Ferrara, Oscar Gomez (scholastic), Terry Kersch, Rafael Lopera, Michael Miller, Pedro Mora, Wally Platt, Paul Rennick, Bill Riegel, Bob Sequin, Al Sinasac, Vince Thompson, and Jack Whitley.

One element of the events which would distinguish them from corresponding occasion in the north, so to speak, was the massive and enthusiastic participation of the whole Christian community of the area and beyond. One would expect this for an ordination, of course, but the participation of Latins in any liturgy is extremely expressive spontaneous. Thus the church was well filled by 7.00 a.m. on the morning of Monday, 2 January 2006, the patronal feast of our community, for first of the events, the profession of first vows of Camilo Moreno, Joaquín Rubio, and his twin brother, William Rubio. Father Robert Barringer, the regional superior for Colombia, presented the candidates who had made their novitiate with him in Bogotá during the previous year, to Father Ken Decker, superior general, who received the vows. Quiet and simple was the ceremony, but who is not moved by the sight of young manhood, touched by grace, vowing fidelity and saying in effect, “Here I am Lord, send me.!”

After the profesion, a collation was offered to all and sundry in the courtyard of the school—a school which has become a showcase in Cali and farther, not principally for its buildings and appointments, though these are admirable, but chiefly for its Catholic ethos, good teaching, and firm discipline. At noon a banquet was held in the students’ refectory, for the family and friends of the ordinandus and newly professed, for all the Basilians, and for out-of-town guests who had come from Medellín and Bogotá, places where Juan Carlos had worked or was known. More than one hundred persons had come by buses organized for the occasion. Lodging had been arranged for these guests among Cali parishioners—a remarkable feat of organization carried off smoothly and successfully. His Grace, Juan Francisco Sarasti, Archbishop of Cali, a simple and humble Eudist, kindly came for the brindis and banquet, paying his respects to Archbishop Miller, to the ordinandus and his family and friends, to the Basilians, and to the guests. The Archbishop provided his crozier for the ceremony.

The crowning event, was, of course, the ordination to the priesthood of Juan Carlos Rojas Ramos, at 4:00 on the afternoon of the Feast of St Basil. Juan Carlos was an altar boy, eight years of age, when the Basilians took over the parish of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Cali in 1987. Juan Carlos has proven himself apt for Basilian life and work by his success in studies, his ability in teaching, his zeal in ministry and his talent for working with youth. Archbishop Miller handled the ceremony as though he had done it for years. Needless to say, the people, for a second time, were impressed by the fact that the Basilians could provide a bishop of their own to ordain one of their own, as they had done in January 2004 when Bishop Ron Fabbro ordained Pedro Mora. The ceremony proceeded reverently, if loudly: amplification has its advantages, though at times one could wish it more merciful.

The Archbishop’s homily was beautifully crafted in that, while speaking directly to Juan Carlos, he gave a meditation on the priesthood with which every Christian heart could resonate, and to which every priestly heart could respond. A church packed to the roof-beam heard every word: the attention was tangible. When came the Litany of the Saints, names of local and contemporary persons, mostly martyrs, were included, unofficial and unofficial, whose “confession” was familiar to those invoking them - Aldemar Carvajal, for example, a young man of the parish, and friend of the Basilians, killed with five of his companions, for their “crime” of working for social justice—saints for our time and of our times, especially in Latin America.

The ordination Mass ended at 6:20 p.m. Once again, the people were offered refreshments. The evening featured a concert in the fine auditorium adjacent to the church. The concert consisted in folkloric dances prepared by the students of the school, and a comedy skit prepared by the parishioners of Medellín.

On the morning of 3 January, again at 7:00, in the context of morning prayer, five young men who had been “candidates” for a year or more, were received into the Basilian community as “postulants” (the equivalent of “associates” in the north). Each was given a simple wooden cross without the Basilian crest (whereas the newly professed scholastics had been given the metal crest to affix to their wooden crosses received the year previously). These five had served their time as candidates in our parishes in Medellín or Cali, taking pre-university courses at our school in Cali or at Luis Arango school in Medellín, doing pastoral work of various kinds: youth groups, comunidades de base, music ministry or catechetics. They, too, were an inspiring sign of the vitality of the Basilian community in Colombia, and, indeed, of the deep and beautiful faith which is found frequently in this country, flourishing in spite of a society riddled with corruption and seething with violence.

Perhaps what will be recalled with pleasure and satisfaction in future years will not be so much the spectacle as the friendship, not only among the Basilians and those they serve, though this is certainly a treasure to be cherished, but a wider and more general friendship involving all the People of God who participated in any way in the events of these days: an image of the Church at its truest: joyful, hopeful, celebrating in Christ the gifts of a loving Father who united us in a foretaste of what He has prepared for us and what he has called us to.

Wally Platt,
Cali, 4 January 2006

(For editorial assistance, many thanks to Frank Amico and Bob Barringer.)