The Jesuit novitiate at Canisius College in Sydney is bustling with three new novices who join an equal number of second-year Jesuits in training.
'We're starting to get a regular half dozen novices [over a two-year period], so it's good', says novice master, Fr Brendan Kelly SJ.
The men-from three very different backgrounds, but possessed of the same desire to deepen their relationship with God and become Jesuit priests or brothers-joined the novitiate in early February.
'Changing the pace was probably a bit hard in the beginning, but I'm getting used to it', says Indonesian-born Eka Tanaya, who has swapped life as a retail executive for the slower, more contemplative pace of the novitiate. 'It's a new family, it's a new experience. We consider each other family, although we're not always in agreement-that's exactly what a family is all about!'
Eka moved to Australia as a 17-year-old to complete his HSC in Perth, and later studied commerce and finance at ANU in Canberra. The change from the corporate world to religious life has been huge, but one that was foretold during 2007 when Eka sought refuge from personal difficulties at St Mary's parish in North Sydney.
'I saw the slogan Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, which means 'For the greater glory of God'. It was the same slogan that we used at [my high school], Canisius College in Jakarta. That slogan led me to Ignatian spirituality and the Australian Jesuits.'
It was while undertaking retreats that 'the calling came', says Eka. 'Well, the calling was probably already there at North Sydney parish, but I didn't particularly listen to it!'
The 'new family' that Eka speaks so fondly of includes three second-year novices (to be profiled in the next edition of Province Express) as well as newcomers Mukesh Patel and Ramesh Richards.
Fiji-born, Queensland-raised Mukesh has taken an altogether different path to religious life. A father of two adult children, he says it was comforting to receive the blessing of Australian Provincial, Fr Steve Curtin SJ. 'He said to me that you don't stop being a parent, you don't lose that-you're not meant to forget everyone when you come here.'
Mukesh's desire is to be a Jesuit brother. His family, including his children, are very supportive of Mukesh's decision to join the Jesuits, although 'they first thought I was going through a change of life!'
Ramesh, who has a twin brother, was born in Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo and moved to west Malaysia at the age of seven. As a member of a Jesuit parish, Ramesh was struck by the Jesuits' 'clear stand on social justice and finding God in everything'.
By the age of sixteen he was contemplating the priesthood. When he came to Australia five years later to continue his architecture studies at Melbourne University, he was put in touch with a spiritual director, and told his parents of his yearning to become a priest.
'Dad was a bit hesitant-well, not a bit, he was quite hesitant. Dad and mum were expecting me to come to Australia, get married, have children, become a permanent resident and live a life earning Australian bucks. Little did they know I had different intentions!'
Later, while attending a retreat run by Jesuit Alan Wong SJ titled 'Searching for your deepest desires', Ramesh was moved in a way he hadn't been before. 'I believe it was God telling me, "This is the time".'
But his father, an Anglican, still needed convincing. 'He said, "What if the Jesuits get suppressed again? What's going to happen to you? Do you really want to join them? You can always join the Franciscans." I explained to him the good things about the Jesuits.' Ramesh's father gave him his blessing, and he applied to join the Society.
While Ramesh says he has found his calling in Australia, he understands Jesuit life can lead him anywhere in the world.
‘Wherever the need is greatest, that is where I will go', he says.
For more on becoming a Jesuit, go to www.jesuitvocation.org.au.
By Catherine Marshall