Canisius College
in Sydney has turned itself into a multicultural
hub, with its six novices hailing from a veritable smorgasbord of nations: Australia, Fiji,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia
and South Africa.
Three second-year novices were recently joined by an equal number of newcomers
for what is traditionally a two-year period of discernment before taking first
vows.
Whilst
the first-years settle into a slower and more introspective way of life, their
counterparts have moved into a new year in which they will be drawn closer to
the prospect of actually taking their first vows.
Reflecting
on his own introduction to the novitiate, second-year novice Andy Nguyen says
that while there were challenges, it was a great experience.
'It
was not an easy life - there was a lot of transition and adjustment, but at the
same time I was discovering more of myself and of the Society, and where I am
in the Society as well as in my relationship with God.'
Vietnam-born
Andy migrated to the United States
as a 14-year-old, and moved to Sydney in 2003 to
do his Masters degree in architecture and acoustics at Sydney University.
It was during that time that he discovered the Jesuits, and made the decision
not to return to his family in the US,
but to join the Jesuits in Australia
instead.
'Coming
in I had no expectations. I just wished to discover more of myself and, in
that, deepen my relationship with God', says Andy, adding that he is mindful of
how his vocational direction fits with God and his relationship with the
community, the other novices and the Jesuits brothers and priests.
'My
hope and aspiration is to stay and listen to God as long as I can, but at the
same time be open to the mystery that is vocation. I can discern to a point but
it's always a mystery.'
Justin
Glyn has also come to the Jesuits via a circuitous route: born in Namibia, and raised in South Africa, he later migrated to New Zealand
with his family.
Whilst
he practised as a barrister and in commercial law firms, and did a PhD in
law, Justin says that he has always felt a calling to the priesthood.
'When
I was doing law I was very interested in this link between law and justice and
the spiritual life, and how they match up', he says. 'I loved the law - I still
do - but I saw that there was a bit of a disconnect, particularly in the
practice of law and the spiritual life. I wanted to try and see ways in which
they could be wedded together.'
Justin's
imagination was captured by the Jesuits' knack of 'mixing the world of faith
and the world of the everyday - God in all things and faith doing justice'.
Australian-born
engineering graduate Mark Pelletier, the youngest of the novices, isn't
deterred by secular society's indifference to religious vocations as he
prepares himself for a career rarely chosen by his contemporaries.
'I'm
not too worried about what the secular world has to say. The secular world is
full of problems itself', he says.
But
there were jarring voices from within the church, too. The biggest challenge in
being a first year novice, he says, was 'learning to trust my own experience of
God and not pay too much attention to what other people were telling me. I had
to learn to settle down and not get too worried if other people had a very
different image of God from my own, and just to trust that God was
communicating himself to me and was happy with where I was at.'
Ultimately,
Mark says, he wants people to get a sense that God loves them unconditionally.
'What's
pretty clear in my mind is that I don't want to put my agenda on people. In my
mind God is already at work in every person, and I want to put people in touch
with that God who is already there.'
By Catherine Marshall
Pictured (from left): Andy Nguyen, Justin Glyn, and Mark Pelletier.