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Love ought to manifest more in deeds than in words. Ignatius Loyola

It was that time of the year – the week of celebrating the founder of the Jesuit Order; the week of competitions and programmes; the week of re-living the Jesuit tenets in spirit and in word! It is indeed surreal that after five hundred odd years, one man can still make such a difference to the world. St Ignatius is truly a legend, a man who could foresee much beyond his times and the persona, who till today, reflects the Almighty in all that he said, did or thought.

We, at SJBHS, celebrate the life, works and principles of St Ignatius of Loyola. The Inigo Fest, as it is named, is a well-rounded experience of the doctrine of the patron saint of the Jesuits, under whose aegis lies the education of thousands of stakeholders all around the world, including our very own SJBHS. It is with pride that we honour our patron and his teachings.

A special assembly for the Pre-Primary Section, based on St Ignatius, initiated the young Josephites into the Jesuit way of education. They had to colour a picture of the saint and were audience to a simple movie on his life and ethics. The primary, middle, high school and the ISC sections of SJBHS had several competitions, all based on the life of the great saint. The competitions were age appropriate and garnered a lot of fun as well as knowledge of the hardships, the progressions, and the challenges of the times in which St Ignatius lived right till the present-day life, mission, and vision of the Jesuits.

The celebration of the Eucharist was two-fold. Once for the students and the Festal Eucharist celebrated on the 31 st July. The Mass for the students was celebrated by Fr John Lang along with Fr Sunil Fernandes, Fr Michael John, Fr Vishal D’Souza, and Fr Yesu. The sermon highlighted the Ignatian principles and its place in the all-round education of today. The Festal Mass was celebrated by Fr Shantharaj SJ which brought together the stakeholders of the school in prayer and fellowship.

The staff get-together on the 28 th of July was an amalgam of songs, a short skit and a pantomime based on the various incidents of the saint’s life. The prayer service, by the teachers of the Pre-Primary Section for the people of Manipur, needs special mention. The people of Manipur are facing untold fear, unprecedented riots, and inclement racial and political unrest. Months have passed and peace is yet to be found. The prayer service was an invocation to the Almighty to reinstate peace in the troubled State of Manipur; to restore normality to its people; and to re-establish unity amid diversity while enabling fraternity despite ideological differences. The song sung by the lit-candle bearing audience resonated with the plight of the suffering all over the world, especially with the people of Manipur. The supplications, intentions and intercessory prayers showed the solidarity of the staff of SJBHS with the anguished humanity, especially during the feast of St Ignatius, re-iterating the ethos of Jesuit education which promotes care for the last, the least and the lost!

The fellowship meal that followed was sumptuous, hearty, and enabled the staff to gather around the tables in camaraderie.