I ATTENDED the “Missioning of Its New School President,” Fr. Manuel A. Uy, S. J., at the 8 a.m. mass at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuits last June 19.

It was also the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The presider, Fr. Provencial Jose Cecilio J. Magadia, S. J, gave a very moving homily on the Feast of the Sacred Heart and on the “missioning” (i.e. reassignment) of Fr. Manuel Uy. His main focus on both parts of his homily was on commitment.

"Matod Pa Sa Lola ni Noy Kulas." Join the story-writing contest on Cebuano folklore and win prizes.

Eighteen years with Fr. Ernesto Javier as director of the school have shown all of us in Cebu how committed the school has been.

They are committed in reviving the zeal for inculcation of Christian values, for giving its mentors the incentive to live the life of Christ and for leading the students into goals of academic excellence and a spirituality reminiscent of the giants of Ateneo de Manila, as they walked the school campus, taught rhetorics and the arts in classrooms and even as they played with the students at the gym.

Jesuits are good soldiers of Christ. They go where they are sent.

Fr. Magadia likened new assignments to exploring outer worlds, new spaces where the excitement of a new task can be both exhilarating and challenging.

We were told that there was crying and wailing at Iloilo when the school there lost Fr. Uy to us. Here in Cebu, we have been crying and wailing since March (unladylike as it sounds) when we first learned that Fr. Javier would leave us.

I remember when Fr. Nunez (our director then before Fr. Ernesto Javier) also had to be reassigned. We too were inconsolable. All of us, however, knew that obedience and commitment are never empty words to Jesuits. These words are by words. It’s a way of life for them.

The beauty however of reassignments is that we get a chance to befriend new giants. We benefit from different strong, innovative, creative varied personalities with such a depth of strength and experiences that it’s really a win-win situation.

Fr. Manny’s tasks of getting into the waters of the school immediately will not be that difficult considering that Cebuanos can be very supportive and extremely helpful when it comes to making administrators feel at home. All graduates believe in the “ad majorem Dei glorem,” which means, “for the greater glory of God.” I honestly believe that this is engrained in all Sacred Hearters, young and old. So welcome, Fr. Manuel.

To Fr. Javier, the Spanish phrase “hasta la vista” is very consoling. To quote him, he said: “We shall meet again and talk about a thousand things.”

Enthusiastically, I shall eagerly look forward to the “thousand things.”

While it is true that we are “all ships passing each other in the night” to quote one poet, there will really come a time when we somehow do meet each other again.

I, for one, never thought I’d meet childhood friends who entered my life 55 years or so, ago, yet this year I did meet them and enjoyed their company so much.

When it was time for them to leave, I again felt bereft, empty, especially when at my age today, I have no way of knowing whether we will meet again. I was not even able to say “hasta la vista” to one who made me so happy for an hour or so.

I guess this is what Shakespeare meant when he said: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Yet life goes on, and we try to live in the “now” and we put our trust in the Lord.

We are each put in each other’s path for a reason. It’s only in hindsight that sometimes we get to see the reason for such meetings. Maybe the Lord uses our strength, our goodness to make another person happy and vice versa.

So till we next meet again, allow me to say, “These partings and meetings are gifts from above and the prospect of ‘hasta La vista’ gives us anticipatory joy, for the thousand and one things we shall be able to talk about.”