The Mass took place at Wimbledon College with representatives from Donhead Preparatory School, St Ignatius College, and Wimbledon College. Several other Jesuit schools joined online, including students from St Mary’s Hall, St Joseph’s School, and Stonyhurst College (all in Lancashire), Barlborough Hall School in Derbyshire, and a bus full of students from St Aloysius School in Glasgow, who joined from their pilgrimage in Lourdes.
Maria Neal, Schools Officer at the Jesuit Institute, warmly welcomed the schools joining the Mass. Fr Peter then led the celebration from the historic Chapel at Wimbledon College (established by the Jesuits in 1892). In his homily, he spoke movingly about those who have undergone pilgrimage and what it means: “A pilgrimage is always an exercise in attention to God. It’s a great prayer. As we walk, we listen, we speak, we think in the divine presence, we contemplate, we allow the Holy Spirit to pray in us.”
The Jesuit Institute works with the eleven Jesuit schools in Britain to help them to better understand, promote and live out the vision and spirit of St Ignatius Loyola in education. You can find out more about about this here.
Fr Peter also thanked everyone for their efforts during this Jubilee Year: “Congratulations to all present who have taken part… what hard work, what effort has gone into the Pilgrimage of Hope”, and he offered that “We go forward hopeful because of our faith.”
Jesuit Missions, the beneficiary of all the fundraising activities connected with the Jubilee Year, received the final total raised during the event. Its Director, Paul Chitnis, reflected on the need for hope in difficult circumstances, sharing the story of his friend, Jesuit priest and missionary, Fr Victor-Luke Odhiambo SJ, who was shot dead in South Sudan in 2018 while trying to help the beleaguered people there:
“Fr Victor-Luke was helping to train teachers so that the children of South Sudan would have an education and the possibility of a better life than their parents. I recall looking at him and saying ‘Fr Victor, this is great, but how can you achieve this with so few resources, so few people, and with such conflict and violence and poverty all around you?’ And he simply looked at me and said ‘Paul, we must not despair, we must do something’. One week later, Fr Luke was shot dead, in the same room in which we had spoken… He became the 58th Jesuit since 1969 to be killed working for peace and reconciliation.”
Paul concluded by sharing that over 300 new teachers have now graduated from the training centre which Fr Luke set up. Jesuit Missions continues to support people in South Sudan.
Students from Wimbledon College were also invited to do readings from the New Testament during the Mass, which concluded with Fr Peter giving Holy Communion to the students and staff who were in attendance.
The Jesuit schools have been very active this Jubilee Year, celebrating the theme of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ with a range of activities and events. You can find out more about these on their Padlet page.
