The Jesuits in Britain are producing a commemorative calendar to mark the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus. The way the calendar does this is to pick twelve Jesuits who have been active in different ways during the last two hundred years. Remembering people who have gone before us is a large part of being a human being. The Eucharist is built around Jesus’ command Do this in memory of me, and remembering Jesus in Word and Sacrament is central to our sense of being connected with him, the Father and one another. The Spirit activates that memory for us and brings us together as a community of believers.
The Jesuit community in Edinburgh gathered round the TV to hear the announcement. We had enough Latin to understand great joy and wondered how it fitted with the first name George. When the unfamiliar surname Bergoglio was spoken, someone in the group said, he is one of us.
