By Fr. James Spillane, SJ
Greetings from Yogyakarta, where we recently had the unusual experience of three consecutive days of continuous rain. Typically, we only get a half-hour downpour frequently in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening. Consequently, there are numerous reports of flooding around the country.
Our campus remains closed, but the students will report back from their Rural Community Social Activities (KKN) Wednesday, January 31st. The situation in the library reading room resembles the pandemic period. We have been reading extensively for the three courses this semester: International Business, Tourism Economics, and Service Quality Management. The library receives hard copies of the famous Harvard Business Review, making it easy to find appropriate materials. The journal targets busy executives of large companies, with three-page articles that are easy to skim to determine their relevance. Moreover, the English is quite clear, and the vocabulary is relatively simple, which helps our Indonesian students who are assigned to summarize an article for class. However, many choose to use Google Translation and give presentations in Indonesian. With a population of around 270 million people, many international textbook publishers have produced versions in Indonesian. Unfortunately, this reduces the incentive for our students to learn English, which is an important professional skill.
On January 22, 2024, we had a funeral Mass for an 87-year-old German missionary who came to Indonesia in 1963. He did marvelous work in the area of liturgical music used for the Catholic Mass, traveling all around Indonesia to find local liturgical music. He compiled it into a hymnal called Madah Bakti, which was reprinted 100 times, and the royalties went to his Center for Liturgical Music. This enabled him to organize a marvelous Choral Group that toured in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. He was a great blessing and role model for all of us. He also taught music at the local Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI), which recently awarded him an honorary Ph.D.
On January 25th, the Tanzanian and Timor Leste students sponsored a nice 81st birthday party with the staff from the Research Center. One of the Tanzanians cooked the Indian flatbread called chapati, which everyone enjoyed very much. Birthdays are a reminder of the need to be more grateful for all our blessings, especially people who mysteriously become part of our lives. They enrich us with their friendships—the greatest blessing of all.
Be assured of my thoughts and prayers. Please pray for us, especially for a safe and fair election on February 14, 2024, which coincides with Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday. It is a public holiday here.”
