[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A simple Soul:
It was 1969 – I joined St Joseph’s College, Trichy for my PUC. Very often I used to see four young Jesuits going to classes or walking around the campus. One of them was Fr Victor – The other three were Frs Antony Raj, Bosco, and V.S. Raju. As a student, I tried to keep my distance from them; but it did not last long.
Some of us were candidates to the Society of Jesus. One day we were called and Fr Victor introduced himself as the one who was in charge of us, Candidates. That was my first acquaintance with Fr Victor. He was simple in his appearance; clear in his language; and gentle in his outlook, but direct with regard to what he wanted to say or convey to us. He used to encourage us in our studies and whenever we did well in the exams he used to urge us to do better and whenever we had difficulties he used to coax us not to be down in spirit.
A Person of Insight:
During the time of my formation in the Society, I met him only on and off – Mainly during some Province functions such as Ordination, Jubilee Celebration etc. Every time he used to inquire about my health, what I did, and what I was heading to etc. He used to rejoice with me on my success in academics and encouraged me to aim high and achieve what I aimed for. Later when I read the words of Dr Abdul Kalam, Dream big but then achieve the dream, it was the echo of Fr Victor’s voice to me.
A few times I happened to listen to his homilies: his fluency in Tamil, his scholarship in Tamil literature especially in Thembavani (an interest he picked up in his Juniorate), and his insight into the Scriptures made me grow in admiration for Fr Victor. When I realized that he was a self-made fountain of knowledge, often springing forth from his experience of dealing with people coupled with his personal reflections, my awe and respect for him grew much.
When he was doing his Master’s degree in Counseling at Marquette University in Milwaukee (USA), he recalled the appreciation of the Rector of the Jesuit Community. He told Fr Victor: I would be happy to have many Jesuits like you to come over here for studies. He was not only a man of letters; but a man of insight. When he was back in the Province, Frs M.A. James and G. Arockiasamy introduced him to the art of counseling. He was inspired by Carl Roger’s ‘Becoming a Person’, which he initially followed as a textbook for counseling. Later he developed his own technique primarily based on listening to the needy.
Inner Struggle:
During my tenure as the Provincial and later when he was the Chennai Mission Superior we met very often and worked together. He was a guiding force to me and he often shared with me his dream for Chennai Mission.
When I was down with arthritis for a couple of months, he used to visit with me and tell me: Xavier, wake up the sleeping lion within you. You are capable of greater things – Come on and do the great things. It sounded like Jesus telling the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda: Get up! Pick up your mat and walk (Jn 5:8). I did get up and walk up around and further. When I was down with dengue, the platelets went down to 8,000 but fortunately I got a second lease of life. Victor used to come and spend time with me – Just his presence was therapeutic. When, on a fine morning in April 2016, I was told: You have completed your term in LICET; and your are assigned to DACA, Fr Victor was shocked but encouraged me to go on with a sense of mission.
His heart was in the spiritual ministry, but he was sent to Loyola Industrial School (Ranipet) and after one year, he was asked to go to Loyola Academy (Vadamelpakkam) – In both places he felt like fish out of water but he kept up his spirit of magis and tried to do his best. He was offered the Rector of Loyola and even a couple of years ago he was asked to be the Superior of Dhyana Ashram. He declined both the offers, since he was more interested in spiritual ministry. When such a simple soul was criticized as a ‘power-monger’, by one of the higher ups, he was devastated – It took sometime for this spiritual giant to come to terms with the reality out there. That was the only time, I remember, when I met an upset Victor. But he took it in good spirit and went along without any bitterness.
A Visionary:
As a provincial (1999-2005) I always had his accompanying spirit. Whenever my spirit was down, he would come up with the formula: Arise, Thrive, and Ascend. He would remind me: Xavier, you could transcend this obstacle/challenge – Just take heart and go ahead. The One who invited you to this Society, will see you through. That was a tonic whenever I was disheartened. He used to remind me of the oft repeated words: Lord, reduce my burden or strengthen my back.
When he was appointed the first Superior of Chennai Mission, he accepted the mission trusting in the Lord. During his tenure (2007-2013), the Chennai Mission grew up remarkably, to meet with the expectation of Fr General for Chennai Region. During his tenure the following institutions in Chennai Mission came up:
2007 Aruppe Illam in Mettupalayam and Loyola College of Education at Chennai
2009 Loyola College at Vettavalam and Loyola Teacher Training Institute at Kuppayanallur
2010 Loyola-ICAM College of Engineering and Technology at Chennai
2011 Loyola Academy at Vadamelpakkam
In six years he was instrumental in bringing in six new institutions. He had a team of wonderful people to work with and he could elevate Chennai Mission to newer heights. I was happy to work with him in all the projects along with other officials in Chennai Mission (Fr Maria Joe) and Loyola Campus (Fr Andrew). Fr Victor is the architect of the present Chennai Mission, which is all set to evolve into Chennai Region/Province.
In moments of joy he rejoiced with me: When I successfully completed my PhD in USA; when I founded the inter-disciplinary research institute (Loyola Institute of Frontier Energy – LIFE); when I founded the engineering college (Loyola-ICAM College of Engineering and Technology – LICET); when I was appointed the Provincial; when Fr General invited me to serve on the Coetus Praevius (for the GC 36) etc. All along he encouraged me and gave me impulse accelerating me to do ever more and ever better. When I was invited to be the Gasson Professor at Boston College (USA) and when I was offered the position of Global Vice President for Academics and Research in Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) in Geneva (Switzerland), Fr Victor came in person to congratulate me; to wish me all the best; and to assure me of his continued prayers (I am sure he still continues with his prayers in heaven).
As the Director of LICET, I have been grateful to him for training a group of LICET faculty members in counseling. Every month he would have a weekend for the training and the participants were very much satisfied by the training. The second batch of faculty members was supposed to start in June 2017 but God was in a hurry to call him back Home. Every year his sessions, during the faculty orientation program at LICET, got the highest feedback points. In addition, he used to come to LICET once a month and spend the whole day helping students and staff of LICET in counseling. In some cases the parents of the students came to him for help and he was ever willing to help them out. Loyola College, Chennai owes a lot to this great man, for he had been the students’ counselor for over ten years – He used to commute between Dhyana Ashram and Loyola College every day.
Occasionally we used to discuss at length how to build up the Chennai Mission. Now and then we used to discuss and draft his address to the gatherings of Jesuits. We used to exchange our notes with regard to retreats. As he was happy to appreciate the good in others, he was very open to seek suggestions and feedback from others with gratefulness. Now and then we used to share our frustrations as well. Once I posed the question: Why are some people always negative in attitude or outlook? He recalled the following story:
Long long ago, so long ago, no one could say how long ago, there was a scorpion that wanted to cross over a great lake. It was asking for help and no one came forward, as they were afraid of the scorpion-sting. Finally a turtle came forward and offered its back to go to the other shore. On the way, as the scorpion was riding on the back of the turtle, the turtle heard some knocking sound on his back.
The turtle asked: My friend, what is the noise I hear upstairs.
The scorpion replied: I am just stinging you.
The turtle countered: But how can you do that while I am helping you?
The scorpion spoke: What to do, that is my nature.
The scorpion’s nature is to sting – Only we have to be very careful, was the moral.
As much as he advised others to take care of health, he paid little attention to his health. As he was heavily booked for retreats and Masses, he did not care to find time for rest and to take care of his heath. When I was getting ready to leave for Geneva in January 2017 he was having cold and cough – I asked him to go for a medical check up. He told me that he had a month long retreat in Krishnagiri and after that he would go for the check up. Even after coming back from Krishnagiri he did not take care of his health. But, he always had the good of others in mind all the time.
An Inspirer:
Fr Victor had held very important administrative positions in the Province and in Chennai Mission. He was the Coordinator of Dalit Commission, Vocation Promoter, Editor of the Sacred Heart Messenger (in Tamil), Rector of St Xavier’s Institutions (Palayamkottai), and Superior of Beschi Illam (Dindigul). But all along he wanted to be engaged in counseling and directing retreats. Any day and at any time you could ask him to celebrate Mass and he would be ready to go. When some of the young Jesuits wanted to take off from their weekly appointments for Mass, he would be the person who could be counted on to go for Mass. He used his priestly power to preach the Word of God and to guide the troubled. He was one who tasted and relished the sweet goodness of the Lord, His creation and especially His people – Prayer was his food and service was his way of life.
What was majestic about Fr Victor was that he would never stand on formalities. He would take the initiative in meeting people and in wishing them for Christmas, New Year, Easter etc. He would make it a point to visit the elderly and the sick and who needed counseling. When he was the Superior at Beschi Illam, the senior fathers used to wait for Fr Victor’s visit in the evenings. He knew how to take care of the sick. He was a universal man – He never discriminated anyone, even if he was at times discriminated. His basic worldview was that all human beings are good – a universal humanism.
As a man of compassion, he took the ‘avatar’ of a beggar, as experiment during his tertianship, to understand the suffering of the poor. For a month he was living the life of a beggar. He used to recount the charity of a co-beggar on a day when he got nothing: This ‘companion in mission’, who observed that Fr Victor got nothing to eat the whole day, offered him a rupee to go and get a piece of bread and a cup of tea, for he should not go to bed with empty stomach. That had a tremendous impact on Fr Victor – He never let anyone go empty (handed). He filled them with peace of mind and joy of heart. He lived the Christology he had learnt from Fr Neuner. Whenever he got some help from others he used it all for the education of the needy. He lived out the Lord’s guidelines: what the right does, let not the left know (People do not know how many he has helped get through education, except the individual beneficiaries). His compassion had insight too. When the Tamilnadu Govt introduced free ambulance service 108, Fr Victor termed it: Mathew 10:8 (‘Cure the sick’).
Whenever anyone had difficulty or crisis in vocation, he used to say: do not think what others say but ask what the One who invited you to religious life says. He has not only officially served a term as the vocation promoter, he lived all along promoting and strengthening and confirming the vocations of so many people.
When discussion arose about social, political, and religious discrimination, suppression etc he implied that the way to address untouchability is to reach the unreachable heights. He would say the best way to shatter the fetters is to rise above the ranks by hard work without losing one’s heart. He was a great strength in facing challenges and discrimination wherever they came from.
He was a person of broadmindedness to take in criticism sportively and he was a man of large heart to reach out to all. His mantra was: Triumph through trials. In Kung Fu Panda II, the Panda would often mess up things and would come time and again to the master complaining and in desperation. Every time the master would say: Keep up the inner peace. Inner peace would give you focus in mission thereby bringing success. Fr Victor was a man of inner peace – He was always serene. He could always make time for anyone who needs his help. In an age of TV, which dictates terms to people, for Fr Victor watching TV was relaxation! TV seemed to sing lullaby to him.
His sense of humour, even amidst misfortune, was inspiring: When he was at Loyola Academy at Vademelpakkam he had often difficulty with the WiFi to talk over the mobile. He had to go to the terrace to talk to the people. He used to say: Even if one is transferred to a place of no-water, one should not be shifted to a place of no-tower (for cellphone).
A Racer:
Gentleness was his strength. Welcoming all with open arms was his armour. Making himself available to the spiritual needs of others at any time was his skill to surf through the waves of appreciation of the people. As Francis de Sales would say:
He was never in a hurry. He did everything quietly and in a calm spirit.
He never lost his inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if the whole world seemed upset.
One could very well chime with the words of Shakespeare:
“His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!” (Julius Caesar 5.5.68).
And a man for others he had run his race. He could resonate with Paul:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Tim 4:7f).
Yes, he does not merely deserve the crown in Heaven, it had been reserved for him.
Francis P Xavier SJ
Gasson Professor, Boston College (USA)
Vice President for Academics and Research, JWL, Geneva (Switzerland)
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