CLIPPER S U P P L E M E N T

“SALT OF THE EARTH, LIGHT OF THE WORLD”

Homily from Baccalaureate Mass
Rev. Fr. Adolfo N. Dacanay, SJ

I
n the gospel reading chosen for today, Jesus encourages us, mandates us, to be the
salt of the earth and light for the world. I would like to say something about these
two challenges, these two dares that Jesus confronts us with, confronts the Atenean
about to leave school for the next chapter of his life.

1. Salt of the Earth. In the ancient world, salt was associated with purity, not in the
limited sense of chastity, but in the sense of moral rigor, uprightness, beyond reproach.
In a world where you will soon find employment—P and G, or Unilever, or BDO where
you will say “we find ways,” or in government service—the temptation will be to lower
the moral benchmark. The Christian, the Atenean, must be a person who holds aloft the
highest standard in work ethic, in conduct, in language, in ideals and goals, in honesty
and integrity. Do not compromise your moral integrity. Do not let the salt lose its tang.

2. Salt is also the most common of all preservatives. It keeps meat from spoiling. Salt
preser ves from corruption. If the Christian, the Atenean is to be the salt of the earth,
he must have this effect on society, on the people he works with, on his neighbor, on his
friends, on his girlfriend or her boyfriend,
on the family that he will soon have. He
must be the person who by his presence
and language and conduct defeats corrup-
SUPPLEMENT tion and makes it easier for others to be
good.

3. Above all, salt lends flavor to the food.

Fr. Joseph J. Smith, SJ (1927-2014) Salt makes balut tastier, chicharon much
Mission Accomplished more appealing; salt in beer brings out the
Homily from the Wake Mass flavor. Christianity is to life what salt is
Fr. Timoteo J. M. Ofrasio, SJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 to food. Christianity lends flavor to life.
Fr. Joseph J. Smith, SJ Oliver Wendell Holmes is quoted to have
Homily from the Funeral said: I might have entered the ministry if
Fr. Catalino G. Arevalo, SJ . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . 5 certain clergymen I knew had not looked
Fr. John N. Schumacher, SJ and acted like undertakers. Men need to
Press Release rediscover the joy and the lost radiance of
Fr. William M. Abbott, SJ .. . .. . .. . . . . . . . . 8 the Christian faith. The Christian must
Fr. John N. Schumacher, SJ (1927-2014) not be morose, or gloomy or downcast. In
Homily from the Funeral Mass a worried world, the Christian should re-
Fr. Antonio Francisco B. de Castro, SJ . . . . . . . . . .10 main joyful; in a dog-eat-dog world where
Hacienda Ateneo men are in a rat race, the Christian should
Fr. Miguel B. Lambino, SJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 keep his sense of values. The Christian is
the salt of the earth; he must radiate joy
CLIPPER
because of his deep hope in God’s mercy
and justice.
4. This school year is the 40 th anniversary
of coeducation in the Ateneo and I am
convinced that the entry of the other half
of humanity into the University added salt
not just to the campus but to the Atenean.
The feminine presence encouraged better
behavior, stimulated greater intellectual
aspirations and superior academic perfor-
mance. Coeds certainly contributed to
the radiance and joy
of the Atenean. And
this is not merely a lip
ser vice that I am ex-
pected to say.
5. The gospel reading
and the text from Isa-
iah also speak of the
light of the Christian
that should shine in
the world. This is a
light from our life that
should shine forth
into the world. Kung
bahaginan ng pagkain
ang nagugutom at
patuluyin ang marali-
tang walang matutu-
luyan at bihisan ang
nakikita mong walang
damit at kund hindi mo pinagtataguan ang
inyong kapwa. Kung magkagayon ay lilitaw
ang inyong liwanag na tulad ng bukang-li-
wayway.
The light is supposed and is meant
to be seen, not in the sense of something
for show and to be admired but in the
sense that it should shed light on those in
darkness, on those who would otherwise
be lost, on those who may be confused,
on those who are riddled with doubt, on
those who may be at the point of despair.
Christianity is not a secret that is practiced
only in the confines of the church on Sun-
day or when we pray in the privacy of our
rooms. Our Christianity should be seen in
2
the way we deal with ourselves, in the way
we show our ID when the guard asks for
it, in the way we ask the class notes pho-
tocopied, in the way Kiefer Ravena dunks,
in the way Alyssa Valdez spikes, I am not
sure that there is a Christian way to heckle
but if there is, that is how we ought to
heckle also.
This light is not our own but a bor-
rowed light, a reflected light. The radi-
ance which shines from the Christian is
mirrored from the
presence of Christ in
his heart.
6. Let me conclude
with this thought.
This year, 2014, is
the 200th anniversa-
ry of the restoration
of the Society of Je-
sus. In 21 July 1773,
Pope Clement XIV, a
Franciscan, issued the
brief Dominus ac Re-
demptor, by which the
Society of Jesus was
suppressed, all over
the world except in
While Russia where
Empress Catherine
refused to publish
the papal edict which was necessary for
its effectivity. In fairness to the Francis-
can pope, he was pressured by the Bour-
bon kings of France, Spain and Portugal,
such that after he put his signature to the
brief of suppression, he is quoted as hav-
ing said in protest, Compulsus feci. I have
done this under duress and, according to
Father de la Costa, he dashed his pen, or
most likely his quill, to the ground. The
expulsion of the Jesuits put an end to
their work in the Philippines and were it
not for the expulsion, the bragging rights
of having the oldest university in the Phil-
ippines, the Colegio de Manila founded in
1605, 6 years before UST, would belong
to us. On 7 Aug 1814, Pius VII, a Bene-
dictine this time, restored the Society of
Jesus with the papal bull Sollicitudo om-
nium eccesiarum. In 1859, 45 years later,
the Jesuits were back in the Philippines,
started the Ateneo de Manila and here we
are.
Let me get back to the point I wanted
to make. Fr. General Nicolás wrote a let-
ter to the whole Society of Jesus about
the restoration of the Society and he en-
courages Jesuits that the appropriate way
to celebrate this anniversary is to deepen
the inner reality of the Society of Jesus,
her spirit and values, her way of proceed-
ing.
FR. JOSEPH J. SMITH, SJ (1927-2014)
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Homily from the Wake Mass
T. J. M. Ofrasio, SJ
W
e can compare our life to a wave
rolling towards the shore. Let us
imagine ourselves standing on
the shore as we watch the waves come in.
At a certain point we fix our eyes on a par-
ticular wave which is as yet a long way out.
Tall and majestic, it stands out from the
others by reason of its frothing mane. It is
full of power and beauty. Yet it is intimi-
dating, too. It is capable of carrying enor-
mous weights on its crested back.
We watch this wave roll forward, driv-
en on by the wind, pulled by the invisible
force of the moon. As it moves forward
bits of it begin to spill off. However, as it
nears the shore, it gathers all its resources
together and raises itself to its full height.
Then it touches the bottom and topples
over, spilling out its contents down to the
very last drop. These rush forward towards
us with much hissing and seething. It deliv-
ers the last drop right at our feet.
The wave has exhausted itself com-
pletely. It has given itself away totally. It
has spent itself utterly. Then, having gently
3
You are not Jesuits, at least some of
you are not yet, but the Ateneo is your
alma mater, the mother of your spirit.
Nothing could make your school and your
teachers happier and more proud, than if
you were to deepen and live out the gos-
pel today: you are the salt; you are the light
of the world. Nothing could make you a
truer Atenean and a fuller human being
than if you were to live our motto: Lux in
Domino. Light in the world.
Preached on 28 Mar in the H.S. Covered
Courts of Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola
Heights, Q.C.
caressed the sand at our feet, it immedi-
ately begins to withdraw. Its work is done,
slowly and without fuss, it ebbs away. It
slips back to join the great ocean whence it
came. There it will be re-assembled in some
new combination of molecules and drop-
lets, and on another day it will be washed
up on a new shore.
So it is when a person advanced in
years dies, and so it was with Fr. Joe Smith.
Once he was strong and robust and athletic,
laden with zeal for theological scholarship
and love of teaching theology. At some
point he went over the top and a decline
set in. Finally the shore of death loomed
up ahead of him. But that is all right, for
his work was done. He had given himself
away completely. He had nothing left. He
withdrew gently from us, to return to the
source of his being: Almighty God and the
Lord Jesus Christ whom he had served so
quietly and well.
Fr. Joe Smith was much like the wave
I speak of. He came to the Philippines as
a young scholastic of the New York Prov-
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ince. I remember him telling me over a meal
one time as I sat with him that the reason
for his assignment to the Philippines was
for the Jesuit mission in Mindanao, and he
said he was ready for it. But as fate would
have it—and the will of Provincials—he
was sent for higher studies in theology at
the Institut Catholique in Paris. Thus, in-
stead of the Mindanao mission, from the
‘50s to the ‘90s, he spent all his Jesuit life
doing theological research
and teaching in Loyola
School of Theology.
Three things stand
out in my recollection of
life with Fr. Joe Smith in
this scholasticate.
First was his clock-
work precision in the
observance of his daily
schedule. One could tell
the time simply by ob-
serving his activity: 5:30
a.m.- private prayer at the
choir loft; 6:25 a.m. pri-
vate Mass at the St. Aloy-
sius Gonzaga Chapel up
on the 4th floor and, af-
ter a brief thanksgiving,
breakfast at his usual table
towards the west end of
the refectory. After break-
fast, he would enclose
himself in his study room
in the library which he has occupied all
these 48 years since the opening of Loyola
House of Studies in 1965. In the after-
noon, at 5 p.m., he would leave the library
to read the dailies—The Stars and Stripes
up to the 90s and lately the International
Herald Tribune—then evening prayer at
the 4 th floor bridge overlooking Marikina
Valley, followed by daily physical exercise:
jogging around the campus, and then lift-
ing weights. Back to his library study room
after supper, he turned off his study lights
at 10 p.m. sharp, and spent a few minutes
in the chapel to cap his day. That was in-
variably his schedule. He loved sports, es-
pecially American football and baseball. If
4
you wanted him to talk animatedly at table
or at the recreation room, you just had to
ask him to comment on the latest sports
news. Just about the only event that could
disrupt his daily schedule was the Super
Bowl.
The second thing that stands out in my
recollection was the thoroughness in his
theological research and in his class prepa-
ration. He was my professor in a Revela-
tion course in 1973 and
in a Synoptics course in
1974. He could dwell on
a single idea, like basileia
tou theou, for days in the
classroom before moving
on to another topic. His
voice, even when he was
young, was low and rath-
er husky, and it was diffi-
cult—at least, for me—to
understand everything he
said in class, but the thor-
oughness of his discus-
sion left us, his students,
breathless as we tried to
capture in writing all the
information he gave us.
The third thing that
stands out for me about
Fr. Smith was his quiet
demeanor and silence. He
moved about quietly, un-
obtrusively, never engag-
ing in idle talk, and seemed quite at peace
with himself, even when his health began
to fail and his scoliosis took a turn for the
worse. I have no doubt that his usual recol-
lected spirit disposed him well to peaceful-
ly and quietly accept the end of his earthly
life.
Even though Christ was only thirty-
three years old when He died, He was
able to say, “Consummatum est”—“It is
finished,” meaning He was able to accom-
plish the work which the Father gave Him
to do. It is a very great blessing indeed to
be able to say that one has finished one’s
life’s work, to be able to say with St. Paul,
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith.”
People like Fr. Joe Smith do not so
much die as wear out. But out of what they
have done and achieved, nothing will be
lost. Everything is stored away and will go
to make up that “crown of righteousness” of
which St. Paul also talks about, a crown re-
FR. JOSEPH J. SMITH, SJ
Homily from the Funeral
C. G. Arevalo, SJ
I
n early September, forty-nine years ago,
the entire theological staff of San Jose
Seminary transferred here to the newly-
built Loyola House of Studies. They came
as the founding teaching faculty for what is
now called the Loyola School of Theology.
There were, till a few days ago, only three of
them left in this ‘valley of tears,’ only two still
residing here at LHS: Fr. Joseph Smith and
myself. That is why I now find myself as-
signed to preach this morning. This won’t be
a proper homily based on the readings; no
time to do the right thing.
Since 12 September 1965, Fr. Smith re-
sided here at LHS, tasked with teaching the-
ology almost uninterruptedly for almost 50
years in this institution. (He occupied succes-
sively only two bedrooms and only one library
study cubicle in all that time.) LHS/LST has
been literally Fr. Joseph Smith’s single, life-
long mission assignment. On Facebook in
the last few days, three of several hundreds
of his former students have characterized his
theological teaching with one word, “unfor-
gettable.” “Unforgettable”: their teacher, what
he taught them, how he taught them; all three
said they would never forget.
Fr. Joe came to the Philippines first as
a scholastic-regent, and taught High School
at the Ateneo de Davao, a Daiglerian stint
which has been summed up as: “Verdi, Mo-
zart and Beethoven as shared recreation; ba-
nanas at breakfast, lunch and supper as one and
only dessert every day of the year.” (Joe grew to
love bananas, not just for their potassium,
and had them daily, to his very last days in
5
served for the likes of Fr. Joe Smith by the
Lord, the righteous judge of all.
Praised be Jesus Christ.
Preached on 9 May in the Oratory of St. Igna-
tius, Loyola House of Studies, Loyola Heights,
Q. C.
this house.) But back to Davao, more happily,
he also jogged and ran, played ball, more than
once climbed Mt. Apo, and, when the three
years were over, he re-volunteered to return
to Mindanao as a priest and to labor among
its people. That wish he never got granted.
Back to the USA for theology, at which
he did so well at Woodstock, that with Fr.
Frank Clark carefully planning for the future
“Loyola School of Theology,” Joe wound up
at the Institut Catholique in Paris doing doc-
toral work and writing a thesis on Emil Brun-
ner and Revelation. Even at that stage in life,
he ever opted for undemonstrative simplicity.
With proper permissions (so we’re told), he
took his final vows in a small chapel in some
Jesuit house in Europe, during a summer
break, with one American Jesuit also doing
doctorate studies as receiver and co-witness
of his solemn final profession.
Studies quickly over, it was later teach-
ing, mostly Fundamental Theology and the
Synoptics, beginning at San Jose Seminary in
1962– note: 1962 -- and then at what is now
LST from 1965 till only a few years ago. Till
just a few months ago he was still writing
first-rate scholarly articles, more recently on
the Scripture teaching on the Resurrection
of Jesus; writing them for theological jour-
nals like Heythrop’s. He did much helping
of graduate students with their thesis work
also—helping, with a kind of mentoring
which was almost unique, in the attention,
generosity, respect it gave to the student and
his/her work, a mentoring those students
would (I think) also never forget.
CLIPPER

Fr. Danny Huang, writing on Facebook introduction to all of theology. The course
a few hours after Fr. Joe’s death, said: “He notes became over the years an ever heavier
was one of the few real scholars at LST. He never and ever more complete sheaf of learned
spoke without deliberation, research, reflection; pages; countless source-references, almost an
one whose theological judgment one could trust, entire mini-encyclopedia At least one Jesuit
because it was always well-pondered. He took the once said to me, with genuine appreciation,
trouble to read and check up on every footnote that the Smith course was for him the best
in a student’s paper and thus paid his students learning of his four years at LST. Cardinal
the tribute of taking them seriously and respect- Tagle texted (the same evening he was told
fully.” of Fr. Joe’s death) that the Smith scholarship
For a bit of humor, if we may: Fr. Danny in class was a factor which prepared him well
in his FB note also added a classic story il- for his graduate research work at Catholic U
lustrating the thoroughness in Washington.
of Fr. Joe’s scholarship. The At the previous wake
time he took in one class to Masses, both Fr. Schneider and
explore the gospel incident
with the Canaanite woman,
and Jesus’ remark about “not and
H is undoubted Fr. Ofrasio said enough about
gifts of mind Fr. Joe’s theological work, and
his total many of you had personal con-
giving children’s food om the
table to dogs”: what the Greek
dedication to his tact with it; I really need not say
more here. Of his “scholarly
word was the gospel used for work as schol- passion” for the U.S. NFL and
dog, kunarion, what it might ar and teacher, college football and (in a lesser
have referred to, and ulti- measure) major league baseball,
mately – after all the meticu- joined to his self- I’m really not the right person to
lous research – why it didn’t discipline, con- speak.
really matter for the meaning stancy and pa- add: But just this I think we must
of the text! Fr. Danny ends LST will be 50 years old
saying, “… but Fr. Joe had to tience in work next year. Among its pillars of
do his homework.” . . . primary and indispensable sup-
I might mention another port were two men who shared
story. When he was teaching the wish to remain out of any
the Synoptics, he never ever got to the Pas- limelight and chose to contribute instead,
sion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. (You and in fact did contribute immeasurably, but
will remember the saying that the Gospels “om the shadows”—two men without whom
are really texts on the Passion, etc., with later LST would never have gained whatever good
added-on preludes on Jesus’ prior ministry.) name it may now have: Fr. Ralph Gehring
So one year, the students asked Fr. Joe to give and Fr. Joe Smith.
them an entire elective on just the Passion, Of Joe we may say that his undoubted
Death and Resurrection in the Synoptics. gifts of mind and his total dedication to his
When the semester was over, the students work as scholar and teacher, joined to his self-
were asked how far they got into the subject discipline, constancy and patience in work,
matter. The answer: “e relevant scholarship plus (to be sure) also his personal reserve and
was so well researched and so carefully detailed shyness (which in this area became a plus-
. . . that we did not even get into the Garden of factor)—all this gave LST a theologian and
Gethsemane.” If on the lighter side, that was scholar whom, as John Yocum wrote in the
also Joe Smith. (Incidentally, the full true sto- LANDAS Festschri in Joe’s honor, “many
ry is really even better. Fr. Aydee Dacanay has would say [is ] the pre-eminent fundamental
the exact details; ask him sometime.) theologian now working in Asia.” In spite of
His star-turn course in Fundamental Joe’s extreme modesty, word did get around
Theology was, in a true sense, his panoramic in the relevant circles; in those circles, he was

6
– if also quietly – duly recognized. student wrote in her FB note just two days
But in this morning’s tribute we must ago; * the fact that he seemed to need no
surely say something of Fr. Smith as a Jesuit, recreation or relaxation outside of the exact-
religious and priest. An LHS resident Father ing personal regime of physical exercise he
remarked yesterday, that Joe largely lived as so faithfully followed: never a lunch or din-
“pre-Vatican II Jesuits were formed to live.” We ner at an outside restaurant, even with just
might thus use an older language and call him fellow-Jesuits;* socializing invitations hardly
“a truly edifying religious in whom we could all (if ever) accepted; * maybe two sabbaticals
find much to emulate.” The careful observance in fifty years; * not one word of complaint
of the vows which as ever he unostentatious- ever heard all through that length of time
ly practiced; the total, unreserved self-gift living with us here … all of this [surely we
to the teaching mission which know] called for a measure
Superiors entrusted to him; his of dedication and self-denial
respect of and regard for others that had to be born out of
in community, despite the obvi- . . . gave LST a fidelity to his religious voca-
ous difficulties which diversity theologian and tion and his priesthood, . .
of culture and the swiftly chang- a fidelity, in its turn, finally
ing times, of course, raised for scholar whom, rooted in his silent, virile love
him [and his marked “Germanic as John Yocum for Jesus, for the Society and
side”]—all of these are easily wrote in the LAN- the Church … Was this not
listed on paper, but they were in what his faithful prayer and
fact lived out with difficulty and DAS Festschrift given life reveal to us without
even pain. in Joe’s honor, the need of words written or
One single aspect we must spoken, but simply seen in
note: the unobtrusive fidelity “many would say the pattern and texture of an
to his daily prayer, in the choir [is ] the pre-emi- existence which could sim-
loft before and after his morn- nent fundamental ply not have been lived as it
ing Mass, that very private Mass was lived, without that faith-
always celebrated with a quiet theologian now ful, committed and enduring
reverence; the daily prayer of working in Asia.” love?
the breviary, again with unfailing Fr. Joe and I lived in
regularity of time and even place the same two communities
– overlooking the Marikina valley; the almost for fifty-two years. I think I never had even
secret evening prayer-period, really hidden in one “bad moment” with him in all that time.
the dark in the oratory, when most people Maybe temperament-wise he didn’t choose
had already retired … One scholastic once to foster friendships, even with fellow-US
remarked at a community meeting [when Joe Jesuits, or with people like the scholastics
wasn’t present] that “Father’s unintended but (e.g,, Fr. Nemy Que) and Josefino seminar-
constant example of faithful prayer was a rock of ians with whom he played handball regularly
support” for his [the scholastic’s] own life of in his younger days. But fifty-two years is a
faith, “even – [he added with a little pointed long time, and all that time Fr. Joe was an
malice] when we hardly ever see the other profs unfailing, if ever unshowy, ever silent sup-
praying.” port, not only for our learning and teaching
If I may repeat what has been already in the academic area, but for the daily “gray”
said: *Joe’s self-discipline; *his seriousness Jesuit and priestly existence. Cardinal Tagle
and constancy, even passion, in study and said, “We owe him so much …”; surely for us
teaching; * his simplicity and humility of per- Jesuits in our community above all we can
son despite profound and extensive learn- say the same, but with the debt much more
ing; *his gentle goodness—“the gentlest and greatly-multiplied. We owe Joe so much, and
kindest person I have ever met,” a former lady we will miss not having him quietly around,

7
CLIPPER
even if we are glad the Lord took him from
those last few bad weeks of pneumonia, of
immune-system breakdown, and even of
sharp suffering. (His last-ever words to me,
when I asked him how he was, were: “I have
quite a bit of pain,” – words I never thought
I’d hear him say, he who almost never spoke
about himself or his feelings, and surely not
ever of his own pain.)
After he got word of it, Bishop Ambo
David, who was just about to leave for a
meeting with Muslim scholars in Turkey,
texted: “I heard of Fr. Smith’s passing with truly
much sadness.” So we say good-bye with truly
much sadness, Joe, even with silent tears in
FR. JOHN N. SCHUMACHER, SJ
Press Release
W. M. Abbott, SJ
T
he country lost yesterday morning
one of its more respected scholars
of Philippine history. Fr. John N.
Schumacher, S.J., died in The Medical City,
Pasig of complications from anemia and uri-
nary infection. He had been in failing health
for some years.
A native of Buffalo, New York Fr. Jack,
as he was known, entered the Society of Jesus
in 1944. Four years later, after early formation
in Poughkeepsie, NY, he was missioned as a
young seminarian to do philosophical studies
at Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, just
outside war-ravaged Manila. From 1951-54
he taught Latin and English, and served as
Prefect of Discipline at San Jose Seminary,
then located on ‘Highway 54,’ today EDSA.
Fr. Jack returned to the U.S. for Theology at
Woodstock College, Maryland, and was or-
dained a priest in 1957.
He already had an M.A. in Philosophy
from his studies in the Philippines, but then
embarked on five years of doctoral work in
history at Georgetown University. This in-
cluded, courtesy of a Fullbright grant, a year
of research in the various archives of Ma-
drid, Barcelona and Salamanca,. He returned
to Manila in 1964, teaching Church History
8
the heart. We owe you so much, so many of
us—as now, I hope, you know. Pray for us to
have, in the Lord’s grace, something of your
own silent self-giving and fidelity. . . some-
thing of your own strong quiet love. All
along we sensed it, knew it … Now let us
tell you simply how grateful we have been—
all these many years—for its presence in your
life, and thus, somehow also in ours. Thank
you, Joe, for so much that, yes, unforgettably,
so much you gave us.
Preached on 10 May in the Oratory of St. Ignatius,
Loyola House of Studies, Loyola Heights, Q.C.
at San Jose Seminary. He was part of the
pioneer faculty that opened Loyola House
of Studies (and what would become Loyola
School of Theology) on the campus of At-
eneo de Manila in 1965. For more than for-
ty years, Fr. Jack then taught and wrote and
mentored generations of Jesuits, seminarians
and students at Loyola School of Theology,
Ateneo de Manila and San Carlos Seminary
in Guadalupe, M.M.
Fr. Jack became a citizen of the Phil-
ippines in 1976. In 1998, the centennial of
Philippine independence, he received the
Ateneo de Manila’s Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi.
The citation that went with that prestigious
award well underscores the significant con-
tributions of his lifetime of service, and de-
serves to be quoted:
“The dissertation that he wrote for the
Ph.D. has since been revised and published
by the Ateneo de Manila University Press as
e Propaganda Movement, 1880-1895: e
Creation of a Filipino Consciousness, the Mak-
ing of the Revolution (revised ed., 1997; first
published, 1973). A seminal work, this book
depicts the efforts of Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar
and the other Filipino expatriates in Spain to
articulate and formulate a sense of self-iden-
tity through their propaganda movement and
how their efforts served to inspire the leaders
of the Revolution of 1896.
“. . . He was instrumental in introduc-
ing and developing the course, “Rizal and
the Emergence of the Philippine Nation,”
in the college curriculum back in the 1960’s
at a time when there were
hardly any Philippine history
courses being offered to the
Ateneo undergraduates. This
course has since become an
essential component of the
six-unit Philippine history
requirement of the revised
core curriculum.
“At the Loyola School
of Theology, he collaborated
with the late Horacio de la
Costa, S.J. on various articles
on the Church, State and the
Filipino Clergy’s experience
in the Philippines, and com-
piled, wrote and edited Read-
ings in Philippine Church His-
tory (1979). . . .
“His interest in church
history and the Filipino na-
tionalist movement merged
in another seminal work enti-
tled Revolutionary Clergy: the
Filipino Clergy and the Na-
tionalist Movement, 1850-1903 (1981) where
he explores the role of Filipino priests from
as far back as Pedro Pelaez and Jose Burgos
in developing the mainstream of national
consciousness leading to the Revolution and
in sustaining the loyalty of the masses to the
revolutionary cause. Fr. Burgos became the
subject of another book, Father Jose Burgos,
Priest and Nationalist (1972). Aside from
these books, Fr. Schumacher has authored
numerous articles published in various jour-
nals such as Philippine Studies, of which he
was editor from 1974-1977, e Catholic
Historical Review, Concilium, Unitas and Soli-
darity. He continued to be active in profes-
sional organizations in his field, such as the
Philippine National Historical Society, Inter-
national Association of Historians of Asia,
9
the American Historical Association and the
American Catholic Historical Association.
“In 1991, the Ateneo de Manila Uni-
versity Press published a collection of these
writings in e Making of a Nation: Essays on
Nineteenth Century Filipino Nationalism. In
these essays, which center on the emergence
of a Filipino national con-
sciousness in the second half
of the 19th century, one can
perceive the mature thought
of Fr. Schumacher, after
over thirty years of historical
writing, on the key aspects of
the process by which we Fili-
pinos formed ourselves into
a nation. Just recently, he co-
authored with Dr. Milagros
Guerrero the fifth volume,
Reform and Revolution, of
the ten-volume series pub-
lished by Reader’s Digest and
A-Z Direct Marketing, Ka-
saysayan: e Story of the Fili-
pino People (1998).
“Indeed, Fr. Schumach-
er has devoted more than a
lifetime to sound scholarship
and historical research in
Philippine and Church his-
tory in a country that he has
chosen to be his own. The
fruits of his labor have helped many Filipi-
nos attain a richer and more profound appre-
ciation of their nation’s heritage. His works
are an eloquent testimony to his dedication
and love for this nation, which also gratefully
and proudly acknowledges him to be one of
its own, bestowing upon him Filipino citizen-
ship in 1976.”
Fr. Jack continued teaching until 2001,
and then turned himself more extensively
to research and writing. Bad health set in af-
ter 2007 and pretty much constrained what
he could do after that. He is being waked at
Loyola House of Studies, Loyola Heights.
After the 8 a.m. Mass on Saturday, he will be
buried in the Jesuit cemetery at Sacred Heart
Novitiate, his first home in the Philippines
when he arrived here 66 years ago.
CLIPPER
FR. JOHN N. SCHUMACHER, SJ (1927-2014)
Homily from the Funeral Mass
A. F. B. de Castro, SJ
I
was in Zamboanga City when news of
Fr. Jack’s demise reached me by text. Fr.
Provincial then asked me to preach the
homily at Fr. Jack’s funeral Mass. I could not
refuse Fr. Provincial, but I have regretted
saying yes. Not because I have nothing to
say about Fr. Jack. On the contrary, I have
much to say. But that’s just the problem.
There is much to say, and one must pick
and choose what one can and must say in a
Eucharistic assembly such as this and with
so little time. I asked myself as well whether
a homily was the right genre for saying what
I wanted to say about Fr. Jack. And so I ask
for the benevolence of liturgists, if there are
any present here, given that what I am going
to share with you is not exactly homiletic.
But two preliminary points.
1) First, this year we celebrate the 200 th
anniversary of the universal Restoration of
the Society of Jesus in the Church and in
the world. Fr. General, Adolfo Nicolás, has
written a letter, inviting the whole Society to
do three things:
a) first, to give thanks, with humility
and without triumphalism, for this
grace of restoration after 41 years of
suppression while the Society continued
its precarious existence in Lutheran
Prussia and Orthodox Russia;
b) second, to learn from our history,
particularly from this episode of our
suppression, survival and restoration;
c) and third, to engage in spiritual and
apostolic renewal.
I hope it is not lost on us that, to
get from a) to c), i.e., from gratitude to
renewal, we must pass through b): “to
learn om our history…” Our thanksgiving
10
would be empty and our spiritual and
apostolic renewal superficial without that
memory which, according to Fr. Nicolas, is
profoundly linked to our identity: he says
“one who forgets his past does not know who
he is. e better we remember our history and
the more deeply we understand it, the better we
will understand ourselves and our identity as
an apostolic body in the Church…”
But it is just this call to learn from our
history that brings an ache to the heart;
Horacio de la Costa and Miguel Bernad
are now joined by Jack Schumacher, all of
them wrapped in God’s mercy. They are
no longer with us to share their wide and
deep knowledge of our own history as
Jesuits. And I am sure that Pepe Arcilla,
Kiko Mallari, Joey Cruz, Rene Javellana,
Buddy Wee and Madz Tumbali would have
no objections to my calling them our Jesuit
giants in the discipline.
2) Second, I was in Singapore when Fr.
Joe Smith died. It is not perhaps by chance
that they have gone ahead of us just days
apart. They were classmates in high school
and it is said that, in their last year, Fr.
Jack, out of the goodness of his heart,
brought his sister to the prom just so Fr.
Joe would have a partner. They were in
the novitiate together, although they must
have come to the Philippines at different
times. In any case, whenever I came home
from studies, I would see them regularly
take their morning and afternoon merienda
together at the Fathers’ Rec Room, two
Jesuits who came from a distant land but
who had been brought together as faculty
members of Loyola School of Theology
since day one. I am told that Fr. Jack broke
into tears when he was informed that Fr. Joe
had died… I read Fr. Arevalo’s homily and
realized how much of what he says about
Fr. Joe is true as well of Fr. Jack. What he
says of Fr. Joe’s “undoubted gis of mind and
his total dedication to his work as scholar and
teacher, joined to his self-discipline, constancy
and patience in work, plus (to be sure) also
his personal reserve and shyness” could all
be said as well of Fr. Jack. Here is holiness
of the mind because of their unwavering
commitment to the truth, whether this be in
theology or in church history. And yet, for
all their commonalities, Fr. Jack was not Fr.
Joe. Fr. Jack was rather very different from
Fr. Joe. Fr. Jack was…well, Fr. Jack.
To get back then to Fr. Jack: ah, the
stories we can tell of Fr. Jack.
Fr. Jack was very much
present during our years
of formation. During our
novitiate, he would take time
out of his very busy schedule
to teach us the history of the
Society of Jesus both in the
world and in the Philippines.
During first studies, he
taught us the History of the
Philippine Social Problem
and Catholic Social Teaching
(Fr. Ben talked about how this
came to be last night). And
of course during Theology
he taught us all the church
history courses: Early-
Medieval Church History,
Modern Church History, and
Philippine Church History.
He was not a particularly
exciting teacher nor an eloquent speaker
and he knew it; but his love for history
shone through, and his writings were, if not
elegant pieces, always measured, balanced,
to the point, faithful to as well as critical of
his sources.
The first time I really, really listened to
Fr. Jack, though, was in 1983. I had just
pronounced first vows and been transferred
to Loyola House of Studies. Just around
the time of Ninoy Aquino’s assassination, I
think it was, a group of us Jesuit scholastics
and Josefinos joined other older scholastics
like Sunny Barana and Tim Ngodcho and
other older Josefinos like Robert Reyes in
formally setting up GomBurZa: Maka-Diyos,
11
Maka-Tao, Maka-Bayan. In an organizational
meeting held during a weekend at Manresa
Retreat House, Quezon City, I remember
listening to Fr. Jack talk on those martyred
priests, particularly Jose Burgos; he left
us two essays on these martyred priests
to read and discuss. These essays fired
our imagination, moved our hearts, and
sustained our energies during those dark
years of the dictatorship: they made us see
that it was possible to be faithful both to the
church and to the nation.
I must admit, however, that there is
much that I do not know
about Fr. Jack. I never lived
with him in community. Fr.
Nebres, then Provincial, had
wanted me to do Islamic
Studies; despite my Ilocano
roots, I was, after all, Sulu-
born and Tausug-bred. But as
often happens in the Society,
I was shifted to Church
History when our man in
studies at Catholic University
of America left the Jesuits.
Teaching Church History, it
seems, was of a more urgent
priority than Islamic Studies.
He must have been pained by
the departure of that Jesuit;
and he must have felt that I
was not exactly cut out for
Church history given my
speculative bent. Nevertheless, in all my
years of studies in Rome, he was always
supportive and eager to know how I was
doing, following from afar my progress
or lack of it with concern. I remember
the times when I was home for a visit. Of
course I had to come and see him. And he
would talk and talk and talk. I marvelled at
his command of the literature and came
away always learning something new and
profound from those conversations. But it
was also then that I saw other dimensions
of Fr. Jack…
Clearly, there were certain things that
affected him as a historian of the Philippines
and of the Philippine Church. He knew
CLIPPER

Tagalog, he read it, he could write in it. But the studies done recently in and out of the
he was always insecure about his capacity to country. at’s tough. I can’t see anyone
speak it. This was the reason, he said, that he else in the field right now who could have
had to turn down many invitations to speak done it.
in places like U.P. This lack limited his ability
to engage in public debate and discussion. It
was a sore point with him, and he suffered [This must have been a revised version of an article
this incapacity deeply. Though he had fi rst published in Philippine Studies 30 (1982): 445-
209; this revised version is “Recent Perspectives on
become a naturalized Filipino citizen, this the Revolution,” in e Making of a Nation: Essays
linguistic weakness left him vulnerable to on Nineteenth-Century Filipino Nationalism, Quezon
the charge that he was not Filipino enough. City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1991 (2008:
That he would share this with me third printing), pp. 178-209, with
both horrified and gratified me. endnotes on pp. 252-262.]
It was a humbling experience, to
see this great scholar admit to a
Of course Rey Ileto then
limitation.
goes on to contest the criticism
That he did so certainly
made by Fr. Jack of some points
astonished me. The range of
he makes in his book, Pasyon and
people who wrote to him was
Revolution. He then recounts an
truly diverse and international,
amusing episode in 1976 when
and he must have taken joy in the
he found himself in London:
many intellectual correspondents
he had accumulated through
I remember vividly the time I met
the years: students, colleagues,
Fast and Richardson, together
scholars here and abroad, even
with Constantino, in London,
local priests interested in the
and was promptly scolded (by
history of their parishes because
a not-so-tactful Mrs. Fast) for
of some anniversary coming up.
being a “clerico fascist” because my
After he had retired, I took over
dissertation brought religion into
his office with the hope that I
the study of the revolution. And
could go through his papers and
Constantino furthermore thought
organize them in some way. I
that you [i.e., Fr. Jack] must have
never was able to do this, and his
been my adviser!
papers are now in the Archives
of the Philippine Province of
All of that was to point out
the Society of Jesus. But I did get to read
to Fr. Jack their common interest in the role
some of the letters he wrote to his academic
played by religion in the revolution: he in
confreres and they to him. How can I forget
the religiosity of the mass members of the
one letter written by Rey Ileto in 1983 from
Katipunan, Fr. Jack in the native priests.
Canberra, Australia? In it, he praises an
But Ileto ends his letter with the following:
article written by Fr. Jack and published in
Philippine Studies:
Despite the criticisms and questions raised
above, I mustn’t fail to acknowledge the
As an overview of revolutionary
fairness with which you, to the best of your
historiography, the article is invaluable,
ability, treated my work and the issues
and will serve as a reference work for a
inolved. I was apprehensive as I read your
long time to come. Your command of the
article, but this grew less and less until the
literature – particularly Spanish writings
final sigh of relief as I reached its end.
– is unparalleled. Furthermore, you have
attempted a synthesis of practically all of
Indeed, Ileto testifies in his letter to the

12
intellectual honesty, generous scholarship what is harmful in the Filipino past.
and hermeneutical humility of Fr. Jack.
To quote Fr. Jack himself at this point, for [Taken from “The Historian’s Task in the Philippines,”
what follows was perhaps his own personal e Making of the Filipino Nation, pp.14-15.]
manifesto as a historian:
He was highly praised,
A true “people’s history,” then, by his intellectual
therefore, must see peers and academic
the Filipino people as colleagues, but he was
the primary agents in also a deeply vulnerable
their history—not just man as well. A giant
as objects repressed by of a scholar, a scholar’s
theocracy or oppressed scholar, but Fr. Jack was
by exploitative colonial aware of his limitations
policies. It will expect and difficulties, struggling
to find that the Filipino to be fair to those who
people, individually and thought differently than he
collectively, have not did. A passionate scholar
merely been acted upon, indeed, but a very human
but have creatively one who had very human
responded to the needs like friendship and
Spanish and American companionship.
colonial regimes; that
they have assimilated This is the reason
the good as well as the why I think it is not out
bad; that they have of place here and now to
been moved to action thank the many people
and to progress by their who had become part of
creative interaction with Fr. Jack’s life. They and
other cultures and not Fr. Provincial would not
simply been the victims mind I think if at least two
of cultural imperialism. A historiography of these friends are mentioned by name.
which studies the real Filipino people may
expect to find that religious values have First, thanks must go to Maricor
not simply led to docility and submission, Baytion, for the many times she visited Fr.
but also to resistance to injustice and to Jack. Perhaps she does not realize what joy
the struggle for a better society. It will she and those like her had brought to Fr.
take seriously people’s movements that Jack. It is a joy that I and perhaps other
speak in Marxist accents. It will be able Jesuits certainly could have occasioned in
to recognize, and criticize when needed, Fr. Jack had we visited him more often.
the role religion—both official and folk
varieties of Christianity and Islam—have Second, thanks too must go to Jun
played in forming Filipino society. A true Aguilar and the 2010 editorial board of
people’s history will refuse to treat the Philippine Studies, not just for curating the
people as an abstraction manipulated by festschrift that made Fr. Jack very happy but
deterministic forces. A truly nationalist also for that precious interview of Fr. Jack
history will try to understand all aspects that concluded the festschrift. Asked by Jun
of the experience of all the Filipino people, what he, Fr. Jack, considered his greatest
as they themselves understood it. It will legacy to be, the sure and simple answer
acknowledge what is valuable as well as came:

13
CLIPPER
Well, I would hope it would be my
Readings in Philippine Church History,
that it influence priests, the education
of priests, that they would be educated
in conjunction with their history and
not against it, appreciating it, seeing its
limitations but knowing what the church
has passed through and what they should
do, of course, in the future.
Fr. Jack considered his greatest legacy
to be a readings book, not the many books
he himself had written, but a compilation
of extracts from primary sources whose
HACIENDA ATENEO
M. Lambino, SJ
T
he semi-forested area across from the
Ateneo de Manila Jesuit Residence’s
south wing has been turned into what
can loosely be called a forest park. A num-
ber of mahogany and fire tree saplings were
uprooted, several young mahogany trees
were top pruned to encourage more vigor-
ous growth, two young mahogany trees were
cut down, and the older trees [acacia, tama-
rind, molave and mahogany] were pruned of
branches – dead or wayward. Now, two ma-
jestic acacia trees and the circular grove of
molave trees, planted by Fr. Prudencio Ma-
cayan, can be viewed in their glory.
A variety of ornamental and flower-
ing plants were added to give color and fo-
cal points to the forest park. Most of these
plants were sourced from the JR gardens;
they were gathered and re-arranged in the
forest park. Benefactors have also been
generous. Dra. Marissa Laviña, dentist to a
number of Jesuits, donated a small truck-
load of orchids and ornamental plants from
her mother’s garden. Mrs. Tessie Daza and
her daughter Mrs. Marites Ingles, Mrs. Baby
Ledesma, Mrs. Girlie Sison, Mrs. Melet Lao,
among others, have also donated plants. Fr.
Joel Tabora sent a deeply appreciated addi-
tion of waling-waling, now the national flow-
14
targeted readers are scholastics, seminarians,
lay and religious men and women, priests.
If that does not tell us about where Fr.
Jack’s final and ultimate hopes lay, then we
have failed miserably to understand him as
a Jesuit, church historian, teacher, writer,
mentor, translator, etc. whose life and work
had always been discreetly dedicated and
daily delivered over to Jesus Christ and his
Church…
_____________
Preached on 17 May in the Oratory of St. Ignatius,
Loyola House of Studies, Loyola Heights, Q. C.
er of the Philippines. The forest park also
has a big cage where young bantam chickens
are being raised.
The visionary for the JR forest park is
Mrs. Yuhum Ong, an avid gardener and an
ikebana artist. She has also donated plants
but, more than that, she has been regularly
coming to JR to share her gift for garden-
ing—to group plants for efficient watering;
to repot, prune and fertilize; to give tips on
plant care and suggest ways to make the for-
est park more interesting.
The forest park is jokingly referred to as
‘Hacienda Ateneo.’ There is a metal plate with
that name and it hangs on one of the trees.
Hacienda Ateneo is a real place in Peru; Tony
Lambino, nephew of Fr. Mike Lambino, pro-
vided the plate.
The Jesuits who work in the forest park
are referred to as the Garden Club. So far, the
members are Frs. Rene Javellana, Ando Ma-
calinao, Thushara Sampath [SRI] and Lambi-
no. Mrs. Yuhum Ong is the muse of the club.
At times, they have coffee in the forest park.
When you visit the JR, do take a walk in the
Hacienda Ateneo forest park. There are two
park benches and a garden set where you can
sit and spend a few moments contemplating
the beauty and wonder of creation.