September is a month of moments that allow us to stop, listen and acknowledge the many ways in which God continues to speak to us through people and events. Teachers’ Day, the Feast of St Teresa of Calcutta, the Nativity of the BVM celebrated as Monti Fest, my visit to Japan for the ordination of Nithin Coelho, and the suffering caused by the floods in Nepal, appeared to be very different experiences. Underneath these moments, there was a common thread: to see, to discern, and to respond.

Teachers’ Day reminded us that our educational ministry is ultimately a ministry of formation. We are called not merely to fill minds with knowledge but to form persons of competence, conscience, compassion and commitment, men and women who are for/with others. In a world where technology and artificial intelligence could provide information and answers almost instantly, our deeper task is to help young people ask the more important questions: What is worth pursuing? What is for the greater good? The MAGIS is therefore not simply doing more, but discerning what is truly greater in God’s eyes.

The witness of St Teresa of Calcutta takes us a step further. She teaches us to notice those whom the world often overlooks and to encounter Christ in the poorest of the poor. Her life challenges those of us in a comfort zone. The Jesuit mission calls us to move from seeing to compassionate presence and accompaniment of the excluded.

Mary, whose birth we celebrated with joy, shows us what it means to respond with availability. Her greatness is in her openness to God’s invitation. Her YES reminds us that discipleship began with a heart ready to listen and to be sent where the need is the greatest.

The ordination of Nithin Coelho in Japan offered a beautiful reminder of this same availability, the willingness of a young Jesuit to place his life at the service of God and the Church in a distant land as a missionary.

The floods in Nepal, meanwhile, remind us to listen to the cry of Mother Earth, our common home, and to the struggles of people. The suffering of others pricks us because we belong to one human family. Prayer, therefore, has to open our hearts in solidarity, generosity and concrete action.

Perhaps all these experiences invite us to renew one simple disposition: availability. The teacher forms, the missionary accompanies, Mary responds, the earth cries, and the ordained priest is being sent.

I thank God for the smooth process of searching for the new Provincial. As we now await the appointment of the new provincial by Fr General, I entrust this transition to the Lord and ask that we remain united in prayer and openness to God’s will.

I sincerely thank each one of you for your prayers, cooperation and support throughout this entire process. May we continue to seek His will and to be apostolically available, ready to discern where He leads us and to respond generously, saying:

“Here I am; send me.”