Fr. James Reuter celebrates 94th birthday

MANILA, Philippines - Through his bright blue eyes, American-born Fr. James Reuter saw the goodness in Filipinos’ hearts.

On his 94th birthday, the Jesuit priest had one wish: That Filipinos remember him as someone who has loved them so much.

“The Filipinos, and God forgive me for saying this, are the most lovable people in the world. Whenever you come to the Philippines, the first thing you notice is that (the people) are smiling,” Reuter told reporters after his birthday celebration last May 21.

Ramon Cardenas, member of the Original Ateneo Alumni Glee Club, once wrote that Reuter “has touched the lives of legions of Filipinos who have become his life-long friends.”

“They have remained close to him through the years.”

Last Friday, people gathered at the charity hospital Our Lady of Peace in Para-ñaque City where he now lives to celebrate the priest’s birthday.

His guests, composed of former students, nuns, and close friends, kissed his hand or head as a sign of love and respect for him.

Reuter, fondly called Fr. Jim, arrived in the Philippines in 1938 as a 22-year-old Jesuit scholar sent to finish his theology studies.

During his stay in the country, Reuter taught at Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City and Naga City, Camarines Sur.

When war broke out in the 1940s, Reuter, together with more than 2,000 Americans, was imprisoned in Los Baños, Laguna.

He helped take care of his fellow inmates by entertaining them through songs and plays that he composed and wrote.

In 1945, Reuter flew back to New York to finish his studies. He came back three years later and never left the Philippines.

One of the unforgettable memories Reuter has about the Filipinos’ kindness was in 1941 when his friend Rogelio LaO took him out of Ateneo and brought him to his residence.

When they arrived at the house, he said, LaO’s sister Amelita immediately removed from him an armband that identified Americans as an enemy of the state.

LaO’s mother also defended him from her Japanese friends, who were dismayed after seeing Reuter in the company of her children.   

“The Japanese soldiers were smiling but as soon as they saw me they stopped and asked Mrs. LaO, ‘who is that?’

“She said instantly without batting an eyelash, that’s my son,” Reuter added in a proud but frail voice.

“That’s the way Filipinos have been all the time. Filipinos always adopted everybody who came and entered the door as a friend.” 

‘RP’s enemy   is money’

“When Filipinos love, they are spontaneous. When they give, they give it all. They are not greedy people,” Reuter said.

“Sadly, you don’t realize what God has given you,” Reuter said, but did not elaborate. He spoke against Filipinos’ love for money, which he said is a curse that seems to hound the Southeast Asian nation.

“I’m not saying that money is a curse but love of money is a curse and the terrible thing about money is that when you get it, and you like it, then it becomes love of money. I think money is a curse that comes out from the outside. It’s not natural for Filipinos,” he said.

He called on Filipinos to stay the same and fight the temptation to change.

“Stay the way you live with the heart. That’s the way they have been all these years – just don’t change. Don’t try to be artificial about anything,” Reuter said.

He noted that the essence of sanctity is not in taking but in giving, especially to the poor who have nothing in life.

Awaiting  God’s plan

At his age, Reuter said he is still waiting for God’s bigger plans for him.

“As time goes on, I think God will give me new chances to do what he wants me to do.”

“I don’t have any plans. I don’t ambition anything. But I expect something will happen, for which I am being prepared. I think God will lead me,” he said. 

Love offering

Board members of the Our Lady of Peace Foundation, of which Reuter is president, also launched last Friday a fund-raising activity dubbed “Fr. James Reuter’s Love Offering.”

They said the money to be raised would help the foundation sustain its programs like the hospital, feeding programs and barefoot doctors project, which train indigenous people how to take care of simple illnesses.

In his more than six decades of residence in the country, Reuter has educated hundreds of Filipinos. His teachings, inspired by Jesus Christ, included praying the Rosary.

He has also written and directed numerous plays.

He organized the Ateneo College Glee Club, which he headed from 1953 to 1960.

The priest has received awards and recognition for using the media to promote the Church’s teachings. These include the Outstanding Service Award given by his Holiness the late Pope John Paul II in 1981 and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Writing in 1989.

If there is one thing wrong about the media today, Reuter said it was that the press liked to focus on bad news.

“The best thing media can do is what I’ve tried to do for a long time – to present what is good. It’s harder to present what is good but it’s the best kind of news,” he said.

Reuter also helped end the Marcos regime in 1986 by running underground Radio Bandido, which helped monitor the snap elections between the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, wife of assassinated Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr.

The Aquino matriarch was later thrust into power by the peaceful People Power revolution of 1986.

Reuter said he no longer monitors politics in the country, but he has an appeal to newly elected leaders: “If they can be honest and just be guided [to] help everybody, those who do not have, then being in politics would be a blessing.”