XAVIER SCHOOL GOLDEN JUBILEE: A Day Fully Alive

With the threat of a direct hit from Typhoon Reming averted, December 3, the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, dawned bright and sunny, clearing the way for the multi-event celebration of Xavier School’s Golden Jubilee. Over 2,000 members of the Xavier community participated, with the majority gathered in the gym for the Jubilee Mass and Commitment Rites while hundreds more watched via webcast from simultaneous reunions in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Xiamen.

The day began at dawn with the Family Fun Run around campus participated in by parents, students and faculty. Simultaneously, the Jubilee Torch Relay, run by alumni, started from Echague, the original site of Xavier School, all the way to the Greenhills campus. The relay was run by alumni representing each class from 1960 to 2006.

The Mass was celebrated by the Jesuit Provincial, Fr. Daniel Patrick Huang, SJ (’76), together with fellow Jesuits and alumni priests. It began with the entry of the torch and the lighting of the Jubilee Flame. Other highlights of the Mass included a tribute to Xavier Jesuits and faculty who have passed away, a special collection originally intended for the scholarship fund but which became a donation for the victims of Reming, the homily by Fr. Ismael Zuloaga, SJ (Xavier School chairman), and the Novena Prayer.

Fr. Johnny Go, SJ (’79), School Director, conducted the Commitment Rites. He acknowledged and called on each member of the Xavier community to recite the Xavier Pledge, an affirmation of everyone’s commitment to the Xavier ideals which include, in part: "I choose to follow Christ, our Lord, as my Leader and Model. Inspired by Him, I shall strive to live my life in a more selfless, more generous, and more total service of God and my neighbors so that I may be ‘fully alive, endowed with a passion for justice, and the skills for development.’"

Overseas alumni and students on a study program in Xiamen also joined in the pledge. This participation, via video-link, was a particular source of inspiration to the alumni present who keenly felt the solidarity of all Xaverians here and abroad.

Till the very end, the joyous spirit was strong, prompting Fr. Go to state, "Relying on your word today, I declare Xavier School to be fully alive!"