Six months have passed since I entered the novitiate. From my window I still look with
\npleasure and gratitude at the sea. Often I become a spectator of lights and colors spread
\non the water by the sun rays. But I look at the sea and the port of Genoa differently than
\nhalf a year ago. Things read in the novitiate have entered my memory and have changed
\nthe way I see.
\nFor St. Ignatius the sea in front of Genoa offered great hardship: When in 1524 he took a
\nship from Genoa to Barcelona “he ran a serious danger of being caught” (Autobiography
\n53). There was a war between the Spaniards and the French, and his Spanish ship was
\nhaunted by ships serving France. On his way to Genoa on a ship from Valencia in 1535,
\nhe ran into a storm, and the rudder broke and the passengers thought that “death could
\nnot have been escaped” (Autobiography 33).
\nSaint Jos\u00e9 Pignatelli arrived at the port of Genoa in 1768 with 2,500 Spanish
\nJesuits expelled from Spain, after a year as refugees in Corsica. For a week they waited
\non board the ships without permission to disembark and with great trials. At some point
\none of the ships was about to wreck, and they had to abandon it and crowd together on
\nthe other ships. In those days, people came from the novitiate of Genoa with food and
\nclothes to help the refugees who were suffering.
\nThese facts strike me because they happened beneath my window. They come into my
\nmind as I watch the ocean. But not only the dramas of the past, also tragedies that happen
\ntoday present them self when I see the sea. The images of shipwrecked people, which
\nwere once presented daily by the media, are still in my memory. It remains a mystery to
\nme that the progress that has increased our dominion over the sea does not prevent
\nthousands of people, even today, from experiencing moments of great danger on the sea.
\nStill in the Mediterranean, a little further south from here, many die in an attempt to find a
\nbetter future. Little is heard of it now, but it still happens.
\nWhat unites us on the sea is above all our fragility. In the midst of such a large and
\npowerful element, man needs help. We often do not lack the means to help.
\nI understand the fears that make us doubt how we will manage to welcome all those who
\nwould like to come to Europe. There are problems that certainly need to be discussed and
\nresolved. But how can we allow our fear to stop ships that are willing to help shipwrecked
\nrefugees? How is it possible that mankind with all the necessary tools to help prefers to
\nsee people die in the middle of the sea?
\nI see the sea. Its beauty is still there, but it is mixed with a bit of sadness.<\/p>\n
Daniel N\u00f8rgaard \u2013 first year novice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"