Fr. Lionel - The living pillar of JDV
"Let the Eucharist be your life and your life the Eucharist" this was the message, Fr. Lionel, a man with a lion's heart, put across tothe present generation on the occasion of his sacerdotal diamond jubilee, 23rd November 2008.
"A naturalized Indian," as Fr.Lionel humorously calls himself,was born on 6th may 1920 to Dr. Alfred and Anne Mascarenhas in Karachi. He was the eldest child and the only son followed by three daughters. He lost his father when he was 3 years old. His father who was a doctor, died in an accident. After finishing his schooling in St. Patrick's, Lionel joined Sindh College, Karachi. At that time Bombay archdiocese extended till Kazakhstan. In 1934 the Sindh mission was handed over to the Dutch Franciscans, and the Jesuits moved on to the Gujarat mission. During his studies Fr. Lionel had personal contact with our regents whose lives - and in particular Fr. Duran, then a regent – played a vital role in inspiring him to join the society. The other thing that inspired him to join the religious life was the Altar boys Society run by a Diocesan priest. Eighteen boys opted for the priesthood and later one of them, Joseph Cordeiro became an archbishop of Karachi and a Cardinal. Soon after his college studies, Lionel joined the Society for Gujarat mission and was sent to Shembagnur for the novitiate – the only novitiate in India. After spending almost seven and a half years at Shembagnur doing his novitiate, juniorate and philosophy, he came to St. Xavier's school, Mirzapur in 1943 for his regency and to teach in the school. Here he shared his memory that in pre-independent India, they were not allowed to speak Gujarati in school and so he never got a chance to learn the language. Nevertheless when he was in Shembagnur he took the initiative to teach Gujarati to the Braganza brothers, Fonsecas and a few others! In 1946 Fr. Lionel went to St. Mary's college (theologate) Kurseong, the NorthEast. On 21st November 1948, at the end of third year he was ordained a priest. Soon after he headed for his tertianship at Hazaribagh. He was asked to teach theology and so he flew to Rome for his doctorate in Fundamental theology (now known as SystematicTheology). He took his final vow, on August 15, 1953. In the same year he started teaching theology in De Nobili College. In 1959 he was appointed vice rector of the Papal Seminary. He was president of JDV from 1983 to 1986. The same year he retired, but continued teaching as emeritus for ten years. Thus he has been in the teaching arena from 1953 to 1995. Beside his teaching career, he used to give retreats to both laity and religious.
"The Society is my second mother." he said, "all that I am, I owe to the society." He says that our lives should be prayer and mission oriented. He stresses the two characteristics that each Jesuits should have – dedication and availability. Each should have a solid foundation in the spiritual exercises and union with God, so that he may be able to find God in all things like St. Ignatius. He has message for all the priests that, "the church is what priests are." So the good priests will make a good church. At present Fr. Lionel resides at the Papal Seminary (Pune) and prays for the society. He smilingly says that he is waiting for his sunset. He is very happy for he has run his race. A musician, he still sings the mercies of the lord. At the end he said that if he were to be born again, he would again join the society to live his life in the context of St. Ignatius' vision.
NAVNEET PARMAR
