Who knows? Who cares?

(a short reflection on movie Nobody Knows/Dare mo Shiranai)

The Movie, Nobody Knows, depict the life of two boys and two girls of one mother and different fathers who are abandoned by their mother and have to live by themselves. Anak depicts the life of two sisters and one brother, whose mother leaves them to work abroad as a domestic helper. Unlike the children in Nobody Knows, these children are are cared for by their uncle and aunt. Watching these movies, I was moved and almost cried, especially as I realized that this situation still happens in our world today.

The title of the movie is Nobody Knows. It suggests that few people or even no one wants to know and care about these abandoned children. In certain sense, this is true. In this selfish and individualistic world, fewer people want to care about their unfortunate fellows. They tend to think about themselves first before thinking of others.

What does it mean to be Jesuit in this era? It means to pay attention more to those who are in need. And I think, since the number of abandoned children is getting more and more, they are one of those who are most in need. In Nobody Knows, first of all, they need money to support them economically. This is their first and primary need. However, we cannot help them in this problem. We cannot give them money, no matter how big their need is. We can help them through the rich people who we can approach to ask them to help these abandoned children. Secondly, they need comfort. They are children lacking parental love. They may also have some psychological problem caused by their being abandoned by their parents. In this kind of problem, we can and must help them.

Indeed, we are called also to do service for them. If there is no one who wants to help them, then it is then it is our vocation as Jesuits to help them because they are most in need. One example of this is when Fr. Pedro Arrupe founded JRS. He saw at that time that refugees are those who are in most need. They needed an organization totake care of them, economically and psychologically. To be sharp in intuition and analysis like Fr. Arrupe is what we need as a Jesuit. We have to be able to read the signd of the time in order to see those who are in most need. Therefore, an ability to reflect on recent situation in the world is highly needed.

What I can do now as Jesuit in formation is to train my self to reflect upon my circumstances and find out who are my fellows who are most in need. I can’t do a lot in helping those abandoned children, but I can give comfort to the children in my apostolate. I can also be compassionate with some poor people who often come to this house. I might not be able to help a lot, but I can train myself to be in sympathy and compassion with them.