By Fr. Richard Ho Lung, Contributor 
Ho Lung ... I was a little too lazy and playful to take on a Science stream.
THERE ARE millions of men and women who have received the benefit of a Jesuit education over the years, whether on the secondary, tertiary, or graduate level. I am one of them. I can honestly say it has changed my life at its very foundation.
Like most Jamaican kids, I just liked to play. As a poor country kid from Richmond, St. Mary we had no electricity, we just had one pipe, one bedroom for my parents Willie and Janet Ho Lung, Loretta and myself. At night time, we played with the neighbourhood kids hide and go seek, chevy chase, dodgings, and hop scotch. We climbed our tamarind tree and hairy mango tree. On Saturdays, we'd go down the river and catch janga.
Loretta and myself attended a little primary school. We walked barefooted and sometimes hitched a ride. My parents could hardly afford food for lunch, whether for themselves or us kids. But they warmed us with love and tried to do their best in our little shop, which sold a penny worth of sugar, mint balls, paradise plums, a half-pint of kerosene oil, salt fish, a half-pound of cornmeal or flour.
My dad, Willy, brought the family to Kingston. He was determined to have us well educated. Two more children came along, Michael and Theresa. In the beginning we lived in Rockfort, then on Old Hope Road. Again he developed a little grocery store at 42 Old Hope Road.
EARLY SCHOOLING
We walked to school at Alvernia. The school fees were cheap and Sister Elizabeth and Sister Regina were very kind nuns. They knew how to keep us happy at school. Sister Elizabeth played the piano and she often sang with us. She taught us games, and introduced us to devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She forced us to speak English like the rest of the kids and was serious about Math.
We assimilated a lot from the rest of the kids who were so much brighter than us. Always, I felt her love, care and protection. Thus we were introduced to Christ - the compassionate - who loved the poor and performed miracles in healing people. After a few years we were baptised, confirmed and received Communion in ceremonies that were deeply touching and precious, with candles, flowers, special white clothes and well-organised breakfasts and parties.
After prep school, I went on to take my entrance exam for St. George's. I did it on my own initiative and didn't tell Sister Elizabeth. I failed by a number of points both English and Math. Sister Elizabeth nevertheless recommended to Father Charles MacMullen that I be allowed into St. George's especially in view that I had no preparation.
Already, I saw myself as dunce. Father Charles MacMullen, an American Jesuit from New England, was an incredible father to me. Though he was the headmaster, he knew the names of every kid from first to sixth form, all 500 of us. He placed me in the brightest class - 1A - strange thing to do. He said, "Let's see how you do." Class 1A was frightening to me. Again, I met Father Leo Quinlan who taught. He too was a wonderful and kind man.
I had learned English at Alvernia, now I had to learn Latin. Then there were the other strange subjects: Arithmetic, Algebra, History, Geography, English Literature, and General Science, none of which I had before. In addition, I was still a playful boy. But the priests took us seriously, serious yet patient, positive and yet disciplinarians. They were really fathers to us, so kind yet demanding. By sheer assimilation and some hard work, I got through the five years of high school.
At the point of choice, which happened as we moved from third to fourth form, I opted for the Arts although I was chosen for the Sciences and Mathematics. It was my natural bent. Moreover, I was a little too lazy and playful to take on a Science stream.
The school fees were really small. The priests helped me to get second-hand books. I bummed rides to school and often walked home after school, often not having had any lunch. I was a thin skinny kid who hadn't enough strength to play games. But the priests often looked out for me and were always ready to encourage me in my lessons.
VALUABLE FRIENDSHIPS
I was a quiet kid who had a few very dear friends like Peter Lue and Leighton Hugh. Without much embarrassment, they found ways of helping me with lunches at Mrs. Morais' tuck shop. I was deeply moved by their kindness. They knew I was poor and needed food.
From the Jesuits and the boys, I learned about kindness and a genuine Christian spirit. Not only had I received a wonderful, deep and serious programme of studies from the Jesuits but I had also learned about love. The Scripture lessons, and even a little philosophy, that I learned were extraordinarily touching to me. Those subjects seemed to enter my heart at great depths.
I decided to join the Jesuits when I was only 15 years old. I was really not that accomplished as a student; however, with the kindness of the Jesuits at St. George's College I was accepted for studies to the priesthood. I was marginal but the Jesuits took the risk and so in 1959 I entered the Society of Jesus.
That was the beginning of 15 years of the most extraordinary programme of studies anyone could have. The classics, including Greek, Latin, French, and a programme of classic English Literature, three years of philosophy, three years of theology, and two additional years of humanities, including psychology, led me to extraordinary deep reading and studies. All these studies brought about an intellectual discipline and love for knowledge that have never left me.
LOVE AND SERVITUDE
Today I can only give thanks for the extraordinary privilege of living with and being taught by an amazing set of men: teachers, classmates and friends who moulded my future. At the heart of it I learned to think and to pray, to have reason and faith meet, to love and to serve.
It is the goodness, the generosity and the wisdom of the Jesuits that have led me to founding the Missionaries of the Poor. Not only the intellectual institutes - the universities, high schools, juniorates, philosophates and theologates - were of the highest calibre. But the Jesuits created in me the highest ideals: to serve "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam," for the greater glory of God.
In my soul, St. Ignatius and his magnificent meditations on the two standards, the discernment of spirits, the three levels of humility, and the contemplation for obtaining the love of God will never be forgotten. They are now key meditations in the Forty Days Retreat I give to our Missionaries of the Poor annually.
The asceticism, the fellowship, the critical and analytic approach to life, the love of justice and kindness have become a part of me because of my association with these great men.
The Jesuits are brave and generous-hearted men who have fostered millions of people over the 470 years of their existence in education and other ministries. They are mysterious, powerful, generous servants of the Lord and the Catholic Church. Deep within myself there is still St. Ignatius in me. Twenty-three years as a Jesuit has not been lost. It has formed me for the difficult work of founding the Missionaries of the Poor, which has been my life for the last 23 years.
There are many of us in Jamaica, as well as all over the world, who want to give thanks to the Society of Jesus. Many of us can only silently say so but with great love and tenderness and appreciation for the life of these great men who have given up their life in total love and self-sacrifice in service of God and neighbour.
Father Richard Ho Lung is founder and superior-general of the Missionaries of the Poor.
