Ritchie Fernanndo was a Filipino Jesuit who served in Cambodia. Ritchie went to Cambodia in May 1995 as part of his Jesuit training. A teenager named Sarom, a soldier at 16, maimed, and was very naughty has become close to his heart. On a day of October 1995, Sarom came to the school for a meeting, suddenly pulled a grenade from his bag and threatened everyone. Richie grabbed him from behind. Sarom pleaded that Richie be out of the site for he wouldn’t want his mentor to die. He dropped the bomb from behind and in a wink of an eye, Richie was dead. Ritchie wrote a letter to a Jesuit friend some four days before the incident. And he says, "I know where my heart is," he wrote; "It is with Jesus Christ, who gave his all for the poor, the sick, the orphan ...I am confident that God never forgets his people: our disabled brothers and sisters. And I am glad that God has been using me to make sure that our brothers and sisters know this fact. I am convinced that this is my vocation."
Captivated, I saw this poster in a Tanging Yaman shop promoting the Jesuit Vocation with Ritchie as inspiration. I don’t mean to offend anyone regarding how I felt especially my brother seminarian Salesians, but honestly I was struck by such powerful statements, so enthuse that options in my heart were, reopened, reaffirmed, and revived. Am a seminarian Salesian for two years now, I've considered many things regarding my discernment starting when I was a sophomore in high school, and had a long journey before I reached my state now, yet the query is so relative to me at this point of the journey: is this really where my heart is?Image from: http://www.companysj.com/v154/onefaith.html
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