The official blog of Rev. Francis X. Hezel, SJ

1
Xavier Navigators Headed for Pohnpei
2
Meet the New Bishop in the Carolines: Julio Angkel
3
Saipan… An Island Alive with Ghosts
4
Tourism’s Take-Off in Micronesia
5
Suicide: A Serious Family Problem
6
Blessed are the Losers!
7
Back to School Retreats in Dededo and Palau
8
Farewell to the Ageless Fr. Ron Sams

Xavier Navigators Headed for Pohnpei

When I first arrived at Xavier in 1963 to begin teaching, basketball was all but unknown in the islands. Baseball was the sport of that era, dating back to the Japanese administration before the war. By the end of my first year, the Xavier team had uniforms and were playing the Filipino workers around the island. The next year they were playing Truk High School, which also had put together a team. Basketball in Chuuk was on its way to becoming the popular sport it is today.

Read More

Saipan… An Island Alive with Ghosts

I?m in Saipan for a few days, nominally to consult with the bishop here on his pastoral planning but also to break out of the confines of Guam for a change of pace. And a great change of pace it is, truth to tell! The bed in the rectory is beyond comfortable, so for the past two days I?ve been huddled in it for hours, day and night. But only until I am restored to full energy, I tell myself, as I sniffle and cough myself to sleep.

Read More

Tourism’s Take-Off in Micronesia

In the 1960s everything seemed possible. Want to grow a major tourist industry for a small island nation? No problem.

Continental Airlines had just entered the region, bringing jets and the promise of a strong marketing campaign. ?Feel the warmth of Paradise? was the slogan on the posters that were beginning to appear in Asian and American cities.? Within a few years, Continental built its own hotels in Palau, Chuuk, and Saipan.

Read More

Suicide: A Serious Family Problem

I was still a young priest in 1975 when a young Chuukese friend hanged himself. Then, a few weeks later, another acquaintance took his own life. Before long I found myself paying attention to the stories of others doing the same. It was the beginning of my 40 years of research on suicide–research driven not by theoretical concerns, but by a determination to find out what was responsible for the early deaths of a growing number of islanders.

Read More

Back to School Retreats in Dededo and Palau

The beginning of August is back-to-school time in the islands. So schools everywhere are gathering teachers and preparing for the coming school year. For me it meant directing a short retreat for the faculty and staff of Santa Barbara School here on Guam, and then making a short visit to Palau to work with staff in the two mission schools there: Mindszenty High School and Maris Stella.

Read More

Farewell to the Ageless Fr. Ron Sams

Against all expectations, Ron Sams departed from us for a better life on June 27. Most of us thought of the man as timeless, one untouched by aging. I suppose in later years his hair greyed and thinned a bit, but when you looked at the man you wondered if he would ever grow old. Ron?s spirit seemed just as impervious to old age as his body. His enthusiasm even in his 80’s reminded you of the quality that endeared him to so many in his younger days. Ron Sams was a boy scout in the best sense of that term?one of three Eagle Scouts working in Micronesia in the 1980s, with Dan Mulhauser and Tom Smith being the two others.

Read More