Panaji: Fr George D’Sa SJ came. He was with us. And though he has gone, he still is with us. All who have experienced D’Sa say, “We have seen and heard, and encountered God.” He has left a blazing trail for all of us.

D’Sa was born on April 19, 1916 at Anjuna, Bardez. At six, he lost his father, Exaltacao Pascoal D’Sa. Within six months, his mother, Maria Marcela, passed away. Their physical absence devastated him, but he was spiritual awakened to their presence. His unique tenet, ‘You are the light of the world, let your light shine’, has ignited thousands of lives for over fifty years.

D’Sa applied himself to whatever he did. He was exceptional in religious matters and always prayerful. It dawned on him that “only when we love all men, can we partake in God’s love.” He decided to consecrate his life to God and man as a Jesuit. On January 22, 1937, he joined the Jesuit novitiate at Calicut (now Kozhikode). He was ordained a Jesuit priest on November 21, 1950. He was ready to be sent on a prophetic mission.

In 1953, D’Sa was chaplain for a year at Yerwada Jail, Pune. He says, “I met a young man who was convicted to death. It was marvelous to see how he responded to the grace of God with the little contact he had with me. I noted how the youth are filled with good will and how sincere they are…provided they are guided with love and understanding and a sympathetic heart.”

For the next ten years, from 1954-64, he worked as parish priest of the Mount Carmel parish and Fatima cathedral, and as rector of St Paul’s High School, Belgaum (now Belagavi). He was a polyglot, compassionate and had an empathic presence.

At his ordination, D’Sa had begged God for three years of active service because of his poor health. But the Lord granted him 44 years in His vineyard. On June 1, 1964, D’Sa was sent as rector of Bom Jesus Basilica. He organized two expositions of the relics of St Francis Xavier (1964, 1974) which triggered off the decennial veneration.

In 1966, he founded and directed ‘Youth Formation Retreats’ for SSC students. For 28 years, he evoked a ‘holistic God experience’ in every retreat. The students, then and now, keep saying, “It’s an experience I can never forget.”

The golden jubilee of the youth formation movement is celebrated every Sunday through 2016. Students meet batch-wise at 10:15am at Bom Jesus Basilica to thankfully remember Fr D’Sa and pledge themselves “to shine like bright stars in this world.” The follow-up of this experience at the higher secondary level is catered to by the ‘Lights of the World Movement.’

In 1967, D’Sa began the second novena to St Francis Xavier, called the ‘novena of grace’. His initiatives didn’t end with him, but are carried on through the Jesuits and their collaborators. Thousands of people and students have experienced hope, support and clarity about their future and these programs have left an indelible mark in their lives.

On July 24, 1994, at around 8:30am, D’Sa passed away. He had been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. His last wish was, “I want my funeral to be simple. Do not toll the church bells and tell all people attending my funeral to shower flowers in my grave.”

While the youth formation movement celebrates its golden jubilee, it’s a clarion call to all D’Sa’s fans to honor and celebrate his birth centenary (1916-2016) through a thanksgiving Mass at the Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa, on Tuesday, April 19 at 6pm.

(The writer is spiritual director with the Society of Jesus, Goa province. This article appeared in  the Goa edition of The Times of India on April 19, 2016.)