Fr. G William Robins, S.J.
The Limited Stop By Pass Rider
Fr. William Robins, S.J.
He is faster than you think! If you can catch up with him, that will be quite an achievement. His goals are always clear to him. Once he knows what he wants, he immediately throws his heart into it. Then the rat race begins till he gets what he wants, and nothing stands in the way. People often think that he is a workaholic. It is not quite true, because he is also one who enjoys a lot of fun besides the serious work. If you want to meet him on holidays, you better make an appointment with him on one of the mountains around the Valley or somewhere in the jungle out there. Ask him what his weekly schedule is like. He will say, “Well, this week I got this … this … this … and this.” Every minute is filled with something. However, ask him if he has time to help you for “this” something else. “Oh, sure, when do you want it”‘ He finds time and is always ready. But, mind you, if you are late for an appointment, “Bad luck for you guys, get lost, I have ‘this’ waiting for me, see you later,” and off he goes. Well, that’s what Bill is like,
Fr. G. William Robins was born on 10 August, 1943, in Canada. He was the only son and the second youngest out of six kids in the family. Though his father was a convert from the Anglican Church, Bill grew up in a very Catholic atmosphere. His mother was a Catholic. His father wanted to become a Catholic before the marriage even though it was against the taste and desire of his own family. Therefore he was a strong Catholic. Bill did all his studies in Catholic institutions. He was in the local parish school for Grades I to 8 and then he was transferred to St. Paul’s High School, a Jesuit school, from Grades 9 to 11.
As a kid, he always had the idea of becoming a missionary bur didn’t know what kind of missionary he Would become. He doesn’t see any conversion experience or great change in his life that could be remarkable in his turning towards the missionary interests, but only as a natural vocation.
He joined the Society on August 14, 1960, at Guelph and completed there his two years of novitiate and two years of juniorate. He went for his philosophy to Mount St. Michael’s Spokane, and the following two years years of regency were at Campion High School, Regina.
From 1967-71 he spent summers at Seattle U. doing a Masters in Science. He simultaneously completed his theology at Regis College, Toronto, and was ordained in 1971 at the age of 27. Though he bad the desire to work in the missions, he didn’t feel ready to come to the missions till he finished all his training in Canada as a scholastic.
Nepal was the second choice for Bill. He came to Nepal via Bhutan. Initially, he opted for and worked in Bhutan for five years, But things worked out in such a way that he had to leave Bhutan and come to Nepal. He is happy to work in Nepal though he wasn’t very happy to leave Bhutan at the time that he did.
He did his tertianship in Sitagarha. After tertianship while he was waiting for his papers to be cleared so that he could go back to Bhutan, Fr. Bill Mackey sent him a note that he will be picked up by someone at the Assam boarder on the 25th of May 1976. But unfortunately the message reached Darjeeling on April 26th. They tried to make a phone call to Bill, there was no direct connection to reach him. So the message was passed on from person to person until it reached its destination, and it said that the Bhutan border was going to be closed, so he should leave for Bhutan immediately. So Bill sneaked Into Bhutan without the interline permit in his hand thinking that’s what he was asked to do. Eventually the Indian officers found this out, and he had to leave Bhutan. The police accompanied him till he took off from Delhi. It was, by then, the end of 1976.
Having no more chance to get back into Bhutan, he came to Nepal in the middle of ‘77. The highlight of his apostolic life, according to Bill, was certainly his work in Bhutan. He finds the most inspiring years of his life were the time he spent with Fr. Bill Mackey with whom he lived in Bhutan.
Coming to Nepal, he was overwhelmed by the differences he saw between the Nepalese and the Bhutanese people. He was surprised at the small, tiny Nepali kids compared to the strong, well built Bhutanese kids. The major challenge he felt in Nepal was how to reach out to the poor in Nepal, because in Bhutan he was working with the ordinary village kids and in St. Xavier’s he had to work with middle class kids. As we know he always wanted to be with the poor ones. So he had to make a major adjustment in his approach to the mission work he had in his mind. Og course, he admits that the political situation in Nepal was different from Bhutan where all the salaries were paid by the Government, while in Nepal the Jesuits had to support themselves in educating the kids. So it left no option but to admit kids who could pay their fees to some extent.
Can you catch me? Fr. Bill
In the meantime he acquired terrific fluency in the Nepali language, which has helped him to make good contacts with the people.
He taught for about twenty years In St. Xavier’s. He was superior in between but always teaching at the same tune. According to him, being superior is not very difficult. He doesn’t see any need to put the superior on a pedestal because in his in his experience, being a superior is not a very hard job. The greatest challenge in being a superior is to be open to people and getting people to be open with the superior. It was great for him to work with people like Leo, Cap and Jim Dressman because they were so much involved in getting the younger generation to be open.
He points out that there should be a trust between the subject and the superior to have a proper manifestation of consciousness. It does not mean that there should always be an agreement between the superior and the subject. He disagrees with G.C.32 on the “Union of minds and hearts.” According to him, there should certainly be “union of hearts,” but “union of minds” is not really true because it is difficult for all to think the same thoughts. Rather, it will narrow down the perspective, and we may not even enter into new ideas. So it is fine to have lots of new ideas and to be open to the superior who knows everyone with
the differences one has and everyone knows the superior as well. Then it is easy to make decisions because one knows the talents, the tastes, and the deep desires of the other. But as soon as there is a lack of trust, then one will have to go around and around to find the motivation of the other. So, it is important to have trust and openness between the Superior and the Subject.
The worst day of Bill’s life was the day when Fr. Tom Gafney was murdered. It will never go away, but he admits that we need to live with some bad memories too. Going through all that experience was tough. At
first Bill was rather upset because he reflected that if this is the way they are going to react to the good work we are doing what is the use of helping them? But again he reflected on the other side, got over his angry mood, and wanted to have that project going.
After Tom death, Bill was thinking that someone who knows Nepali well and has Nepali citizenship would continue the work Tom was doing. Though he didn’t think that he was going to get that job, things worked in such a way that lie had to take tip that work. He is happy with the job and is working hard in those institutions. Through the the new job he finds himself working with poor kids again as he desired in the past. So he takes it as a challenge and a grace. However Bill finds It, not a very difficult job, except for fundraising, because he is supported by a group of very dedicated staff.
Answering the question whether he had any vocation crisis, regarding any pull from the opposite sex, Bill says, “Oh, vocation crisis in that way … ah … not really. I can think of all the young ladies I could have easily fallen in love with all the way through life. Ok … well, let’s see the other side of the coin, whether they would have fallen in love with me or not. You know, one can dream about being a hero, but you never really check that out all the time! And if you do, just looking over your longer and shorter life, you see, the same thing you usually find that the ladies who really want to fall in love with you aren’t in any way the ones whom you would want to fall all in love with. So you are thinking of ways of running away from this. You can look into your own life for that experience. But I think it is pretty well universal.”
Fr. Bill confers awards to his Centre boys.
Talking about his choice of the apostolate, if he were let free to choose It, he says that he would have gotten out of Kathmandu and would have worked in one of the public schools in a village.
When asked to share about his high points he paused for a moment and said, “I always enjoyed teaching, helping in the lab work, and conducting games at school. One of most remarkable experiences was my work in the village of Kaule. Dealing with great Jesuits as their superior is another one. Now I am happy that I am able to work full time for the poor.”
His advice to the younger generation is that it is important for one to distinguish between one’s likes and one’s wants. The deepest desires of ours are those which we really want. It is ultimately the question of our relationship between the individual and God. That is to discern the plan of God in our everyday life and to prioritize our desire to get to heaven. Our likes may be many, but our wants will be where our feet ultimately take us. So it is important for one to be honest with oneself for what one really wants to do.
He concluded by saying, “The Society of Jesus runs on TRUST in God and in one another. Let’s work to EARN that trust!”
When the Superior returned from a trip be asked his Socius, “What, nobody volunteered for this job?”
The Socius replied, “To tell you the truth, you know, all are tied up with too many things. I couldn’t force it on anybody either,”
The Superior thought for a moment and said to himself, “I guess… ‘Bill’ wasn’t there for the meeting.”
(Text and Pictures from the Nepal Region’s 50th Anniversary Book, 2001)