“Camote” is really a term of endearment, not even a nickname, and if you were part of the Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club, stage crew, an actor from any of the Catholic schools, or in athletics, you would know who this referred to.
He turned 96 last May, and according to Sr. Sarah, when she went to visit him last week, he was on the stationary bike! Every year, a group of aging retired executives, once young but still with robust voices, troop to the Cavite hospital run by St. Paul nuns to serenade him.
He has had an impact on so many lives, loved by so many, that James B. Reuter has become such an important part of our history.
He came here before the war as a young enthusiastic Jesuit, on fire with love for God and his order.
When he crosses over, he will still be the same—the Lord will see the heart of a young man that flames with the love for Jesus.
Blond, bronze god
I first met him in high school, he was our retreat master and the girls would swoon over this blond (he had more hair then), bronze god. He was so physically fit he swam more than 20 laps at a time and he walked every morning from La Ignaciana in Sta. Ana to St. Paul’s on Herran,a well-known figure, striding in his soutana.
He was always in his soutana. He was proud of being a priest, most especially a Jesuit soldier for Christ. The only time he was out of the habit was when he was directing, and wearing a track suit.
He was always trying to recruit the students into entering the convent, so one day I thought I would give it a go.
Would you believe he turned me down?
He said the convent wasn’t a place for me, that I had so much love to give and that I should give it to one man! You can imagine how I felt, the only one turned down! Well, at least I did find one man, haha.
Then, in my fourth year in high school, I was chosen to play the lead role of Maria in “The Sound of Music.” Fr. Reuter directed. It was a big hit and ran for months. Vic Silayan, the movie actor, played Captain von Trapp, Cristina Ponce Enrile was Mother Abesss, and it was an all-star cast of former Reuter actors. The “oldies” knew each other well and Cristina would tear holes on the sides of the set so she could stick out her hand and wave and make faces at Vic and Buddy Paez.
‘Tatang’
That was the beginning of my relationship with my “tatang.” We did a lot of plays together and argued a lot. (I always had something to say, of course, and couldn’t keep quiet about what I thought needed to be corrected.)
But I learned so much from him. Primarily it was “to keep the body on the stage!” No matter what happened, one always had to be ready and responsible.
Once we were doing “Show Boat” in Meralco when a brownout occurred! It was my scene and I was to sing “Fish Gotta Swim.” After 10 minutes, tatang sent word: “Go on!” So Sr. Sarah sat at the small piano with a flashlight, I started to sing, and we brought that dark house down! And tatang had a big grin, saying, “yes, yes!”
It was the body on the stage that led me to become an Edsa hero. Actually, it was really my tatang’s doing. I heard he was going to have a clandestine office to assist in counting votes, so I went to volunteer.
Again, he refused, and said that God had given me a gift, my voice, and that I should use it for Him. So instead, I was to report to Radio Veritas so that someone could speak the truth.
He even laughed when he said it was dangerous and that I could die!
A week later, he sent me to what we now know as Radyo Bandido. I was so scared I called Sr. Sarah to try to get out of it. But no such luck. “Papa Bear” (Fr. Reuter’s code name) was asleep, therefore, I had no choice but to “get the body on the stage!”
Spiritual renewal
Even my spiritual renewal was James B’s doing. I went to ask him to help me get funding for a documentary on Medjugorje. I also arrogantly told him I was the best person to do this as I was leaving the Catholic faith and would be unbiased about it. So I asked him, “Father, don’t you have any questions? Do you really believe all that crap?”
He replied, saying, “Oh, I have questions. But I know that when I die they will all be answered.”
I was stunned. I was born asking questions! It never occurred to me that death could be an answer.
The Lord sent my tatang to help me choose the paths He set for my life.
As tatang would always say, “God draws straight with crooked lines.”