What was going on when I was born?

The head of the Jesuit order says he strongly supports Latin American theologians and church workers who seek to promote social justice. And he says the teachings known as the theology of liberation must be ''recognized as possible and necessary.'' The Vatican recently criticized some elements of liberation theology as relying too heavily on Marxist analysis, but it affirmed the church's fight against oppression in Central and South America. The Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, chosen as Superior General of the Jesuits a year ago, said in an interview in New York last week that the order would continue to aid efforts for social justice in Latin America.

IT is difficult to say what infuriates Patrick Mahoney and John Rosso Sr., Suffolk County legislators, more about the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society: their perception of the society as an inefficient bureaucaracy or their frustration with the society's attorney in charge, who is too independent for their tastes. What matters is that, by airing their skepticisms about the society's effectiveness, as well as the competence of the attorney in charge, John Middlemiss Jr., they hve place the future of the society in jeopardy. Next year's proposed county budget makes a commitment only to some form of legal aid for the poor, and Mr. Mahonney and Mr. Rosso are taking advantage of that flexibility to present their own alternative programs for legal aid. According to Gregory Blass, a Suffolk County legislator, the fate of the society will be even more precarious if the Legislature does not decide what form of legal aid it wants by Nov. 2, when the Legislature is scheduled to vote on next year's county budget. Mr. Blass said that, under county bylaws, the only person who could amend the county budget was the County Executive. 'If we let it go past Nov. 2, we'll in effect leave the decision about legal aid in the hands of one man, Peter Cohalan,' Mr. Blass said.

IT was a busy time in the Jahnke home in Monroe last night, when more than 40 antique clocks had to be reset for Eastern standard time. Paul W. Jahnke, owner of ''Grandfather Time,'' a clock repair business, stopped the pendulum on each of his clocks for one hour and then started them all up again. ''As a general rule, do not set the hands of a clock backwards,'' Mr. Jahnke advised. ''You may end up bending the lever arms and throwing the striking mechanism off.''

TOKYO '' Projecting unerasable impressions is our business,'' says Ushio Amagatsu, the impish director, choreographer and lead dancer of Sankai Juku, a five- man troupe that performs in the postwar Japanese dance style known as Buto. Mr. Amagatsu does not especially enjoy explaining what his company does, but his succinct summation says much about the distinct style of Sankai Juku, a style that skillfully uses the shocking and the grotesque to create powerful images, frequently of evolution and birth. A Sankai Juku performance is infused with often spectacular moments, meticulously choreographed and carefully manipulated, that scramble the emotions. Heads shaved and bodies powdered with with rice flour, the company's five men look unformed, not quite human. They writhe, roll back their eyes and grin demoniacally, They also perform some jaw-dropping feats, notably their now famous scene from ''Jomon Sho (Tribute to Pre-History),'' in which four of the dancers, almost completely nude, hang suspended upside- down from the theater rafters and are lowered slowly to the stage. As with much Sankai Juku does, this is presented to equal effect both in theaters and outdoors, where the dancers have dangled from office buildings, temples and museums.

The international effort to help famine victims in Ethiopia has accelerated dramatically in recent days, with governments offering food, transport planes and other aid, and thousands of ordinary Americans pledging contributions. In New York, officials of relief agencies yesterday said there had been an outpouring of donations for the stricken Ethiopians, ranging from the $5 weekly allowances pledged by two girls to the $10,000 offered by a publisher. Officials of American relief agencies said it had been years since they had been so overwhelmed with offers of help. Staff members and volunteers have worked beyond midnight and over the weekend to handle the deluge of telephone offers.

The Minskoff family has long been associated with the management and ownership of all sorts of buildings in Manhattan, including theaters. Three years ago, at the age of 63, Myron A. Minskoff, the youngest of the senior members of the Minskoff Organization, broke away from the family to start out on his own.

Kuwaiti sheiks, Saudi princes and Nigerian bureaucrats live mainly on hope these days - the hope that oil production will fall everywhere but in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. And in fact there is substantial evidence that this is slowly happening. Their hope also is that the rate of energy conservation will slow in the industrial nations and that the substitution of coal, nuclear power and natural gas for oil will reach its limits - and these trends are already evident. Their ultimate hope, of course, is that prices will rise. Simply put, these hopes and dreams are OPEC's strategy. The 13 OPEC members hold most of the world's oil reserves; theirs is by far the cheapest to produce, and they are biding their time until the non- OPEC countries run out of crude, putting OPEC once again in the driver's seat.

The Knicks opened their season last night at Madison Square Garden with a 137-119 victory over Bernard King's favorite team, the Detroit Pistons. King continued his domination of the Pistons with 34 points, and he got some help from the rookie Ed Wilkins, a sixth-round draft choice who had been given little chance to make the team when he was drafted. Chants of ''Eddie, Eddie'' from the crowd of 16,384 rang through the Garden. When it was over, even his teammates, heading back to the dressing room, took part in the chant.

Walter F. Mondale, following a strategy in which his hopes have narrowed to a few key areas, campaigned in California yesterday in an effort to erase President Reagan's lead in his home state. Mondale strategists say they will spend more than $3 million for television advertising in the state and are also planning to have Mr. Mondale fly in for a rally next week on the final day of the general election campaign. These plans are linked to a broader strategy that holds Mr. Mondale must win at least one of the major Sun Belt states if he is to win the election, now just nine days away. Upbeat Mood is Fading But the upbeat mood that prevailed among Mondale strategists as they planned their California offensive has faded over the last two days. Polls in the state that track shifts in voters' positions have detected a drift toward Mr. Reagan that, while not so dramatic as the national trend, has shaken Democratic hopes about making California a foundation for an upset victory in the national election on Nov. 6.

PETER ALFANO BATON ROUGE, La., Oct. 27 - All week long, Gerry Faust had worried about how his team would perform before a frantic crowd in L.S.U. Stadium and a television audience that included most of the country. An embarrassing loss could have decided his future at Notre Dame. But Faust's tenure as the football coach has had all the elements of an old Saturday morning movie cliffhanger. Faust came into this game figuratively tied to the railroad tracks with a train fast approaching. But just in the nick of time, the team came to the rescue today, stunning previously unbeaten and nationally ranked L.S.U., 30-22.

Serious attention is due any medium that presents within the space of a few weeks such first-rate productions as Tennessee Williams's ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,'' with Jessica Lange; Virginia Woolf's ''To the Lighthouse,'' with Rosemary Harris; Martha Weinman Lear's ''Heartsounds,'' with Mary Tyler Moore and James Garner, and, beginning tonight at 9 on PBS, a mini-series dramatization of Anthony Trollope's ''Barchester Chronicles,'' with Donald Pleasence. And coming up soon: ''An Englishman Abroad,'' a superb little tragicomedy starring Alan Bates (on cable as well as PBS); ''Ellis Island,'' a seven-hour saga about immigrants, starring Faye Dunaway, Claire Bloom and the late Richard Burton (CBS); an adaptation of Athol Fugard's play ''Master Harold . . . and the Boys,'' with Tony Award-winner Zakes Mokae and Matthew Broderick (Showtime); Joseph Wambaugh's ''Glitter Dome,'' with James Garner (Home Box Office), and the 14-hour ''Jewel in the Crown,'' a brilliant dramatization of Paul Scott's ''Raj Quartet'' India novels (public television's ''Masterpiece Theater''). In short, the current record, if examined without prejudice, won't support most arguments for television's taking a back seat to either film or the theater.

On a day of big plays, computer- boggling statistics and back-and- forth scoring, Doug Flutie again dominated bigger players by throwing three touchdown passes and running for another in Boston College's 35-23 victory over Rutgers. This was the first time that these two schools have battled each other as major Eastern football teams. Rutgers (5-3), which has turned around a losing program, came back repeatedly. But the Eagles (5-1), who have been ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation this season, have a remarkable competitor in the 5-foot-9-inch Flutie, who played well despite injuring his hand banging it against a helmet early in the game. He should soon become the first collegian to amass 10,000 yards in total offense in a career.