1b jgo talk

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE FRONTIERSIN THE JESUIT CHINESE-FILIPINO APOSTOLATEJohnny C. Go, SJ

Whats the big deal about frontiers? Why do we have to face frontiers with fire and

in friendship?

First of all, what are frontiers?

FRONTIERS= places that few people have been to or want to go to= things that few have done or want to do

In the recent 35th General Congregation, the Holy Fathers message to the Jesuitsand all of you, our partners in our work, is : Look for the frontiers and go there!

This is especially important for us because if we are here in this convention, it isbecause

WE ARE PRODUCTS OF FRONTIERS.

All of us here are children of frontiers.

* The ChineseFilipino apostolate was the result of a continuing search forfrontiers.

China was a frontier that St. Francis Xavier could only dream of when he died in1552 .

China was the frontier that Matteo Ricci reached when he became the firstforeigner to be invited into the Forbidden City in 1601 .

* In1949, the Jesuit missionaries expelled from China found themselves in the

Philippines and stumbled into a different kind of frontier: The ChineseFilipinoapostolatewhich gave birth to our six institutions, starting with the parishesbefore venturing into education.

1952: Sacred Heart Parish (Cebu)1953: Sta. Maria Parish (Iloilo)1954: Mary the Queen Parish (Pasay City; later, Greenhills, San Juan)1955: Sacred Heart School for Boys Cebu, now Ateneo de Cebu


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1956: Xavier School-Kuangchi (Echague; later, Greenhills, San Juan)1958: Sta. Maria Catholic School (Iloilo), now Ateneo de Iloilo

In 1989 , forty years after the missionaries arrival in the Philippines, the Jesuits ofthe Philippine Province took over the running of the three schools and the three

parishes.

Ten years later, in 1999 , we had a consultation that included many of the originalmissionaries like Fr. Zuloaga, Fr. Nunez, Fr. Hernando, Fr. Barbero, the late Fr.Mena, Fr. Cortina, and Fr. Leon, among others.

Two important things came out of that meeting:

First, it reaffirmed the Jesuit mission to evangelize the Chinese in the Philippines.

Second, it proposed three goals for our schools and parishes. You may want tothink if this has been done in the lat ten years in your institution.

1. To consciously reach out and serve the Chinese Filipinosa) for schools: by prioritizing them in admission policiesb) for parishes: by emphasizing their being personal parishes to the ChineseFilipinos even if they are also territorial

2. The promotion of Chinese language and traditiona) for schools: by strengthening the Chinese Language Programb) for parishes: by organizing special liturgies (using the Chinese language,observing Chinese festivals, and promoting Chinese rituals)

3. Inculturationa) for schools: by helping the Gospel values penetrate the Chinese cultureb) for parishes: by coming up with theological reflections to help make sense ofChinese customs and practices in the light of our faith

That consultation gave us the WHAT, but not so much the HOW.

Now ten years later, here we are gathered to help figure that out Frontierschange, and for the ChineseFilipino apostolate to continue to bear fruit, we mustcontinue to find those places and those works that the Lord may be asking us totoday.

Today,


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THE PRODUCTS ARE CALLED TO BE PARTNERS IN FINDING NEW FRONTIERS

During this convention, this rare gathering of products and partners of this 60yearold mission, we are invited to reflect, to discuss, and to pray over four possible

frontiers.

Let me describe to you briefly each of the four frontiersor what we can refer to asthe 4 Is.

The first is IDENTITY. Are we helping to clarify what it means to be ChineseFilipino? The young Chinese Filipinos today are different from the oldergenerations. The world has changed. China has changed. The Philippines haschanged. So there really are lots of questions about what it means to be ChineseFilipino today. Some things have not changed. I know of one young ChineseFilipino girl who refuses to go to the temple with her parents for the usual pai-pai .According to her, her friends who agree to do it feel guilty and end up confused. Sothe question to all of us here is: Are we doing enough to help clarify what it meansto be Chinese Filipino? Can we do more?

The second frontier is INTERSECTIONS. Are we working hard enough to addressthe tensions and contradictions that happen in the intersections between our faithand Chinese culture?

I remember a good friend of mine, a classmate in college, asked me to say thefuneral Mass for her father, a wellloved Chinese gentleman who had helped a lot ofpeople. Before the Mass, I noticed that there were a lot of Mainlanders wearingwhite. My friend informed me that these were relatives of theirs who had flown inbecause they wanted to pay their respects to her father who had helped them in somany ways. As I was getting ready for Mass, the eldest son whispered to me thatwe dont bless the body so that the coffin glass would not get wet. I agreed, ofcourse, but I kept thinking of that during the readings. Then I thought, why not useincense sticks to bless the body? So right after communion, I leaned over to my

friend to ask her if that was okay, and she readily said yes. After a few words, I litan incense stick and knelt before the portrait. The family was visibly moved asthey did the same, followed by the hoardes of relatives, obviously nonChristians,who joined the ceremony. I was really struck at how that simple ceremony, totallyunplanned and decided on only at the last minute, had made such a difference.Suddenly, the relatives who were initially not engaged suddenly found themselvesincluded.


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Again, my question is: Are we doing enough of this? Can we do more?

The third I is INSERTIONS: Insertion into the lives of Chinese Filipinos and theMainland Chinese in the Philippines that we have not yet reached. Are we eventhinking about reaching out to these people, or do we feel our hands are already

full with our present work?

In Xavier School, we get a lot of Chinese teachers from the mainland. A couple ofyears ago, a young Chinese girl joined us and, in one private conversation, told herfriend that she did not believe in Christianity and would never convert. Well, shespoke too soon. Her exposure to the different Catholic rites in school, but mostespecially her friendship with one very devoted Catholic Chinese teacher, led her tostart attending catechism classes in Mary the Queen, where fortunately there was aMandarinspeaking volunteer. That teacher was eventually baptized, but today Iask myself: Did we make a deliberate effort to lead her to our faith, or did shediscover it almost accidentally? Could we have done more?

Finally, the frontier of IMPACT: Are we doing enough to help those who areworking in the same apostolate for China and for the Chinese Filipinos? Thepresent bishop of the Jingxian diocese in Hebei is Bishop Peter Feng. For manyyears he studied at the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Institute in Makati or LMI. He wasable to do so only because he received help from generous donors. As far as weknow, the Jesuit institutions were not among those who were able to help him. Sothe question is: Can we help more the increasing number of Chinese priests,seminarians, and sisters studying in the Philippinesnot just financially, butmaybe in their formation? Can we do more?

As a kind of exercise to prepare us for the activities of the convention, Id like to askyou to get a copy of the handout on your table. There you find on the first columnthe four frontiers with their definitions. In the next three columns, you will findthree descriptions.

Lets read the descriptors together.

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