1


THE
EVOLUTION
OF
THE
FRONTIERS

IN
THE
JESUIT
CHINESE­FILIPINO
APOSTOLATE

Johnny
C.
Go,
SJ



What’s
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
Father’s
message
to
the
Jesuits

and
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
is

because…



WE
ARE
PRODUCTS
OF
FRONTIERS.



All
of
us
here
are
children
of
frontiers.



*
The
Chinese‐Filipino
apostolate
was
the
result
of
a
continuing
search
for

frontiers.



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

1552.





China
was
the
frontier
that
Matteo
Ricci
reached
when
he
became
the
first

foreigner
to
be
invited
into
the
Forbidden
City
in
1601.



*
In
1949,
the
Jesuit
missionaries
expelled
from
China
found
themselves
in
the

Philippines
and
stumbled
into
a
different
kind
of
frontier:

The
Chinese‐Filipino

apostolate—which
gave
birth
to
our
six
institutions,
starting
with
the
parishes

before
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


 2


1956:

Xavier
School­Kuangchi
(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
of

the
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
original

missionaries
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
to

think
if
this
has
been
done
in
the
lat
ten
years
in
your
institution.



1.

To
consciously
reach
out
and
serve
the
Chinese
Filipinos


a)
for
schools:

by
prioritizing
them
in
admission
policies

b)
for
parishes:

by
emphasizing
their
being
personal
parishes
to
the
Chinese

Filipinos
even
if
they
are
also
territorial



2.

The
promotion
of
Chinese
language
and
tradition

a)

for
schools:

by
strengthening
the
Chinese
Language
Program

b)

for
parishes:

by
organizing
special
liturgies
(using
the
Chinese
language,

observing
Chinese
festivals,
and
promoting
Chinese
rituals)



3.

Inculturation

a)

for
schools:

by
helping
the
Gospel
values
penetrate
the
Chinese
culture

b)

for
parishes:

by
coming
up
with
theological
reflections
to
help
make
sense
of

Chinese
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…

Frontiers

change,
and
for
the
Chinese‐Filipino
apostolate
to
continue
to
bear
fruit,
we
must

continue
to
find
those
places
and
those
works
that
the
Lord
may
be
asking
us
to

today.



Today,



 3




THE
PRODUCTS
ARE
CALLED
TO
BE
PARTNERS
IN
FINDING
NEW
FRONTIERS



During
this
convention,
this
rare
gathering
of
products
and
partners
of
this
60‐year

old
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
frontiers‐‐or
what
we
can
refer
to
as

the
4
Is.



The
first
is
IDENTITY.



Are
we
helping
to
clarify
what
it
means
to
be
Chinese

Filipino?

The
young
Chinese
Filipinos
today
are
different
from
the
older

generations.
The
world
has
changed.

China
has
changed.

The
Philippines
has

changed.

So
there
really
are
lots
of
questions
about
what
it
means
to
be
Chinese

Filipino
today.

Some
things
have
not
changed.

I
know
of
one
young
Chinese

Filipino
girl
who
refuses
to
go
to
the
temple
with
her
parents
for
the
usual
pai­pai.


According
to
her,
her
friends
who
agree
to
do
it
feel
guilty
and
end
up
confused.

So

the
question
to
all
of
us
here
is:

“Are
we
doing
enough
to
help
clarify
what
it
means

to
be
Chinese
Filipino?

Can
we
do
more?”



The
second
frontier
is
INTERSECTIONS.

Are
we
working
hard
enough
to
address

the
tensions
and
contradictions
that
happen
in
the
intersections
between
our
faith

and
Chinese
culture?




I
remember
a
good
friend
of
mine,
a
classmate
in
college,
asked
me
to
say
the

funeral
Mass
for
her
father,
a
well‐loved
Chinese
gentleman
who
had
helped
a
lot
of

people.

Before
the
Mass,
I
noticed
that
there
were
a
lot
of
Mainlanders
wearing

white.

My
friend
informed
me
that
these
were
relatives
of
theirs
who
had
flown
in

because
they
wanted
to
pay
their
respects
to
her
father
who
had
helped
them
in
so

many
ways.

As
I
was
getting
ready
for
Mass,
the
eldest
son
whispered
to
me
that

we
don’t
bless
the
body
so
that
the
coffin
glass
would
not
get
wet.

I
agreed,
of

course,
but
I
kept
thinking
of
that
during
the
readings.

Then
I
thought,
why
not
use

incense
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
lit

an
incense
stick
and
knelt
before
the
portrait.

The
family
was
visibly
moved
as

they
did
the
same,
followed
by
the
hoardes
of
relatives,
obviously
non‐Christians,

who
joined
the
ceremony.

I
was
really
struck
at
how
that
simple
ceremony,
totally

unplanned
and
decided
on
only
at
the
last
minute,
had
made
such
a
difference.


Suddenly,
the
relatives
who
were
initially
not
engaged
suddenly
found
themselves

included.




 4


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
the

Mainland
Chinese
in
the
Philippines
that
we
have
not
yet
reached.

Are
we
even

thinking
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
of

years
ago,
a
young
Chinese
girl
joined
us
and,
in
one
private
conversation,
told
her

friend
that
she
did
not
believe
in
Christianity
and
would
never
convert.

Well,
she

spoke
too
soon.

Her
exposure
to
the
different
Catholic
rites
in
school,
but
most

especially
her
friendship
with
one
very
devoted
Catholic
Chinese
teacher,
led
her
to

start
attending
catechism
classes
in
Mary
the
Queen,
where
fortunately
there
was
a

Mandarin‐speaking
volunteer.

That
teacher
was
eventually
baptized,
but
today
I

ask
myself:

Did
we
make
a
deliberate
effort
to
lead
her
to
our
faith,
or
did
she

discover
it
almost
accidentally?

Could
we
have
done
more?



Finally,
the
frontier
of
IMPACT:

Are
we
doing
enough
to
help
those
who
are

working
in
the
same
apostolate
for
China
and
for
the
Chinese
Filipinos?



The

present
bishop
of
the
Jingxian
diocese
in
Hebei
is
Bishop
Peter
Feng.

For
many

years
he
studied
at
the
Lorenzo
Ruiz
Mission
Institute
in
Makati
or
LMI.



He
was

able
to
do
so
only
because
he
received
help
from
generous
donors.


As
far
as
we

know,
the
Jesuit
institutions
were
not
among
those
who
were
able
to
help
him.



So

the
question
is:

Can
we
help
more
the
increasing
number
of
Chinese
priests,

seminarians,
and
sisters
studying
in
the
Philippines—not
just
financially,
but

maybe
in
their
formation?

Can
we
do
more?



As
a
kind
of
exercise
to
prepare
us
for
the
activities
of
the
convention,
I’d
like
to
ask

you
to
get
a
copy
of
the
handout
on
your
table.

There
you
find
on
the
first
column

the
four
frontiers
with
their
definitions.

In
the
next
three
columns,
you
will
find

three
descriptions.



Let’s
read
the
descriptors
together.