The encounters with Jesus in the manger are no accident. There are signposts which are heard and seen. In the case of the shepherds, the angel appears before them and declares: “Do not be afraid…, a saviour has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord…, you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” The shepherds are vigilant, mindful, responsive, and prayerful. After seeing Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, they are overjoyed, and in thankful praise, they glorify God “for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them”.

We have a similar account with the visit of the magi. They are overjoyed at seeing the star. They are attentive, responsive, prayerful, and courageous. They follow the star until they reach the place where Jesus is. They adore him and open their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In a dream, the message becomes clear: they should not return to Herod, and they are to travel to their country “by another way”.

At the first Christmas, we have a striking picture of synodality – the shepherds and magi journeying together separately and willing to be led by the angel or by the star. They see, listen, focus, and find Jesus. They are not disengaged, indifferent, and inattentive. They eventually tell the story of their encounter with the Lord, and share their joys and hopes with others.

Pope Francis has convened the Synod on Synodality last October, so we can experience true conversion, and that we may see the realities around us, listen to each other more deeply, and listen to the Spirit as we walk together in pursuit of the mission. If we have the disposition of the shepherds and the magi, their willingness to see, listen, and be led, we can encounter the Lord, and thus share our joys and hopes with others. Rafael Luciani, an eminent lay Venezuelan theologian and member of the theological commission for the Synod on Synodality, says that this gathering is the next most important event of the Church after Vatican II. Reform and conversion are at the heart of synodality. The conversion of mindsets, dispositions, and attitudes of all the baptised, not only the ordained ministers, is needed just as structures of the governance in the Church have to be transformed. Clericalism, careerism, and self-referentiality have no place in the Church. They have to give in to communion, participation, and mission.

Synodality is our way of being and living. It is a collective response to what is terribly lacking in our Church and world. This is our response to the world that is plagued with failure to listen and see, always wanting to control and dominate, and privatised faith without any sense for community. May Christmas not simply be for us an experience of joy and giving, but more importantly, an event of journeying together, of listening and seeing, of being led to a deep encounter with Jesus, and our own transformation for the mission.

A blessed Christmas and a hope-filled 2022.

Tony Moreno SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific
Christmas 2021

One can associate St Ignatius with many things. He is known for his bravery and courage in the battle of Pamplona (1521). Others see him as the principal founder of the Jesuits, the first Superior General of the Order. He is also credited for initiating a brand of spirituality that is apostolic, discerning and engaged in the world. Arguably, however, it can be said that discernment of spirits is the single most important contribution of St Ignatius to the Church. Through the Spiritual Exercises, he writes the guidelines for discernment leading to one’s discovery of God’s will. Discernment is not about choosing between good and evil since the choice is clear. When one discerns what can lead more (magis) to God, then discernment of spirits becomes a crucial exercise. This discernment is not only between me and my God (vertical). It also is done in the context of the community searching for the will of God (horizontal). The second one is now increasingly known as discernment in common following the experience of the founding fathers in Venice in 1537 as they pursued the will of God for them. We are very familiar with personal discernment, but only recently started to rediscover the import of the communal mode of discernment.

The Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), launched on February 19, 2019, are a result of 16 months of prayerful discernment in common at all levels of the Society of Jesus including the companions in mission. The UAPs after receiving approval and blessing from Pope Francis are in effect missions entrusted by the Church to the Society. These preferences hope to structure and orient our life and mission in the next 10 years. The preferences are the following: to show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment; to walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated in a mission of reconciliation and justice; to accompany the young people in the creation of a hope-filled future; and to collaborate in the care of our Common Home. If assimilated and implemented fully, the preferences could engender a conversion experience for the Society, a profound renewal that could be a refounding moment of Jesuits and companions in mission.

Currently, Fr General Arturo Sosa is visiting Asia Pacific, particularly the Korean, Chinese and Japanese provinces. In his address to the major superiors assembly in Hong Kong on July 22, Fr General speaks of a “moment of transition”. He challenges us against being “accustomed” or even “proud” of our current style of life-mission. The UAPs are a call to radical changes in that “these are new wineskins to which we are called to pour the Good News of Jesus Christ through our life-mission profoundly transformed by the experience of encounter with the Lord”.

As we celebrate the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, we give thanks to the Lord for his many gifts to the Church, particularly his method of finding God in all things, his discernment of spirits as a pathway to God. May we not only grow in our relationship with the same Lord who called Ignatius, but in our familiarity with God through personal and communal discernment to accomplish with courage and zeal the missions entrusted to us.

Happy feast day to one and all!

Tony Moreno SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific

Easter is a moment of unparalleled rejoicing. The Lord is risen from the dead. He triumphs over sin and death. He is truly alive and his Spirit lives in our hearts.

It is rather striking that the apparitions of the risen Jesus happened to the lowly people who had pinned their hopes on him or to people who had some faith or even to those whose faith had wavered. He appeared to the women who were the first to visit his burial site, to the fearful disciples, to people who doubted him like Thomas and to many others. He did not appear to the strong and mighty, those who clearly had no space for him. It would have been quite dramatic if the risen Lord had appeared to people like the members of the Sanhedrin who tried and convicted him, High Priest Caiaphas, King Herod and Pilate, the governor of Judea, and all those who plotted his death in order to shame and humiliate them all. Perhaps it would have been pointless.

Easter is for all of us, especially for people who long for Jesus even if our faith is not strong enough. It is for the weak and the lowly, the broken and the impoverished. It is for people who thirst and work for reconciliation and justice. It is for people who continually discern the mission of God and try to accomplish it despite the complexities and challenges. It is for people who seek personal, communal and institutional conversion even if they may not always succeed.

Fr General Arturo Sosa released the Universal Apostolic Preferences on February 19 this year after getting the approval and blessing of Pope Francis. The preferences are a product of prayerful discernment of Jesuits and companions over 16 months. They serve as an apostolic compass of the Jesuits and companions in the next 10 years. These four preferences are the following: to show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment; to walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated in a mission of reconciliation and justice; to accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future; and to collaborate in the care of our Common Home. These preferences are in sync with the priorities of the Church according to Pope Francis. After his approval and blessing, these preferences in some sense are no longer ours. They are no longer ourmission, but more precisely the mission entrusted to us by the Church through Pope Francis. They could be daunting and overwhelming for Jesuits and companions given the many challenges that can be complex and seemingly insurmountable. But with Easter, our fears and anxieties take a backseat. Even if our faith is wavering and weak, the risen Lord could appear to us to breathe new life and inspire us. Even if our resolve is weak and we are tempted to despair, the God of life could manifest to us to give us renewed hope and inspiration. May we open our hearts to God’s enduring presence in our lives.

Happy Easter to one and all!

Tony Moreno SJ
JCAP President
Easter 2019

Dear friends and mission partners,

Greetings of Peace.

It is striking to note that the first ones to receive with great joy the news of the birth of Jesus are the shepherds, not the rich and powerful. The shepherds are excluded in many respects in Jewish society. They are at the margins of society since they are the voiceless, poor and deprived of any influence in public life. By contrast, the people who are self-sufficient and powerful are unable to encounter and accept Jesus. King Herod the Great, for instance, fails to meet him and orders the massacre of the children born around the time of Jesus. While the shepherds matter less in the eyes of the world, they are a very privileged people in God’s view. They find life and hope in Jesus.

Christmas is the time to encounter Jesus as someone who gives life and hope to our broken and divided world. The contemporary shepherds are all around us. They are in many areas where there is so much poverty, environmental degradation, conflict and exclusion. The South Sudanese people, particularly those afflicted by poverty, ongoing conflict and violence, long for peace founded on justice. They pin their hopes on people like Fr Victor-Luke Odhiambo SJ who committed his life of service to them as an educator. But he was killed on November 15 at the Jesuit Residence in Cueibet in South Sudan. The local government declared a three-day period of mourning in recognition for his life of service. He could have asked to be reassigned to a safer area, but he embraced the mission entrusted to him and chose to remain and serve the people through education. As a result, he touched so many lives. Father General Arturo Sosa writes: “He is light, which has been extinguished, but after enlightening other lights.”

May we receive the light of Jesus, and enkindle other lights. May we truly encounter Jesus this Christmas so we can also give life and hope to our world in need of reconciliation and justice.

Blessed Christmas to one and all. May the New Year be another season of grace.
Fr Antonio Moreno SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific
Christmas 2018