Fr General Arturo Sosa opened the gathering in Hong Kong of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific’s major superiors, delegates, coordinators, secretaries and directors of work with a message about the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs). “This week, you gather to open yourselves fully to being guided by the Holy Spirit. The challenge before you is to be sensitive to the movements in your heart,” was the reminder from the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. “We as a body can be led by the Holy Spirit.”
He called on all to be part of this “community of discernment”, walking together to discern a shared vision so that the whole Asia Pacific Conference can move forward together. Fr General drew upon the example of St Ignatius and his own encounter: “The foundation for conversion of heart and of human action is the personal encounter with God, an encounter like the one that changed the life of Ignatius Loyola and that can change our life-mission as well.”
Fr General’s message on the Universal Apostolic Preferences–which he indefatigably communicates to all the members and collaborators of the Society as well as the wider Ignatian family–is a source of inspiration and guidance for all. There is always new insight to be gained from his input on the UAPs, and assimilating the preferences properly takes understanding and conversion. As Fr General said: “The experience of communicating to the Society this mission received from the Holy Father has confirmed for me the depth and complexity of the changes being demanded.” From the Gospel of Luke, he chose a passage that struck a deep chord with the group: “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, “The old is good.”
In this time of transition for the Society, Fr General’s words come as a challenge and a consolation: “The radical changes we are experiencing, that happen so fast that it is hard to keep up: these are the new wineskins into 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.” And Fr General’s reminder is constant: “He is on the path with us.”
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is on a three-week trip to Asia, visiting Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. He is accompanied by Regional Assistant for Asia Pacific Fr Jose Magadia SJ and Regional Assistant for South Asia Fr Vernon D’Cunha SJ, Delegate for the International Houses Fr Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves SJ and Fr Pierre Bélanger SJ from the Jesuit Curia Communications office.