More than 80 young people, including Jesuit and lay animators, ended 2019 and started off 2020 with the third Magis Asia Pacific gathering in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This year, the theme centred on diversity and Ignatian indifference with participants coming from Cambodia, Chinese province (Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China), Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Timor-Leste.
The activity held from 26 December to 3 January was organised by Magis Thailand with the active participation of all the Magis groups in Asia Pacific. Magis Myanmar taught their Magis theme song as energiser. Jesuit Scholastic Dulpichai Suwawat SJ, Fr Paul Pollock SJ, Fr Charles Nopparat Ruankool SJ, and Fr Miguel Garaizabal SJ gave sessions on Identity, Ideal, In Diversity, and Indifference. Then Magis Indonesia shared how the Ignatian practice of reflection and examen helps them to feel God’s presence in their lives, as well as the challenges of maintaining a daily habit of prayer.
On the third day of the gathering, the participants broke up into four smaller groups for their Ignatian experiments. These experiments are designed to help young people grow individually, deepen their relationship with God and others, and engage in intercultural dialogue. For three nights, the participants stepped out of their comfort zones and experienced a different kind of life. One group went to Wat Umong to learn Vipassana meditation, another went to Pa Khao Lam Village to live with the Karen people, the third group went to Emmaus Center at Ma Taeng District to learn about Laudato si’ and organic agriculture, and the last group helped work on a construction project to experience the life of construction workers.
“We spent time building relationships with others and with the environment,” shared Taiwanese participant Bob Chen Po-Ying who had his Ignatian experiment at Emmaus Center. “I went wandering in the farm, playing with the hens or watching the blue sky without thinking of anything. I felt the Holy Spirit beside me, which made me feel relaxed and peaceful. I also felt the Lord when I interacted with other people. Although our language difference caused some difficulty, I could find God’s loving face from every smile and hug from my friends.”
On New Year’s Day, the groups gathered back to reflect on their immersion experience and share their realisations, first with their groupmates in the experiment and then with their country members. Their reflections served as basis for their country action plans, which were presented at the plenary meeting.
“We learned a lot from the other countries, and some countries also wanted to do more things after hearing what we did in Taiwan. We created connections in the name of our Lord, and we gained strength after exchanging our experiences,” said Bob.
JCAP President Fr Tony Moreno joined the gathering on 2 January to give a session on the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) before celebrating the Eucharist in the chapel of Seven Fountains Retreat Centre. Reflecting on the Gospel reading, he said: “‘Having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi departed for their country by another way.’ You will return to your countries, but find another way, not in the same way you are used to, not the most comfortable way, not business as usual. But take the inspirations you’ve received in Magis JCAP 2019 and from the UAPs, and walk your life in a different way.”
Fr John Nugroho SJ, JCAP Youth Ministry Coordinator, also encouraged the participants to answer God’s call and serve others. “The Society and the Church need you, as young Ignatian leaders, to be agents of change,” he said. One way they can do this is to volunteer in the JCAP mission. “This is a new programme that the JCAP Youth Ministry wants to share,” he said. “We hope to get at least three volunteers each year.”
To inspire the young people further, Fr Nugroho invited Indonesian participant Demetria Ulin, who volunteered in Cambodia for more than a year, to share her discernment process before she finally decided to volunteer. She also shared the challenges she faced before coming to Cambodia and her activities accompanying students with special needs.
As the gathering drew to a close, several participants shared what they learnt and how they felt. Patsy Chan Pak-Ying related: “One word to express my feeling is gratitude. When packing last night, I cried. In the past months in Hong Kong I felt desolation, but here when I see the joyful faces of the youth, I feel healed by God.”
“I feel so blessed and very grateful for God has closed my 2019 and begun my 2020 with so much love, acceptance, inspiration, encouragement and prayers from all my Asia Pacific friends. Each of us has a strong willingness to complete instead of compete with another,” said Maria-Stefania Kusumastuti from Indonesia.
Indonesian Scholastic Ishak Jacues Cavin SJ was “grateful to see many young people longing for a spiritual depth and to be in a community which listens to the concerns of young people from diverse countries”. For him, the Magis programme did not only invite them to understand diversity and indifference, but also to live them out through the Ignatian experiments.
“As Magis members, we are encouraged to take a step forward, to go beyond ourselves, and respond to the four UAPs entrusted to us by Pope Francis,” he said.
Victoria Sendy is a member of the JCAP Youth Ministry core team. She is a volunteer of the Indonesian Jesuits, helping out in the province’s various ministries.
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