Yearbook of the Society of Jesus 1999 [antikvár]

Introduction The facade of the Church of the Mother of God in Macau which appears on the cover of this issue of the YEARBOOK is a reminder of the saga of the Jesuits who followed Xavier on his route to the East. Macau was the cradle of missionary dreams and, at the same time, a divine laboratory, a Cenacle where the Spirit taught the missionaries-to-be that to proclaim the Word they had to renounce their own "words", their European "concepts", and in cultural nakedness preach the universal message of Christ. The broken facade of empty windows through which the light of the Orient penetrates, speaks of the past but also of the future. Today these historical ruins are under the custody of a small community of Jesuits who await patiently, as their confreres did in past centuries, the sound of the providential hour in the mysterious clock of the Lord of History, calling them to work in the continent. It is not nostalgia nor archeological curiosity that has moved us to feature what remains a most beautiful church on a hill facing China. This year (1998) the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia was held in Rome with the participation of fourteen Jesuits headed by the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. To look for the Asian face of Christ, to foster interreligious dialogue, to inculturate the Gospel are statements that reverberated again and again in the Synod hall. Words which would have been familiar, to the ears ofRicci, Ruggieri, de Nobili Changing the "Asian" adjective, these statements describe the commitment of Jesuits in other parts of the world: in the Reductions of Paraguay, the tundra of Alaska or the African continent. They also give us the key to interpret the work of today's Jesuits in the heart of Amsterdam, Sarajevo or Palermo. According to the circumstances is an expression that comes up insistently in Ignatian documents. To let concrete circumstances challenge us; to open ourselves to the annoying knock, and to give a Gospel-inspired response is an important part of the Ignatian legacy. Zipoli in the 18th century made room in his musical scale for the sweet melodies of the native Paraguayans; St. Ignatius Church in Tokyo gathers the indirect light of a nearby pond to illuminate the "prayer and meditation" chapel designed as a room for the tea ceremony; the University of Seattle builds a chapel to "talk" to the North American youth in their own symbolic language; and an Indian artist takes from his cultural palette the colors to express his trinitarian faith This, and much more, can be read in the articles of this issue of the JESUIT YEARBOOK in the shy light that filters through the empty windows of the church built in honor of the Mother of God in Macau. Jose M. de Vera, S.J. Editor