WORK WITH IGNATIUS: REFLECTIONS ON THE CHAPLAIN+CAMPUS MINISTERS’ MEETING

These reflections are from participant, Mr. Jerome To of Wah Yan College Hong Kong, and facilitators, Fr. Stephen Chow SJ of Hong Kong and Ms. Jennie Hickey of Sydney, Australia.

From the evening of May 21st (Sunday) to lunch on the 24th (Friday), 31 Jesuit and lay educators congregated at the Kingsmead Centre of Ignatian Spirituality and Counseling in Singapore for the first-ever meeting of Chaplains and Campus Ministers of Jesuit schools in Asia Pacific.

The participants evidently happy and pumped for the meeting.

They have come to exchange best practices and to learn from one another’s experiences, as well as to discuss issues and challenges that they face in the work of faith and character formation of the youth. One of the goals of the meeting was also to build a network of school chaplains and campus ministers for possible collaborations in the future.

The chaplains and campus ministers from Hong Kong and Macau. Don’t call them “China,” they clarified from Day One.

There were inputs from Ms. Jennie Hickey, Fr. Johnny Go, and Fr. Stephen Chow–all of which were designed to provoke reflection and discussion about their ministries.

Jennie’s session on “Who Am I In What I Do?”–which followed the screening of the film “Lion” the previous night–led the participants to reflect not only on their work but also on their persons. “We teach who we are,” they were reminded.

Fr. Johnny invited them to think about the youth that they serve in their schools through a talk entitled “Endangered Species of the Digital Age.”

Fr. Johnny welcomes the participants and celebrates the Eucharist for the first evening.

Finally, Fr. Stephen reminded them to be companions in the mission of reconciliation and justice in the session called “The Joy of Being a Missionary for Young People.”

Fr. Chow SJ challenging the delegates in their youth ministry

The best part of the meeting was, of course, the mixed small groups, where the participants heard from their colleagues from other parts of the region. This is where a lot of the learning came from: We exchanged and reflected on best practices, learnt the new ways to announce the Good News today, and discussed their challenges in the work of faith.

Australian participants introducing themselves

Bro. Jeff Pioquinto is a Filipino Jesuit working in East Timor and is reunited here with fellow chaplains serving in the Philippines.

The participants visited St Joseph Institute, a top La Sallian school in Singapore, where Fr. Adrian Danker SJ is currently serving as the Principal.

Welcomed by SJI students, the participants saw how the school had been shaped not only by the La Sallian spirit, but also by Ignatian and Franciscan spiritualities. Hence, the need to be more inclusive in our collaboration and to be more creative in our youth ministry.

Jennie poses with Fr. Manny and Phil from the Philippines

Here’s what Jennie has to say about the meeting:

The biggest group of delegation came from Indonesia, thanks to Fr. Baskoro!

Participants explore Chinatown for a taste of local culture–with Kingsmead Centre volunteer and special local tourist guide Keith.

He continued, “Besides this, participants from different provinces and regions were sharing their best practices and challenges with each other as well as learning from one another. These are developing intra-provincial and inter-provincial networks of chaplains and campus ministers that we would very much like to encourage and sustain.”

All the participants pose for a group shot.

We are grateful for the hospitality of our host, Fr. Adrian Danker and the Kingsmead Center staff/volunteers. Their fine arrangements and the home-cook meals have helped us to feel ‘at home’ throughout the gathering.

The chaplains and campus ministers returned to their homes energized by the Singapore experience and inspired to work closely together in their mission of forming our students into persons of conscience, competence, compassion, and commitment.

Watch out for their collaborative projects!