Prayer and Service Nº 4 - October

PRAYER
AND
'SERVICE
AGACINO
AMOROS
BARRIGA
EMONET
HURLEY
JAYABALAN
LACASTA
OCAMPO
PICCA
RUI-WAMBA
SUBAGYO
VANDERWALL
WOO-BAE SOHN
October - December 2007
N.4
The English commentaries for the Intentions of the Apostleship of Prayer are published monthly on internet at: I httP.\\www.adp.itll
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PRAYER AND SERVICE October - December 2007
N.4
GENERAL OFFICE OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER BORGO S. SPIRITO, 4 - CP 6139 - 00195 ROME - PRATI (IT ALy) The English commentaries for the Intentions of the Apostleship of Prayer are published monthly on internet at: I httP.\\www.adP.it
ll
PRESENTATION
This new issue of the review is the fIrst to be sent to press
after the departure of our Father Aloys VanDoren. He has returned
to Belgium where his Provincial has appointed him Superior of a
community of Jesuits. With grateful hearts for his fruitful work
among us, we wish him every success in this new stage of his life.
The new Delegate Director General greets us on the first pages of
this issue. The remaining contents of the review were prepared
under the direction of Father Van Doren.
After Father Claudio Barriga SJ.'s letter, the three sections
of this issue of PRAYER & SERVICE refer to the presence of the
Apostleship of Prayer at the beginning of the third millennium in
three very different continents: Europe, Asia and Latin America.
They correspond to three meetings of the national Secretaries of the
AP in the course of 2006 and reflect the AP's vitality and capacity of
adaptation to the different mentalities and cultures of these
continents.
Father Pierre Emonet's, SJ.'s conference, presented to the
European national Secretaries during their yearly meeting at the end
of September 2006, is an important reflection on the moment
Europe is living, especially from a religious point of view, and its
impact on the AP. At the same time he analyzes the positive
contribution the AP can offer present-day Europeans, through the
vast nuclei of its spirituality: the positive interest for the
contemporary world, the intentions proposed by the Pope, prayer
with Christ for the needs of men and women of the third
millennium, the importance of the daily offering to be able to live in
imitation of the Heart of Christ, the man for other men, whom we
can meet in the reality of the Eucharist and who urges us to true and
effective love of the Lord and of other people.
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th
The second part is devoted to the 7 Meeting of the national
Secretaries of the AP of Asia and Oceania, held in Seoul (Korea)
from October 9th to 14th 2006. In this part of the world the situation
of the AP is different in each of the nations represented. Its
organization, methods and the possibilities for work and presence
within the Society and the local Churches, its forms of
communication, are very different from one country to another.
However the national Secretaries are convinced of the value
of the spirituality of the AP for the people of the third millennium in
Asia and Oceania and they stressed the richness of the various
elements which constitute it, indicating in particular the integration
of prayer and service to others in daily life, its value for both the
laity and consecrated people, and its easy integration in the different
structures existing in the various local Churches. They also believe
that the new means of social communication can be a valid
instrument for reaching many people who ask for help to live and
give depth to their faith and their service to other people.
We are publishing the reports of the national Secretaries:.
Father Vincent Hurley, S.J. from Australia; Fathers Yong-Sok Kim,
S.J. and Woo-Bae Sohn, S.J. from Korea; Father Ray Ocampo, S.J.
from the Philippines; Father Fidelis layabalan, S.l. from India;
Father Andreas Toto Subagyo, S.J. from Indonesia; Father Manuel
Amor6s, S.J. from lapan; Father Kenneth 1. Hezel, S.J. from
Micronesia; Father Gino Picca, S.J. from Taiwan; Father Aloys
Vanderwall, S.J. from Sri Lanka and Father Venancio Pereira, S.J.
from East Timor.
The third nucleus refers to the Apostleship of Prayer today
in Latin America, as it was reflected in the meeting of the national
Secretaries which took place in Bogota, Colombia, in early
November 2006. There too the differences between the various
regional situations was noted, with values and problems which were
specific to each country. During the Bogota meeting the national
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Secretaries also indicated their conviction concerning the wealth the
AP can offer the Latin American people of the third millennium.
In the message of the Third Latin-American Congress
(Bogota, November 11 th 2(06), the national Secretaries of the AP
and the EYM expressed their conviction that it is a privileged and
up-to-date instrument for accomplishing the evangelizing mission of
the Society of Jesus, as well as a valuable help for the spiritual
strengthening of its members.
Since it is impossible to publish all the documents of this
meeting, we are presenting the contributions of Father Miguel Angel
Rui-Wamba, S.1., the national Secretary of Ecuador, and of Father
Alvaro Lacasta, S.1., the national Secretary of Venezuela. Father
Rui-Wamba's title is: "What we propose when we propose the
Apostleship of Prayer (assiduous prayer, praying our lives, living our
prayer)". Father Lacasta spoke about the Eucharist and the daily
offering of the AP.
Father Daniel Maria Agacino, S.1.'s commentary is another
reflection on the Latin-American perspective concerning the AP
events of 2006. From Uruguay he writes on Pope Benedict XVI's
letter to the Director General of the AP, Father Peter-Hans
th
Kolvenbach, S.1., on the 50 anniversary of the Encyclical
"Haurietis aquas", stressing in particular the Pope's emphasis that
the civilization of love must be promoted, as the tangible fruit of the
love of Christ's Heart.
The index of the articles in PRAYER & SERVICE during
the year 2007 can be found at the end of this issue.
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TO THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER, NATIONAL DIRECTORS OF EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT TEAMS, COLLABORATORS AND MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD Claudio Barriga, S.l.
Dear friends:
Yesterday the Director General of the Apostleship of Prayer
and the Eucharistic Youth Movement, Father Peter-Hans
Kolvenbach, S.J., officially gave me the mission to assist him in the
nourishment and expansion of both works, as Director General
Delegate. Mter 12 years we say goodbye to Father Aloys Van
Doren, thanking him for his wonderful service.
I am still surprised and marvelled to be called to such a
beautiful mission, which I certainly wish to carry out with all my
heart, in Jesus' Heart.
I am here to serve all of you. I hope to contribute from this
office to the growth and deepening of our mission as Apostles of
Prayer. As Pope John Paul II requested of the whole Church, we
wish to renew our ardour, our methods, our expressions of prayer
and service. The world has changed but the human heart continues
to need, more than ever, the Good News of a God from a loving
Heart. Our long tradition and history help us to offer a valid and
invigorated example of a Christian's mission to a world saddened by
so much poverty, violence and loneliness.
In order to respond to today's complex challenges, it will be
important to maintain good communication among us. We are in
almost 90 countries, with very diverse cultures and languages.
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United we listen better to the Holy Spirit, who will teach us to show
the smiling face of Jesus Christ to our brothers and sisters.
While I am new, the lines of communication remain the
same.
- Office e-mail: apora@sjcuria.org
- Mailing address: c.P. 6139, 00195 Rome Prati, Italy
- Telephone: 39 - 06 - 68977211
- Fax: 39 - 06 - 68977212.
Father Enrique Grenier will keep working at the Curia
office, so as to help you when I am out. I am able to speak with you
in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, if you wish to call or to
write. I ask you to kindly send me your updated mailing addresses
and e-mail addresses.
I also hope to visit you, to learn of your work and meet your
colleagues. Together we will celebrate our faith in the Lord of all of
us. Please be patient with me if you have to wait a while for a visit.
Until then, we can use other means of keeping in touch.
I ask for your prayers, for me, in a special way, for this
mission certainly surpasses my capacity. I put my trust in him who
chose me to be here. I count on your benevolence; you will teach to
me to carry out my mission to the service of all, specially the
humblest.
In the Lord's Love,
Claudio Barriga, S.J.
Director General Delegate
Apostleship of Prayer
Eucharistic Youth Movement
Rome, May 22, 2007
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THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER TODAY
Pierre Emonet, S.].
Today
In our Western European countries Christian life is
undergoing a profound metamorphosis. We are undoubtedly in one
of those transitional periods which mark a profound break with the
past. We are crossing a threshold, knowing what we are leaving
without clearly seeing the novelties towards which we are moving.
A period like those which European history has known with the
collapse of the Roman Empire and the emergence of barbarian
culture in the V century, the end of the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance in the XVI, or with the Enlightenment in the XVID.
On the one hand we are witnessing renewed doubt
concerning religion: the churches are emptying, certain sacraments
are disappearing (reconciliation, marriage) or have become banal or
even emptied of their substance (eucharist), Sunday practice is no
longer the one criterion of confessional membership, the word of
authority no longer carries much weight among the faithful.
Sincerity, personal conviction and recourse to individual conscience
are sufficient to orient existence in the direction of what is good. On
the other hand we are witnessing a return to a religiosity which leads
to constructions consisting in exotic practices - when they are not
esoteric or superstitious - drawn from diverse religious traditions.
Most of the Christians interviewed (especially adult generations) say
that they pray regularly. Together with these manifestations of very
individualistic religiosity a renewed sensitivity towards the values of
solidarity can be noted. People commit themselves willingly to the
causes of justice, peace, the future of creation (ecology). Finally, the
inter-religious dialogue is leading to a rediscovery of the strength of
prayer in common for the great needs of humanity and the role of
intercessors of religions.
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In the face of this disrupted landscape, we can legitimately
ask ourselves whether the Apostleship of Prayer still has its place or
whether, as some people think, it represents an obsolete form of
apostolate with insignificant impact, useful only to keep rather aged
confreres busy. Because the ground under the Apostleship of Prayer
is mined: the prayer of petition is often classified as a superstition,
the Pope's orientations no longer enjoy great credit, the intercession
and offering of one's life imply a concept of spiritual solidarity (the
communion of saints) which has been considerably weakened by
contemporary individualism.
The crisis we are witnessing and of which we are the actors
invites us to reflect on the specificity and identity of Christianity and
its originality in the face of the world. A rather subtle French
theologian, Marcel Gauchet, wrote: "The specificity of Christianity
is the exit from religion". The expression may appear provocative,
but nonetheless it carries a partial truth. What characterizes
Christianity is not religion but faith, the adhesion to the word of
Christ. It is true that Christianity manifests its faith through religious
forms, but it often shares these with other religions to such an extent
that it is difficult to distinguish in them one of its specific traits. On
the other hand the adhesion to Christ as Word of God and word
about God characterizes it and distinguishes it from every other
religion. This faith is expressed by the passage of baptism, which
marks a threshold between a before and an after by inaugurating a
life following Christ, the man for others, in Bonhoeffer's words. This
sequela Christi draws a Christian into the dynamics of love and
giving, a life given for others, sealed by the total gift on the cross:
the new commandment of love and the cross mark the originality of
Christianity in society.
The experience of faith is not a strictly individual adventure.
If a Christian hears the Word of God it is because others announce it
to him (cf. Ac 8:26-40); and because he reads it and tries to
understand it together with other believers he avoids the trap of
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subjective interpretations which would only be the projection of his
own fantasies. Far from being the expression of a narcissistic
spiritual experience, Christianity is necessarily a community
experience.
It is against this background that one must ask the question
of the pertinence of the Apostleship of Prayer today and ask whether
it has some chance of being accepted by men and women of today,
whether young or adult.
One thing seems imperative: if we limit ourselves to basing
the Apostleship of Prayer only on the terrain of religion it risks being
seen as a devotion belonging to another epoch and to prosper only in
circles characterized by what is called popular religion and be
compromised by the present crisis. It will be very difficult to justify
it and arouse the interest of active and younger Christians. This is
why it seems to me important that the Apostleship of Prayer be
presented in the framework of faith rather that in that of religion.
In fact, when comparing the first Statutes of the Apostleship
of Prayer which go back to 1896 with those of 1968, this is what I
have noticed in their evolution. The first Statutes defined the
Apostleship of Prayer as "a pious Association which, destined to
promote the glory of God and the salvation of souls, fulfils its
apostolic function through mental or vocal prayer and even through
other pious works, insofar as they are applicable and able to
conciliate us with the most Holy Heart of Jesus". This kind of
language is no longer acceptable today. The present Statutes, revised
in the light of the theology of Vatican Council II, use a different,
more theological than devotional, language: "The Apostleship of
Prayer constitutes the union ofall the faithful who, through the daily
offering oftheir persons, adhere to the eucharistic sacrifice in which
the work of our redemption never ceases to be fulfilled and thus
cooperate in the salvation of the world through their vital union with
Christ, on which the fecundity of every apostolate depends". This
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evolution is not only on the level of language but also on that of
theological vision. The 1896 Statutes mainly stressed exercises of
piety which belonged in a more specifically religious setting. The
1968 ones define the Apostleship of Prayer within a vision of faith
which refers to the universality of redemption, to the salvation of the
world accomplished by Christ, to a Christian's vocation which is life
in Christ as participation in his priesthood.
It is true that this presentation remains hermetic for our
contemporary mentality insofar as it calls on theological notions
which are no longer very familiar to the men and women of today. It
needs to be translated into categories which refer to their own
experience.
I would like to try to review with you the great intuitions of
the Apostleship of Prayer, drawing inspiration from Ignatius
Loyola's methods, in particular in the Exercises. To lead the
exercitant to enter into Christ's life Ignatius invites him to become
aware of what is occurring within himself when he is confronted
with the Word of God, with Christ's life and teaching. The
experience to which he is invited is not an exogenous experience but
an endogenous one. The Word is a reality in itself, which comes
from beyond him, but it is its repercussions within him which
matter.
Among the essential elements of the Apostleship of Prayer ­
which constitute its originality - I have retained four principal ones:
the prayer of intercession especially for the Pope's intentions, the
daily offering, the devotion to the Sacred Heart and the eucharist.
Four essential traits which give concrete form to the project of the
initiators of the Apostleship of Prayer. Father Ramiere justified them
drawing on three principal arguments: 1) the disproportion between
the infinite value of the redemption and its apparent results; 2) the
Lord's will to save souls in the ordinary order of his Providence,
through the intermediary of the apostolate; 3) the notion of solidarity
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or the cooperation of the faithful in the work of salvation
(cf.
Dictionnaire de Spiritualite. col. 771).
Let us ask ourselves to which of our contemporaries'
experiences these different elements can relate.
Looking at the world
It all starts with observing the world in the manner proposed
by Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises, in the contemplation of the
Incarnation (nO 102 and ff.): looking down with the Three Divine
Persons upon the whole expanse or circuit of all the earth filled with
human beings, seeing the whole world in the diversity of its
inhabitants, in its concrete and present history, the history of which
we are both the result and the witnesses. Our contemporaries live
this experience every day when they read the newspaper, listen to
the radio or watch TV. In this sense one might say that the
Apostleship of Prayer is first of all an invitation to take into account
everything which lives and restlessly moves in the universe, as
reported in the medias. Today this observation is no longer limited
to humanity alone: in the epoch of interplanetary explorations it
embraces the whole of the cosmos, confronted with oil slicks and
different pollutions it also includes nature and animals (ecology).
The first step of the Apostleship of Prayer could be defined a
pedagogy in view of the utilization of the medias in a "divine"
perspective. Didn't Karl Barth say that a Christian is a person who
holds the Bible, the Word of God, in one hand and in the other, a
newspaper?
It is not a matter observing the world in any old way; we
must observe it as God does, benevolently, for God allows himself
to be moved by the hardships which weigh it down, the dramas
enacted in it, the catastrophes which ravage it; our gaze must
engender the desire to work for its salvation, like Jesus' gaze on the
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crowds which pressed around him: "And when he saw the crowds he
felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like
sheep without a shepherd" (Mt 9:36).
This gaze must be one of sympathy and compassion. I
believe that compassion, precisely, is one of the original
contributions of Christianity to the contemporary world.
Recognizing that the world needs compassion is at the same time
wanting its salvation; it is understanding its mediocrity, its fragility,
its weakness. If Christianity is to elevate the world and draw it
upwards, it will not do so through proposing exigencies of purity and
strength - the dream of the integrists - but through compassion and
mercy.
The intentions proposed by the Pope
This broad vision is made easier today by the abundance and
rapidity of the means of communication, the possibility of access to
the news, of being infonned of what is happening in any point of the
globe whether from a political, social, economic, religious or
ecological viewpoint. Now that internet has come into most homes
we can no longer remain closed within the narrow horizon of our
own small world.
But here a difficulty arises. Though globalization represents
an opportunity for widening the outlook of Christians, the
abundance of infonnation disconcerts us: the constantly wider
cognition of the miseries of the world, its needs, the distress of
humanity and the urgency of necessary help plunges us into a kind
of distress. How to help? Where to begin? What drama to take on?
How to orient my prayer? It is in this perspective that the intentions
proposed by the Pope can find their sense. This recourse to the Pope
follows the same logic as the step Ignatius and his companions took
when, looking for a direction in which to commit themselves most
efficiently after their failed departure for Palestine, they turned to the
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Pope not in a surge of "papist" devotion, in Ignatius' words (cf. Letter
to the Companions leaving for Germany, 24 September 1549), but to consult the
person who has an overall vision of the needs of the world. In the
mUltiplicity of possibilities, the person who has an overaU vision of
the world can draw the believers' attention to some of the most
urgent needs. It is true that at present the proposed intentions are
often rather formal and not very motivating. Possibly because they
are formulated months, indeed a year, ahead and are not anchored to
current events. The system is no longer suitable to the rhythm of
present day life. Shouldn't this be reformed through proposing more
immediately up-to-date, more focused intentions, using other
mediums such as internet or SMS as Amnesty International does for
its campaigns and Urgent Actions. In this optic the immense success
of the prayer sites led by the Society must be mentioned; they play
an important role in training many people to pray.
The prayer of intercession
We are disconcerted not only by the mUltiplicity of the needs
of humanity but above all by their gravity. Tsunamis, tornados and
typhoons, oil slicks, the nuclear threat, the greenhouse effect,
growing desertification, ecological catastrophes, pandemics,
famines, the North-South economic unbalance, are as many
situations which seem to overstep the possibility of finding remedies
for them. Regularly at a loss in the face of the natural catastrophes
which afflict the planet, humanity, like the sorcerer's apprentice, is
no longer able to exorcise the new threats engendered by its own
discoveries, to the point that the optimism aroused by the
discoveries is tempered by the gravity of the new dangers and its
powerlessness to face them. Certainly every scientific victory moves
forward the frontiers of cognition and power but it does not abolish
them. Sooner or later humanity comes up against new limits, and
man discovers that he is neither all-powerful nor self-sufficient.
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In the face of this distress, a believer remembers that he
cannot save himself. To presume it would be acting like baron
Mtinchhausen who pulled himself up by the hair not to sink into a
bog! These moments of distress invite man to tum to a superior,
benevolent, authority projected over them which can sink or save
them. This is the great conviction of humanity expressed also in the
Psalms.
And here intercession finds its place. Though we must
beware of a superstitious concept of the prayer of intercession.
Today certain prayer movements or groups are rediscovering the
prayer of intercession, but not without ambiguity. Under the pretext
that Jesus promised to grant every prayer, they too easily expect
miraculous effects from their prayer and mislead people in distress
by proposing prayers of healing which, they say, will infallibly be
granted. I think that we must not speak of prayer without recalling
Ignatius Loyola's teaching, synthesized by the formula of Hevenesi:
"Pray as if everything depended on you, and nothing on God; act as
if everything depended on God, and nothing on you" And John Paul
IT: "Praying does not mean escaping from history or from the
problems which present themselves in it. On the contrary, it consists
in choosing to face reality, not alone but with the strength which
comes from above, the strength of love, of which the ultimate source
is God" (Assisi, January 24 2002). Interaction between prayer and
conunitment is a characteristic of Ignatian prayer. For Ignatius,
contemplativus in actione, action is not only the fruit of prayer but
the place of prayer, it is in itself prayer. But for every Christian,
whatever his situation, it is the quality of his attitude towards his
neighbour which in the end verifies the authenticity of his prayer and
makes it possible to say whether it is a narcissistic step, a
monologue with himself, an easy way out, or whether it constitutes a
true relationship with the Lord. a coming out of himself. The Lord
has severe words towards those who are content to say and not to do
(Mt 7:21-23). "It is not those who say to me, Lord, Lord, who will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my
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Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name,
work many miracles in your name? Then I shall tell them to their
faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men! ". In the
face of the exuberance of certain prayer groups and the alleged
marvels which occur in certain communities it should be
remembered that neither miracles nor prophecies are sufficient to
authenticate a prayer. In the end it is the link between prayer and
action which makes it credible.
The daily offering
The commitment necessarily linked with prayer does not
necessarily consist in a particular task. The Apostleship of Prayer is
aimed at every Christian on the grounds of his baptism, at people
who are not necessarily active: old people, the handicapped, people
who are impeded by their family or professional obligations. This
means that the commitment I am speaking about is Christian life
itself, following Christ through the daily offering.
The daily offering is not the offering of a pious formula but
the commitment to live in open-mindedness and freedom.
In this sense I would like to propose a personal
anthropological reflection. Each one of us is determined by a whole
series of structures which have been imposed on him by his own
history from birth. The genetic heredity we carry with us, the social
and family environment into which we were born, the education
received, the morals instilled in us, the religion in which we have
grown up, and many other influences weigh onus like so many
prefabricated structures which, in a way, mortgage our freedom.
With the result that, in our daily life, we act like well-trained people,
conforming to or opposing what we have received. As long as our
acts are determined by imperatives from the outside we remain
children, we are neither adults nor free men. We truly become adults
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the day we are capable of a free action, which proceeds from inside
and not from outside, which springs from our own initiative, which
is not simply carried out in virtue of a structure imposed from
outside. This first free act - a founding act - always consists in a
"yes" or a "no", in the acceptation or the refusal of the other one,
whoever he is, God or our neighbour. The path of freedom and the
passage to adulthood pass through the gift of self, through an act of
love. And, with Teilhard de Chardin, I would like to add that every
act of love influences the entire world, lifts it up and makes it
progress towards unity, just as every refusal delays it in its ascending
evolution towards a higher threshold.
This is where the daily offering can find its justification and
be presented in a new way. Our contemporaries have rejected the
imperatives of morals imposed from outside as one rejects an
unbearable yoke, they distance themselves more and more from the
teaching of their churches, they no longer want to be treated like
minors. Their first reference is their own conscience. They want to
be free people. And so one can present the daily offering as a free
act, an adult way of welcoming everything we live, everything that
happens.
In the Contemplation to Attain the Love of God (Exercises,
nos. 230-237), Ignatius makes us understand that the answer of
grateful love to God's love from whom all good comes can only be
the gift of self, total delivery of self to God. This abandon into God's
hands does not consist in standing aloof in relation to daily life but,
on the contrary, living more fully our condition of creatures, warmly
welcoming each creature as a gift of God, living each event, each
meeting as a meeting with God, recognizing that he lives and is
active in the beings who surround us, whoever they may be. Every
amiable or ungrateful face, every joyful or sad event, is heavy with a
mysterious presence which solicits me and begs my acceptance.
Consequently on every occasion I can repeat the beautiful prayer:
Take, Lord, and receive all my freedom. These words say it all; there
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is nothing to add, all that remains is for me to abandon myself and
give my whole self to the event, the encounter, which becomes my
prayer. Here we should remember Teilhard de Chardin's prayer
which, in categories closer to our contemporaries, relates so
effectively to what Ignatius proposes to the exercitant. "0 Lord, may
my acceptation be ever more complete, vaster, more intense! May
my person present itself ever more open, transparent, to your
influence! So that thus I may feel your action ever closer, your
presence ever more dense: everywhere around me. Fiat. Fiat. "
. Christ, the man for others
The supreme model for this open-mindedness and gift of self
is evidently Christ on the cross, he whom Boenhoffer called the man
for others. And so we must look towards the man from Nazareth,
towards the man who said that there is no greater love than to lay
down one's life for those one loves (In 15:13) and who did this by
surrendering his body and shedding his blood.
The symbol of love is the heart. The Apostleship of Prayer
traditionally invites the faithful to offer their day in union with the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, supreme model of the gift of self. Ramiere
saw the Heart of Jesus as the "motor", the "model", the "reason", the
"lever", the "living link" of the Apostleship of Prayer, and the old
documents of the organization remind us that a member is "someone
who takes to heart the interests ofthe Heart of Jesus" by offering his
life day by day, in union with the Sacred Heart who never ceases
praying on the altar, in the tabernacle and in heaven. Under
Ramiere's influence, atoning communion, the Holy Hour and the
consecration of families, the city, nations as well as the Church,
have become practices which the Apostleship of Prayer spreads in
particular (cf. Id. Col 773). According to Rarniere, the heart is not
merely the symbol of Jesus' love for human beings but that of a
redeeming love which enters into the history of a sinning world to
assume sin by accepting abandonment to the point of death ("Here is
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this heart which has so loved human beings, which has spared itself nothing to the point
of exhausting and consuming itself to bear witness to its love, and for thanks I receive
from most people only ingratitude ... " (Our Lord to Margaret Mary in June 1675). Cf.
Mgr. Gauthey, Vie et oeuvres de la bienheureuse Margaret Mary, 3rd ed., Paris 1915, t.
2, p. 102, quoted in DTC, t. 3°, col. 1033-1034). The faithful answer this love
by uniting themselves to Christ's abandon and atoning through
honourable amends.
The risk here is that of losing sight of the Christological
dimension and closing ourselves up in a devotion.
Reaching a person through his heart does not mean
considering him from the partial angle of a virtue, an act, however
heroic. It is joining him in the intimate and unique centre where
everything is ordered and each part of an existence is connected with
a whole which assumes him and envelops him. The devotion to the
Sacred Heart grasps Christ in his totality, as a freedom able to relate,
to give or refuse itself not in a general and abstract way but in an
existential rather than a metaphysical individual act which links him
to concrete persons.
I believe that the image itself of the Sacred Heart, the
devotion which has developed around this symbol and the
spirituality of reparation, refer to a sensitivity and a culture which
are less familiar to our contemporaries, so that some people find it
difficult to enter into the symbolism. On the other hand, the devotion
to the Sacred Heart has always implied a strong desire to be
associated with Jesus' sufferings in order to redress with him the
injuries perpetrated against divine love (As Pope Pius XI reminded us in the
encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor: ''The spirit of expiation and reparation has
I do not think
that the notion of reparation speaks strongly to our contemporaries.
The individualism which characterizes them is not inclined to
assume any kind of responsibility for the faults of others, not even of
their predecessors.
always held a principal role in the devotion to the Sacred Heart.").
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Here too Ignatius can help us find a renewed way of
expressing the Christological dimension of this apostolate, which is
essential to Christianity.
Curious as it may seem, unlike several of his companions of
the first and second generation (P. Favre, F. Xavier, J. Nadal, P.
Canisius, F. Borgia), Ignatius does not appear to have been touched
by the devotion to the Sacred Heart (cf. Pierre Emonet, Du coeur au corps, in
Christus, W 190 HS, May 2001, pp. 213-219). We find no explicit trace of it
in him, at least at the level of verbal expression. And yet he could
not have ignored a devotion dear to Ludolph the Carthusian, whose
Vita Christi he had read, and to the Carthusians with whom he had a
very close relationship. He never used the word "heart" when
introducing an exercitant during an interview. But though the word
"heart" is absent, the word "feeling" is omnipresent. The exercitant
needs to feel within himself the feelings which were Christ's. The
whole dynamics of the Exercises are organized to progressively
introduce him to this experience. In the second week the exercitant
asks for inner cognition of the Lord, who has become man for me so
that I may love him and follow him more closely. The third week
goes further by inviting him to share Christ the man's feelings, by
being afflicted, saddened, weeping. Finally in the fourth week it is
no longer a matter of trying to enter into Christ's feelings but to
become aware of the new life the Risen One is arousing in me, of
which the sign is consolation. In the Exercises this experience
becomes possible through meditation and contemplation of the
word. Shouldn't the Apostleship of Prayer insist on the members
practising the lectio divina as the place of this cognition and
experience (Many works by Cardinal Martini are a good example of what one can
propose to support a more assiduous approach to Scripture).
One more word concerning reparation. I have noticed that
Ignatius never mentions it in the Exercises, as in fact in the rest of
his writings, not even when the exercitant is faced with his past as a
sinner in the First Week of the Exercises. Conversion is not
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approached in terms of reparation but of conunitment. The
exercitant's answer to the love Christ has shown him through dying
on the cross is contained in what he will from now on concretely do
for him. His gaze is turned towards the future and not towards the
past. This more dynamic presentation also seems to me more
acceptable today.
The Eucharist
The Eucharist is the Apostleship of Prayer's specific place
for prayer, in other words the place of the daily offering of self. The
association has also always insisted on communion and the Holy
Hour as privileged forms of the members' prayer. We are witnessing
today a renewal of the eucharistic practice side by side with an
evident banalization of the Eucharist, with the result that we go to
communion merely because it is appropriate to solidarity.
Charismatic ambiences in particular, and prayer groups, are again
centring their practice on adoration, the holy hour, benediction with
the Holy Sacrament. Though this renewal is heartening it is not
without ambiguity insofar as the accent is placed on such exclusive
attention to the true presence that it loses sight of the social
dimension of the Eucharist, its constructive role of community. It is
our relationship with others which testifies to the authenticity of our
communions and tells us whether they are nothing but pious acts,
destined to nurse a narcissistic piety, or whether they are truly a
participation in Christ's delivered up body and shed blood. The
person who takes communion assimilates the oblational movement
which led Christ to be the man for others. Taking communion is
agreeing to become what we receive and receiving what one is, it is
accepting to love and give oneself to the very end, to the extreme.
Far from being a simple act of devotion for the spiritual
comfort of good souls, the Eucharist has a social dimension. In fact
this is the essential fruit of the Eucharist, as the ensign of the most
classic theology. Before being an object of celebration, adoration or
procession, the body of Christ is the nourishment of our
commitment towards our neighbour. It has to do with commitment
for peace, justice, rights, hospitality and welcome of strangers.
This is how, recalling the washing of the feet, John's gospel
understood the last supper, while the other evangelists spoke of the
institution of the Eucharist. For his part, Saint Paul reproached the
Corinthian faithful for betraying the body of Christ because they did
not hold back from celebrating the Eucharist while maintaining the
social cleavage between rich and poor in their community. He
exhorted them to verify their degree of integration in the social body
before receiving the eucharistic body of Christ so as not to live a
schizophrenic situation through sharing the body of Christ while
vomiting their neighbour who is a member of this body. Here I
would like to recall the words of an eminent mystic and person of
great spirituality of this country, Abbe Zundel: "The preparation for
our communions and thanksgivings can only be a prayer about life,
a prayer about human beings, a prayer about our neighbour, and it
is by exclusively placing ourselves at his service in the washing of
the feet that we prepare ourselves to receive the presence of the
Lord, that we open ourselves to it and that we correspond to its
intentions".
Conclusion
In his speech to the major superiors on the state of the
Society, at Loyola (2005), the Father General pointed out that "The
Apostleship of Prayer is a papal mission which has been entrusted
not to a contemplative order but to the Society of Jesus, which has
an apostolic orientation. It constantly renews its spirituality and
methods of communication in order to help Christians unite their
prayers and lives to the prayer and mission of the universal
Church. .. ". The renewal not only of its methods and pedagogy but
also of its spirituality, this is the challenge which confronts the
Apostleship of Prayer. May these few reflections modestly
contribute to this.
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STATEMENT OF 7TH EAST ASIA AND OCEANIA ASSISTANCY MEETING OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER IN SEOUL, OCTOBER 9TH _14TH, 2006 We are graced to be called and missioned by our superiors to
share AP spirituality of prayer and service in daily life. The situation
of the AP of each province/region is different. Some have a system
of active members, and some do not. The work of the AP in some
places is active but in other places we have difficulties in tenns of
manpower, collaboration with dioceses, and sometimes not good
communication and collaboration with fellow Jesuits. We find that
in some places people do not know about the AP.
We, the national secretaries of the AP commit ourselves to
find new ways to share AP spirituality within the Society of Jesus,
especially among Jesuits in fonnation. We also commit ourselves to
share the spirituality of the AP-integration of prayer and service in
daily life with the clergy, with religious and lay collaborators as a
way to sanctity and apostolic effectiveness in the new millennium.
We want to commit ourselves also to find ways to strengthen
fonnation of our core groups of collaborators at the national and
diocesan levels to spread the AP spirituality of prayer and service.
The AP, in this day and age, needs to be introduced in a
variety of new ways, making use of the Internet with its great
influence on the youth of today. Already the use of the Internet has
proved an effective way for introducing people to the AP and for
encouraging them to live out their Christian faith. The Internet
community will become more effective by encouraging it to
participate in the Eucharist, group sharing and service.
We want to emphasize that the goal of the AP is continuing
integration of daily prayer and service as a way of life that can
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animate every Church group and form loyal members of the Church
who live the gospel spirit in daily life.
In our East Asia-Oceania Assistancy we also want to
acknowledge our special call and mission to share AP spirituality
with other Christians and members of other religious traditions.
Fr. Aloys Van Doren, S.1. (Director General Delegate) Fr. Vincent Hurley, S.1. (Australia) Fr. Ray Ocampo, S.1. (Philippines) Fr. Gino Picca, S.1. (Taiwan) Fr. Andreas Toto Subagyo, S.1. (Indonesia) Fr. Venancio Pereira, S.1. (East Timor) Fr. Fidelis Jayabalan, S.1. (India) Fr. Kenneth J. Hezel, S.1. (Micronesia) Fr. Manuel Amoros, S.1. (Japan) Fr. Aloy Vanderwall, S.1. (Sri Lanka) Fr. Woo-bae Sohn, S.1. (Korea) Fr. Yong-Sok Kim, S.1. (Korea). -410 ­
REPORT FROM THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL SECRETARY TO THE SOUTH EAST ASIA ASSEMBLY OF THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER Vincent Hurley, S.J.
Due to a Status Change from the Provincial, the National
Secretary has now residence at the above address from which he is
continuing his work. The principal works of the National Secretary
are the manufacturing of the Leaflets and the continual updating of
the Apostleship of Prayer website. While in Sydney we had the
wonderful assistance of one lady and her friend for the packing of
the Leaflets into envelopes which' were then posted world-wide.
While I was in Brisbane before coming to Singapore this lady
continued with the packing till I moved overseas to work with the
Sisters of Canossa, here in Singapore. The packing here is being
carried out by the very generous labour of the Lay Canossians. The
real onerous work with the Leaflets is the packing and mailing.
We are continuing with the stressing of the five simple aims
of the Apostleship of Prayer in Australia:
1. Pray the Morning Offering (on the front page of the
Leaflet).
2. Read the Gospel Passage for the current date (on the back
page of the Leaflet).
3. Meditate on the Gospel Passage.
4. Contemplate on the daily Gospel Passage. (The processes
for carrying out 3. and 4. are illustrated on page two
of the Leaflets. Here we find in a year many illustrations
of the various processes for praying with Scripture that have
been recommended over the years.
5. This is still, for most Catholics, the most difficult aim
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as we attempt to challenge our fellow Australian Christians
to recommend the Leaflets to others. (We hand out always
two Leaflets: "One for you and one for another").
6. All of the above has much material for Sunday Sermons.
People are still hungering for a spiritual dimension to their
lives. This has been demonstrated by one Parish taking five hundred
leaflets after the Parish Priest and his Assistant became actively
involved themselves in the propagating of the Leaflets, by preaching
on the advantages of prayer in their own lives and also in giving out
of the Leaflets.
Besides mailing the Leaflets to various places in Australia,
they are sent to many other places around the world. People visit
Australia, go to various churches and pick up a Leaflet. On returning
home they write to the Secretary for further copies.
Further, because of the strong Vietnamese and Chinese
elements in Australia the Leaflets are now being translated into
Vietnamese and Chinese. The numbers for both of these are
increasing each month. For the English speaking people fourteen
thousand Leaflets are printed; for the Vietnamese seven hundred are
printed and for the Chinese two hundred and fifty. So, we are again
just beginning but increasing.
The Australian Apostleship of Prayer has its own website. It
draws over one hundred and fifty hits each week, with some weeks
having over two hundred hits, which on consulting with people who
are in the media say is quite good. Hence, we have been
recommended not to go about changing the format of the website,
even though we have the material to do so.
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REPORT ON APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER IN INDIA
Fidelis Jayabalan, S'}.
India is a vast country with a population of one billion. They
live in 28 states and in six union territories with Delhi as the capital
city. Several religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism
were born and cradled in India. Its culture is very ancient and
complex. Already in 2,500 B C there existed the Mohanjadaro Harappa civilization. The famous historian Fr. Heras, SJ. has
deciphered the hieroglyphics of this civilization. We have Dravidian
1h
literature belonging to 6 c. B C in the southernmost part of India.
_ As centuries rolled by, Indian culture became more and
more complex. It came under the influence and impact of Aryan,
Mongolian, Chinese, Arabian, Moghul, European and American
cultures. India has an official number of eighteen languages and
hundreds of dialects. It is said that there are over 1400 languages in
India.
India is a fast developing country. Education is given top
priority. There is a great increase in the number of medical doctors,
civil engineers and software experts. In fact there is an IT explosion
in India. A considerable number of educated youth go to other
countries in search of better prospects and higher pay.
By and large Indians are peace loving. Except for a period of
six years (1998 - 2004) when Hindu fundamentalists were in power,
Christians have been enjoying respect and acceptance.
Hindus form 80% while Muslims form 11 % of the
population. Christians are a little over 2%. But the impact of
Christianity in India is very sigillficant. We Christians both
Catholics and Protestants have been engaging ourselves in
- 413 ­
Education and Health care ministries. In recent years there has been
an increased understanding among all the Christian denominations.
Apostleship of Prayer and Eucharistic Crusade (APEC) was
started by a French missionary Rev. Fr. Wenisch, SJ. in 1952. He
was a man burning with zeal for the devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. He made an untiring effort in bringing Christ to various parts
of India. He knew the importance of print media. Hence he started in
a humble way a monthly magazine for children under the title
"Soldiers of God". He also gave impetus to the Tamil Sacred Heart
Messenger. Later, Fr. Wenisch built a big press in Dindigul to
publish various magazines and booklets for APEC. Today his work
is being continued with the same vigour and interest.
The "Soldiers of God" is published in thirteen other Indian
Languages numbering 350,000.
Other publications:
- Monthly leaflets on AP with the intentions of the Holy
Father.
- Pictorial booklets on Salvation History.
- Pictorial booklets on lives of saints.
- Sacred Heart messenger in Tamil.
- "Kanal" (Flame) a quarterly magazine for students.
- Moral Science series for high school students.
Fr. R. Dhanaraj, SJ. my predecessor, focused his attention
more on Tamil Nadu and also worked out ways for self reliance. He
had been going round to various schools, formation houses and
seminaries to spread AP. He has also addressed the Major Religious
Superiors and Bishops of Tamil Nadu. He has been having a
personal contact with several of them.
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The most significant event in the past two years has been the
visit of Rev. Fr. Aloys Van Doren, the Delegate of very Rev. Fr.
General. He himself visited various provinces and was highly
impressed by the activities of APEC. His visit has given us a great
impetus in our work.
In general, there is a great awareness on evangelization in
India. Bishops, clergy, religious along with the laity work together.
Laity is given more importance in decision-making and execution.
Print media, direct preaching, seminars, workshops of audio
cassettes are the common means of evangelization.
I took over in June 2006. Since then I have been working on
establishing contacts through letters, seminars, retreats and talks.
Several bishops and priests have written very encouraging letters.
Schools run by the religious are largely open to APEC. I made new
contacts in Andhra Pradesh and the response has been more than I
expected. Soon I hope to bring out "Soldiers of God" in the Telugu
language. Almost all the Provincials have been responding
positively to APEC. Except a few, all the provinces have a regional
coordinator for APEC. Since it is an additional responsibility for
many of them they are able to function only according to their
available time and opportunity.
My plan for the future:
1. To establish personal contacts with bishops, provincials
and major superiors.
2. To organize pilot programs on AP in two dioceses in
Tamil Nadu mainly for the laity and religious.
3. To train animators from various dioceses.
4. To have a zonal meeting of Province Coordinators.
5. To have a zonal meeting for all animators.
6. To organize a students Eucharistic rally in all dioceses of
Tamil Nadu.
- 415 ­
7. To conduct a national meeting of all Province
Coordinators.
8. To conduct a national meeting of animators.
9. To organize a State wide Eucharistic Rally for the
students.
10. To conduct monthly meetings in a national level, for
priests, religious, seminarians, youth animators, media
persons, teachers (in 2012).
Productions:
1. To improve the infrastructure in the National Office.
2. To modernize the publications.
3. To print the annual calendar with the intentions of the
Holy Father.
4. To spot out resource persons for various activities.
5. To prepare various power point programs on APEC.
6. To start a website on APEC.
7. To enter into the available print and electronic media
(religious & secular).
8. To shoot short video films for APEC.
th
th
Submitted on 10 Oct. during the 7 Asia - Pacific Meeting
of the Apostleship of Prayer held in South Korea from 9th to 14th Oct.
2006.
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REPORT ON AP IN INDONESIA
Andreas Toto Subagyo, S.J.
rd
Jakarta, October 3 , 2006
Since our last meeting in Taiwan, I have tried my best to
manage the AP in Indonesia, more specifically in Jakarta. In
addition to publishing the monthly AP magazine Utusan, I made use
of any means available, first of all to make the AP known by:
a. Printing the AP handy booklet.
b. Doing parish safaris in Great Jakarta.
c. Revitalizing categorical groups/communities.
a. Printing AP handy booklet
I put this means before the others because I found that by
printing booklets, I was able to reach more people and more
effectively by ways of doing the safaris (b) and revitalizing
categorical groups (c). As I had suspected before, most of the people
had never heard of the AP or its spirituality. Mea culpa!
To my surprise, due to its clarity as well as practicability (I
guess), the AP spirituality is very fascinating to most of the people
of God. I even heard that quite a number of people who are eager to
develop their spiritual life have already put the AP programs into
practice. Why? It is because they have been doing some of the
programs without really understanding "the importance" of
practising them. As a matter of fact, in the beginning of the year
some of them always get the Daily Offering leaflet (printed by some
so-called "pious women"); but on it there is not enough explanation
of its background nor spirituality.
- 417 ­
In the AP booklet I tried to give a short but adequate and
clear explanation of the AP spirituality, i.e.
- frequently asked questions, - the AP Charter and Statutes, - the monthly intentions, and - some Ignatian exercises of how-to-pray. It is very consoling that not a small number of people are
really enthusiastic to learn the Ignatian ways of prayer.
th
The booklet went to a 5 printing. Due to the limited budget,
however, each time it has only about 2000 exemplars. In the
meantime I am preparing the revised edition of the booklet plus a
modified one for elementary school children.
h. Parish Safaris
Once I was invited by the Jesuit pastors to their monthly
gathering. They asked me to talk about the AP. At the end of the
talk, when I asked for some possibilities to promote the AP in our
parishes in Jakarta, the pastors were very enthusiastic. So, Fr Sardi,
S.l. and I took turns, saying either daily Mass (five consecutive
days) or Sunday Masses in our parishes: 7 out of the 9 Jesuit
parishes in the Archdiocese of Jakarta could be covered (Fr. Sardi is
now a novice master. When he was in Jakarta, he generously gave me a hand to promote
the AP to our parishes in Jakarta, i.e. the Assumption of Saint Mary, Saints Peter &
Paul, Saint Anne, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Teresa, Saint Robert BelIannine and
Saint Servatius). I went further by visiting and saying Mass in 6
neighbouring parishes or sub-parishes (they are: Saint Peter Canisius chapel,
Saint Carol chapel, Saint Ignatius, Saint Paschalis, the Holy Family, Christ the King,
TMII), served either by diocesan priests or other religious group
priests.
It is important to note that First Friday, which is very much
closely related to the Sacred Heart devotion, is also appealing to the
- 418­
people of God. Not only in the parish, people gather together for
Mass, but also in some office buildings of the Jakarta main business
districts there are always some gatherings in which Mass is said.
Almost every First Friday of the month, I was invited to say Mass
either in the parishes or such workplaces. I found that it is more easy
and fruitful to bring people to the AP spirituality in such First
Friday's services, thanks to its Sacred Heart characteristic.
In addition to saying Mass, when it is possible and suitable, I made
the most of the confession service to introduce the AP to the people
coming for confessions (mostly on First Fridays).
There are 56 parishes in the Archdiocese of Jakarta itself. It
is very tempting (and is my dream indeed!) to cover all parishes in
Jakarta, promoting the AP. Since as a metropolitan, Jakarta is a kind
of miniature of Indonesia, I do hope that by letting the AP be known
by the Jakartans, who are mostly migrants from all over the country,
the AP too will be spread out to the whole country.
c. Revitalizing the supporting groups
As the job of being a treasurer of the house has been lifted
from my shoulder since November 2005, I now have more time and
flexibility to do the AP apostolate. In addition to what has been said
above, I was often invited to guide a retreat and to conduct a
seminar/workshop. Again and again, I would try to find some ways
to introduce the AP spirituality to the participants. Here are some of
them:
1. Altar servers - Bandungan - Day of prayer
2. Basic communities (Lingkungan) - Community gatherings
3. Catholic Charismatic - Retreat
4. Catholic professionals - Group meetings
5. Catholic workers - Cikarang - Day of prayers
6. CB sisters - Retreat
7. CLC - Bandung - Day of prayer
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8. CLC - Jakarta - Day of Prayer
9. Jesuit novices - Retreats
10. Jesuit scholastics - Retreats, spiritual directions
11. Saint Carol's nurses - Seminar
12. The Cenacle groups - Seminar
13. The Legion of Mary - Bekasi - Seminar
14. The Legion of Mary - Jakarta - Seminar
15. OSU sisters - Retreat
16. Sadhana Prayer Groups - Workshops
There a lot of categorical groups flourishing in Jakarta. By
learning their specific characteristics, it is possible to address the AP
spirituality to them too.
With a great hope I do pray that from these groups we may
find some fervent promoters of the AP.
Reflecting on the above mentioned points, I come to these:
- if we really want to make the AP spirituality known and
lived out by the people of God, we do have to invest time, energy,
capacity, and even financial means (yes, even everything!) to this
precious mission. Let us recall what the late John Paul II said to each
of us: "Put all your talents and all your strength in the
accomplishment of this mission that I entrust to you today." (April
th
13 , 1985). Ideally, every Jesuit province/region has a full timer for
this apostolate. I am very grateful that my provincial reduced my
other jobs so that I am more available to carry out this mission.
- In the meantime, for me it is time to sow the seed, i.e.
promoting the AP to as many people as possible. The booklet seems
useful and helpful to do this job. The safaris too are of a great help to
make people aware of this feasible way of holiness. Considering the
advance of the technology and modern mindset of the people,
- 420­
making a website and doing some recordings are some of my
dreams yet to be actualized.
- In addition to sowing the seed, personal care then comes
into play. I found that such ways are more pastoral in character. The
group revitalizations are some of the effective ways to do this.
Recalling the many groups that came to invite me to give details of
the AP spirituality to them, the harvests seem very promising. It is
very consoling to know how God is at work: in sowing the seeds as
well as in taking care of the growth. Everything is in God's due time.
- 421 ­
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER IN JAPAN Manuel Amoros, S.J.
1. In Japan the Apostleship of Prayer is not a Church
Association. The Catholic population is very small and there are
many Catholic associations. After the Second World War in the
nineteen fifties it was decided that it was better to share the spirit of
the Apostleship of Prayer with all the members of the Church
instead of creating a new association.
The monthly intentions, coming from Rome, are translated
into Japanese and published with a short explanation of each
intention in leaflets, sent to all the dioceses to be distributed to all
the parishes, together with the monthly intentions of the Bishops'
Conference.
The intentions are published in all the Catholic Calendars,
and every month in the Catholic Weekly.
2. What we intend to convey is the spirit of the Apostleship,
mainly the spirit of Prayer and Service. Prayer is centred in the
daily offering with special consciousness of the concrete events and
conditions of daily life, with all the joys and suffering, successes and
failures, desires and fears, expectations and disappointments. In this
way prayer and life are deeply united, and the spiritual life becomes
easier. As a result, life is refreshed and renewed.
Also as a consequence, the horizon of the people who make
the daily offering becomes wider and they start thinking and feeling
with the Church. This is very important for all the members of the
Church but might be even more necessary for the faithful of Japan,
who tend to be more inclined to their things, helping them to forget
the world.
- 422­
In order to help the prayer life of people the Spirituality
Centre (Seseragi) organizes several prayer meetings in some
parishes mainly in Tokyo and Yokohama Dioceses, with very
personalized help, from priests, sisters and faithful.
In order to form the helpers we have a two years course of
formation.
The spirit of Service creates a new attitude, changing the
frame of mind towards people in need. Usually we tend to help
people with whatever we have in excess, even with our things and
our time, but as Mother Theresa used to say "we do not love and
serve till it hurts". But that is the way Jesus loves and serves us.
3. For this purpose of spreading the spirit of Prayer and
Service we use the Internet in two ways, through the Spirituality
Centre and the Home Page of the Japanese Province.
The Home Page of the Spirituality Centre started five years
ago and more than one hundred and eighty one thousand people
have had access to the program.
The main menu is:
- Hints for daily prayer from the gospel of the daily Mass.
- Sunday Liturgy.
- Panorama of prayer.
- Short Stories.
- Thoughts of Wisdom.
- Spirituality in ordinary life.
- Sharing of special experiences.
- Special features: this year we deal with Saint Francis
Xavier, Fr. Arrupe and Fr. Valignano in their anniversary,
and in connection with Japan.
- Song of life, with music and animated script.
- 423­
Five of these programs are renewed every week and the
others, every two weeks.
In Home Page of the Province the Apostleship of Prayer has
a small section.
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APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER - PHILIPPINES
Ray Ocampo, S.l.
1. Point ofEmphasis a. during the Taiwan Meeting in 2004:
As already reported during the Taiwan Meeting, the
"Spiritual Charter" of Father General on the Apostleship of Prayer:
"The Way to Sanctity for the Christian of the 3rd Millennium", were
reproduced and copies were sent to all the Bishops in the country
and to all the Spiritual Directors of the AP in all the Vicariates,
Prelatures, Dioceses and Archdioceses comprising the Philippines
Church. Copies of the "charter" were also given to all AP lay
diocesan presidents with clear instructions to print extra copies for
all the members in their respective jurisdictions.
Some dioceses have started using the "Charter" as the
springboard or the first module during fonnation seminars given to
applicants and to the old timers as well during renewal seminars
nationwide. For new applicants, fonnation seminars begin with the
introduction of the Charter explained alongside the Statutes of the
Apostleship of Prayer.
In the reprinting of the Statutes of the Apostleship of Prayer
-the one with Commentaries and Guidelines for the Establishment or
Reactivation of a Local Centre - the "Charter" has been included as
an added section.
The "Spiritual Charter" of Father General has been reprinted
in a new magazine which came out in July this year entitled "The
Messenger of Divine Love". It was officially launched in the
National Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Makati City last
September 12. The National President of the AP, Mrs. Susan
Prescilla-Reyes and myself serve in the Editorial Board of this
magazine. This publication is produced quarterly by the Word
- 425­
Media Ministry and Word and Life Publications of the Salesian
Order in the Philippines. As our own resources in the National
Office are not sufficient to do this, it is an opportunity to help spread
the spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer to a bigger audience.
II. Point of Emphasis c.
Since 1993 when I was first assigned on a temporary basis
as the National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer in the
Philippines, stress has been given to combining prayer and action for
an members and not concentrated only on First Friday devotions and
other pious practices. With the Statement coming out of the 1995
meeting in Manila where it was stressed that AP members and
associates should be helped and encouraged in their lives "to veer
away from the predominantly pious practices to that of service", the
AP in the Philippines has taken as part of its programs the reaching
out to those in need.
The challenge of combining Prayer and Service in their lives
as apostles of prayer, as reported in Taiwan had been one of the
objectives of an Assessment and Planning held for three days from
May 1-3,2003 in Tagaytay City among other objectives:
A. To bring back to mind and discuss the
charisma/apostolate of the AP, our responsibility and commitment
to the AP mission of ora et [ahora.
B. To situate ourselves and our organization according to the
three directional questions: Where are we now? Where do we want
to go? How do we get there?
C. To draw up action plans and programs including the
general guidelines on projects and activities to implement the
resolutions of the April 2001 Convention of the AP and four of the
Nine Pastoral Priorities vis-a-vis the results of the analysis.
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D. To foster a more united and strengthened organization
towards the attainment of a common goal, direction and path.
Three years after the seminar against which all other
programs and activities in the different dioceses where the AP is
present should be measured, much still has to be done to accomplish
the eight performance objectives on:
1. Formation
2. Youth
3. Five-point Spirituality
4. Support for poor members
5. Relationship and Communication
6. Review of the Statutes
7. Finance
8. Organization of Diocesan Councils.
A two-day National Convention was successfully held last
year (April 22-23, 2005) at the PhiJippines International Convention
Centre in Pasay City, the Philippines, with the theme: "The
Eucharist: the Light, Life and Summit of the Devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus". Taken into consideration in the choice of the theme
for the convention was Pope John Paul ITs universal declaration of
the "Year of the Eucharist" from October 2004 to October 2005.
Ill. Point of Emphasis d.
The program for the youth has not been quite successful as
planned. There are very few dioceses with established Eucharistic
Youth Crusaders. The Archdioceses of Manila has one and during
its own two-day convention this year from April 28 to 29, the
Apostleship of Prayer in the Archdiocese of Manila has its theme
centred on the youth - the challenge to the Apostleship of Prayer of
the Filipino youth.
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In a message I sent on the occasion of the Manila AP
Convention, I wrote: "Some serious questions need to be raised ... as
points for common reflection to address the challenge of getting the
youth to join the Apostleship of Prayer way of life. Before we could
even get into the HOW of getting the attention of the youth to join
the Apostleship of Prayer, we have to ask and get to know WHAT
the youth need. Parallel to asking what their needs are, we also need
to ask WHAT usually attracts them that practically consumes the
majority of their time each day of their life, e.g. the MTV, music
bars, dance parties, bar-hopping, jamming sessions, etc. The HOW,
then, of getting the youth interested in the AP way of life would
hopefully become more concrete and nor just made in a vacuum".
The following is the line-up of talks during the Manila AP
Convention:
l. "The Value of Prayer to the Youth" by His Excellency
Most Rev. Milo Hubert C. Vergara, DD of the Diocese of San Jose,
Nueva Ecija;
2. "The Youth in the Formation of Praying Communities" by
Rev. Fr. Victor R. Salanga, SJ., President of the Loyola School of
Theology, Ateneo de Manila University;
3. "The Youth and the Sacred Heart Way of Life" by Rev.
Msgr. Emmanuel V. Sunga. AP Spiritual Director in the
Archdiocese of Manila; and
4. "The Care Needed for the Youth" by Rev. Fr. Daniel
Patrick L. Huang, SJ.• Provincial Superior, Phil Province of the
Society of Jesus.
Two "sharings" were contributed by a former AP youth
member on "What Has Prayer Done To Me" and by a young priest
on "My Vocation and the World Youth Day".
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Other dioceses are still trying and exerting efforts to get the
young to join the Apostleship of Prayer, one of the core objectives of
the AP in the Philippines set during the Tagaytay Assessment and
Planning Seminar in May, 2003.
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REPORT OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER IN TAIWAN FOR THE YEAR 2005-2006 Gino Picca, S.}.
During the past year, due to the change of the AP national
secretary, change of secretaries in the AP office, and change of
policy, the work of the AP office has been concentrated in the
following:
1. Translation and distribution of the Holy Father's monthly prayer
intentions.
After making the translation into Chinese language, the
prayer intentions were distributed to each Bishop (7 Dioceses), to
the secretary office of the Bishops Conference, to the secretary of
the office of the Conference of men and women religious, to the two
Catholic newspapers, to the four larger Catholic Press, that is
Kuang-chi Press, Saint Paul Press, Window Press and Hua Ming
Press, to Catholic schools, to religious communities and to many lay
collaborators.
2. Collaboration in the making of "Shalom" Prayer Booklet, and
distribution of the same booklet.
We collaborate with the CLC members of Hong Kong. We
have contributed with introduction and with sharing on the daily
Mass readings for four months. We have distributed to more than
2,000 subscribers, and sent to many parishes, religious communities,
and lay associations. We have mailed them also to China.
3. Guidance and Formation Seminars on daily prayer with the
gospel, and on doing the Examination of Conscience in accordance
with the Ignatian way ofprayer.
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Fr. Moses Kan Kuo-tung, the national secretary, being also
the director of the Jesuit Spirituality Centre in Chang Hua (located at
the centre of Taiwan) and of the Ignatian Spirituality Centre in
Taipei (located in the North of Taiwan) has been very active in
Organizing several weekend retreats on Ignatian ways of prayer. He
has printed also a little pamphlet with the explanation and the
different steps of the Examination of Conscience, in accordance
with the Ignatian way.
4. Making of beautiful pamphlets with the Daily Offering, and the
Holy Father's Prayer Intentions.
The pamphlets are artistically very well made, with a small
picture from daily life which illustrates the content of the general
prayer intention or of the missionary prayer intention. They are very
much appreciated by youngsters, as a book-sign.
5. A Summer Camp for Children, members or members-to-be of the
Children's Eucharistic Movement.
It is the annual "strong time" for the training of children and
of youngsters in the spirituality of the AP - prayer and service. With
the collaboration of Chinese priests and religious sisters, of Jesuit
scholastics, seminarians and other young Catholic students and some
adult members of the AP, the children are taken through a five days
program which makes them experience the four characteristics of a
young member of the Children's Eucharistic Movement, that is:
1) daily prayer 2) love of Jesus up to "do sacrifices for his service" 3) participate in Mass and receive Holy Communion often 4) to be an apostle of Jesus in daily life. Besides the focus on the above works, there have been other
activities in the spreading of the AP spirituality, like the following:
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1. Translation and Power-point presentation of the Charter
of the AP written by Father General, with discussion, sharing and
distribution among the Catholics of the Sacred Heart Parish in
Taipei, ministered by the Jesuits.
2. Following and participating in the regular meetings of two
sessions of the AP, one for men, in Holy Family Parish, in Taipei
(The "League of the Sacred Heart") and one, for men and women, in
the Sacred Heart Parish, in Taipei, both parishes ministered by
Jesuits.
3. Contacts with the AP ladies group of Our Lady of Good
Council Parish, in Kaoshiung (located in the South of Taiwan), also
ministered by Jesuits until July 2006.
4. Contacts and strengthening of relationships with the
different "core groups" of priests, religious women and lay
collaborators in different dioceses of Taiwan, specially with the
preparation of the Summer Camp for Children.
The report has been prepared by Fr. Moses Kan Kuo-tung,
S.J., with some additions made by Fr. Gino Picca, S.J., who
represented him at the Assistancy Meeting, in Korea, from October
9 to October 14,2006.
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THE 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON AP IN KOREA
Joseph Woo-bae Sohn, S.].
l. The history of the AP in Korea
After many inactive years, the AP in Korea began again in
December 1999, when Fr. Mun-su Park was appointed as the
National Director of the AP in Korea. He did this apostolic work
centring on the community of "Chain of Charity", of which he is the
spiritual director. The "Chain of Charity", a community of
handicapped women established in 1978, adopted the spirit of the
AP as the way of their lives. Now, there are 7 community members
who have professed vows, around 50 ordinary members, and around
1,500 benefactors and helpers.
However, most lay people do not know about the AP,
because the AP was focused on the "Chain of Charity". Even most
Jesuits in Korea do not know about it. Actually, there are two
monthly missalettes in Korea. In addition to the Mass prayers and
readings, they include the notice of the monthly general and mission
intentions of the AP. But, most people do not know what the
monthly intentions mean.
Moreover, the Legio Mariae is very strong in Korea and it
has a good national organization already. Therefore, it's very hard to
introduce the AP to lay people and to organize the AP in Korea.
Generally the Korean dioceses are very exclusive, so it's very hard to
introduce something new to any diocese or to do a new apostolic
ministry in any diocese. And actually the diocese is totally the
central force in Korean Church.
In this situation, Fr. Mun-su Park thought the best way to
introduce the AP to lay people in Korea is the use of the internet, so
he recommended Fr. Woo-bae Sohn, who is in charge of the AP
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internet, to be his successor as Director. Father Sohn was assigned as
the National Director in February 200S.
II. The AP in Korea during the last two years
In Korea, we have done such things as the following:
1. Continually Fr. Mun-su Park helps the "Chain of Charity"
in the spirit of the AP. The "Chain of Charity" is a branch of the AP
and the community which lives the spirit of the AP in Korea.
2. The internet community of the AP opened on April 200S.
Nowadays there are 287 members in that community. The members
are from all dioceses in Korea and all over the world. Through this
community we share the spirituality of the AP and the experience of
their lives.
3. The home-page ofthe AP has operated since May 200S.
4. The first Friday Mass of the Sacred Heart began in May
200S at Sogang University. Nowadays around 40 people attend the
Mass.
S. I gave a presentation of the concept and vision of the AP
to all the Jesuits in Korea at the workshop for the celebration of SO'"
year of the Society of Jesus in Korea on November 200S.
6. I introduced the AP to the Korea Catholic Newspaper on
January 2006. It's the first time for the AP to be introduced to the
Catholic newspapers. And many lay people have been getting an
interest in the AP.
7. We have begun the Spiritual Exercises in ordinary life
both on-line and off-line since February 2006. The off-line meeting
is held after the first Friday Mass, and through the internet
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community we have the on-line meeting. Actually in many parishes
already have the first Friday Masses, so we specialize our first
Friday Mass by emphasizing Ignatian spirituality.
8. We have begun one-day retreats for the members of the
AP since May 2006. We try the new type of the retreat for lay people
who don't have enough time and money for longer retreats.
9. 8,000 copies of the "Prayer of the Daily Offering" were
printed in June 2006 and be introduced to lay people.
Actually, the AP in Korea is just a beginner. Still many lay
people do not know it and we don't have the national organization
yet. But we are doing our best now.
Ill. The Internet situation in Korea
Nowadays 25 million people, 62.5% of 40 million people,
the population in Korea, use the internet. In various areas: shopping,
making reservations, getting copies of government and civil
documents for administration and so on, the internet is used,
therefore the internet now has become a part of our lives. Many
people get all kinds of information from the internet; sometimes the
writing uploaded on the internet is spread in a flash through the
internet; the internet makes or influences public opinion and the
social issues. The internet has also become the field of the
discussion. Now a very unique culture is made through the internet.
Many people played computer games by themselves with
just their computer before. But now they play on-line games, in
which all users are connected through the network. Actually on-line
games are much more exciting than off-line games. Through the on­
line game, we can play with unknown people, we can talk with
unknown people and make friends. According to the statistics in
2005 in Korea, more than 73% of young people use the internet to
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search for infonnation, therefore now the internet has become the
most important way to search for infonnation in their ordinary life.
Whenever they confront the unknown, they go to the computer and
try to find the answer from the internet. Somebody said nowadays
the young people consult the internet about every problem in their
lives. For example, some young people even search the internet for
the way of reconciliation with friends after fighting with each other.
Nowadays home-pages are not just for giving infonnation.
Communication is getting more important in the internet. So the
community is getting more involved in the internet. And through the
internet we can meet people without any limitation of time and
space: people with various handicaps, Christians who have stopped
going to church, non Christians and so on especially including
outsiders to the Church. And people share their stories from the
heart honestly through the internet. Namely, in the broken society
the space of conversation is fonned through the internet. Now it's
common to talk to and help unknown people through the internet.
Another big change nowadays is sharing movies through the
internet, more possible according to the increase of the speed of the
internet. Actually young people do not like to read a text but prefer
the image.
At present, especially white-collar workers in the office do
more than 90% of their work through computers. So, after they go to
'the work in the morning, it is nonnal that they tum on their
computers and check their e-mail first. Therefore we made the
home-page of AP to include the "Prayer of the Daily Offering" on
our main page, and they can pray it through the computer at their
desks every morning. Now we have to move the prayer room to the
monitor.
In this quickly developing internet situation in Korea, and
especially in view of the exclusiveness of the Church of Korea, the
internet is the most effective way to introduce the AP to lay people.
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Because of the cyber space, we can cover all dioceses and not only
work for one diocese. And Korean people from all over the world
can join the AP in Korea. In fact, there are some members from the
USA, Europe, South-East Asia, and even Africa in our internet
community of the AP.
Now, the time of Ubiquitousness (in which we can contact
the internet from anywhere and at anytime) is coming through
wireless internet. And nowadays through a cell phone we can watch
TV, use the internet (including sending e-mail and searching for
information), play games and realize the environment of Ubiquity,
as well as making a phone call. Therefore, the Church should not be
lagging behind the change of society anymore - the Church should
go with, or ahead of, the change of the society.
Now we have to go to the people and care for their souls in
the cyber space. The internet is the very concrete and substantial
space for proclaiming the love of Christ. So, it is inevitable to
introduce the AP to the people in the cyber space where there is no
limitation of time or space.
IV. The AP in Korea - for the future
For the future, we have the following plans for the
Apostleship of Prayer in Korea.
1. We'll continually be in touch with the members of "the
Chain of Charity" and help them in the spirituality of the AP.
2. We'll have the First Friday Mass at Sogang University.
3. We'll run the home-page of AP and the internet
community.
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4. We'll provide the Spiritual Exercises in Ordinary Life to
lay people.
5. We'll advertise the AP through lectures and Catholic
newspapers and so on. Especially, there are around 20,000
benefactors of the Society of Jesus in Korea. Therefore, we'll
introduce the AP to them through our Korea Jesuit Benefactors
Association.
6. We'll translate and publish the document on the AP.
7. Especially the cooperation with the dioceses is very
important in Korea. So, we will do our best to achieve better
cooperation.
8. It is very difficult for us to make the organization of the
AP in Korea at present. However, we will do in the future.
When I introduce the AP to the people in Korea, I focus on
two aspects of the AP:
1. We don't have any follow-up program after the Spiritual
Exercises in Korea. Therefore, we are developing the AP as the
follow-up program for those who have just made the Spiritual
Exercises. The point I emphasize is how we can get more fruits from
the retreat in our ordinary life, and how we continually live the fruits
of the retreat through our daily offering.
2. We are developing the AP as a lay spirituality, which
integrates our faith and our ordinary life.
Appendix
There is one important thing. We can open a home-page or
an internet community in two different ways. One is we buy a .
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computer for the internet server, and upload a home-page or an
internet community on the server. And people come to this site
through the internet surfing, namely, using the searching sites, for
example Yahoo, Google and so on.
The other way is the following. There are many portal sites
in the internet, for example Yahoo, Google and so on. They supply
the e-mail service, news service, searching service, community
service and so on. Many people approach this kind of site everyday.
That means always there are many people in this site. Especially in
such sites there is a community service. We call in the internet cafe.
Anyone can make a community in this kind of site according to their
interests. So we open an internet community in this kind of site,
where many people gather together. That means we do not open a
store on the mountain and do not wait for their searching and
coming to our stores, rather, we open a store on the street where
many people gather and pass by, and we throw the net of the Word
of God to the people. So we can do our apostolic ministry more
positively.
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APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER, SRI LANKA
Aloys Vanderwall, S.].
The work of the Apostleship of Prayer is mainly done
through the publication of the monthly leaflet. The leaflet is
published every month regularly and we post it without fail to reach
the subscriber a couple of days before the beginning of the month.
This leaflet contains:
- The Daily Offering together with the Intentions of the Holy
Father for the month.
- The Liturgical Calendar of the month which includes the
daily scripture readings.
- Inspirational quotations or methods of prayer that helps
towards meditation.
We publish them in all the three languages spoken in Sri
Lanka: English, Sinhalese and Tamil. These leaflets are being highly
appreciated and we have a steady number of subscribers. We publish
around 3500 copies and some take upon themselves the
responsibility of photocopying them and distributing among their
friends.
The confraternity of the Sacred Heart takes special interest
in promoting the AP. They regularly pray for the intentions of the
Holy Father. The seminarians too take interest in this apostolate. As
I am a member of the Seminary staff (Spiritual Director/Counsellor)
I often take conferences on the AP spirituality.
Besides the leaflets we encourage the youth to live the
spirituality of the AP. In many schools and boarding houses priests
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and religious take upon themselves the responsibility of reciting the
Daily Offering together with the children, and the children learn the
prayer by heart and recite it daily.
One of the new--projects that we started this year is to
prepare a card with the Daily Offering on one side and an
explanation of the spirituality of the AP in simple four steps on the
other. This card small enough to keep in one's front pocket or in the
purse or in the prayer book is meant mainly for school children.
Many priests and religious who are in charge of children have been
asking for such a card and at the moment we are in the process of
distributing these cards.
The Bishops of Sri Lanka encourage this apostolate and the
Intentions of the Holy Father are published in the ORDO published
by the Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka.
We also sent the Intentions to the Catholic Weekly of Sri
Lanka together with a short commentary on the intentions.
In the future we hope to publish a booklet with pictures
outlining the main features of the AP so that we will be able to
educate more people on the spirituality.
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MESSAGE TO THE PROVINCIALS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS OF LATIN AMERICA FROM THE 3rd LATIN AMERICAN CONGRESS OF THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER AND OF THE EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT We National Secretaries of the Apostleship of Prayer and of
the Eucharistic Youth Movement, gathered in Congress in the city of
Bogota during the first days of the month of November 2006,
manifest to our Provincials, our gratitude for the mission entrusted
to us, our readiness to fol1ow it in-depth, and our conviction that it is
a privileged and up-to-date instrument for accomplishing the
evangelizing mission of the Society, as well as a valuable aid for the
spiritual strengthening of our people and those who collaborate with
us.
For this reason we ask them:
1. To evaluate in each Province:
- the degree of integration of the Apostleship of Prayer and
of the Eucharistic Youth Movement in its apostolic body (works and
sectors);
- the effective support, both spiritual and material, given to
the National Secretary, in accordance with the assignment of the
Father General;
2. To help promote the Eucharistic Youth Movement
entrusted to the Society of Jesus in the ApostIeshjp of Prayer.
Bogota, November 11,2006
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Fr. Otmar Schwengber, S.1., National Secretary of Brazil;
Fr. Antonio Gausset, S.1., National Secretary of Bolivia; Fr. Jorge
Eduardo Acero, S.1., Collaborator of the National Secretary of
Colombia; Fr. Mariano Tome, S.1., National Secretary of Cuba; Fr.
Claudio Barriga, S.1., National Secretary of Chile; Fr. Miguel Angel
Rui-Wamba, S.1., National Secretary of Ecuador; B. A. Rosario
Guzman, Collaborator of the National Secretary of Mexico; Fr.
Fabian Rodriguez, S.1., National Secretary of Porto Rico; Fr. Alvaro
Lacasta, S.1., National Secretary of Venezuela; Fr. Juan Antonio
Medina, S.1., National Secretary of Uruguay and Latin American
Coordinator; Fr. Guillermo Arias, S.1., Assistant of the Latin
American Coordinator.
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WHAT WE PROPOSE WHEN WE PROPOSE THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER ASSIDUOUS PRAYER: PRAYING LIFE, LIVING PRAYER Miguel Angel Rui- Wamba, S.l.
I - Preliminary considerations: the value of offering
"God, Our Father, I offer you my day". Thus begins the
daily offering of the AP. I believe that the great strength of the AP's
proposal lies in these few words.
"1 offer you" - All present-day educators speak of the
difficulty and importance of the "/". They say that we are in a
culture of egoism and cheap ideas. The famous Ignatian subyecto
has been declining for years. We know Ortega's lament: "There are
no protagonists: there is only a chorus". A lament which is already
half a century old (The rebellion of the masses, 1937).
The "1 want and desire and this is my free decision" from
the Call of the temporal King which concentrates the offering of the
Spiritual Exercises, corresponds to the daily offering of the AP. The
Ignatian offering gives new life to the "l" of narcissistic egoism. I
want, but for you and with you, for the other one, for God and his
Will and Love. The "I" expands, enters into communion, and starts
living in another way: in fullness. The final contemplation "Ad
Amorem" eminently illustrates the dynamics of communion and
offering of Ignatian spirituality: "Take, Lord, and receive".
With all respect for Oriental religion (and possibly for the
whole proposal of religions other than the Gospel), its invitation
leads to ataraxy and into empty solitude. The Oriental "I" is illusion
and its desire vain temptation. We need only examine the general
-444­
lines of Buddha's message and its different schools for this to be
evident: a person and his reality are empty and false. Pre or post
Christian philosophies corroborate this bitter deception: life is dream
and nightmare, a person illusion and defeat.
The Gospel - and the Ignatian methodology of access to it
which consists in the Spiritual Exercises - do not share this despair.
God is Love and I am too. The offering of self to the Other one and
to our brethren is necessary and possible. Human life is the
Kingdom of God. Praying is not attempting a therapeutic monologue
which relieves bitter solitude for a while, it is a dialogue of love
which does not eliminate suffering but gives it sense and saving
value.
In-depth psychologists say that a healthy person is a person
who loves and works. The psychopath, which we all carry within us,
would like to love and serve, but if he only depends on himself he is
unable to do so. At most he will love - like someone who is
hysterical - but not the other one's person. To say and be able to live
"God, Our Father, I offer you my day" is not only a beautiful prayer
but also a splendid ideal of life and humanity.
II - The pillars ofthe AP: the reformulation of the "Road Map".
1. To offer myself. "1 offer myself to you". It is my
determination and desire. The Ignatian Exercises are personal, so is
the Gospel. The Christian "1 believe" is born of ecclesial
communion and God's grace, but it is my faith. "Your faith has
saved you, go in peace", Jesus says in the Gospel. A forgotten and
important truth which it is the AP's mission to remind us of.
2. Loving saves. The daily offering saves me. God's Love,
which I return to him and to my brethren, in offering, is a saving act.
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It obtains what Ignatius seeks in the Exercises: "the salvation of the
soul". Seeking-working makes one healthily happy. Humanly and
divinely. As Jesus of Nazareth. The AP is a proposal of profound
anthropological and social optimism. Our sad world needs this: it
needs reasons for loving, for giving life and for living fully.
3. Life as a project. What identifies a person is not what he
does but "why" he does it. Mission and identity are intimately
linked. The AP and its Director remind us that: flOur existence is not
simply a stage we must accomplish or an examination we must pass
without errors. Our life is, above all, a project. We are here to
contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God with positive acts"
(Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, Road Map, June 2003). The spirituality of
the AP is prepositive and interpellatory. It proposes and gives work,
in a society which is both ethical and idealistic.
4. Transforming prayer. It is not a matter of praying but of
praying well. In the Exercises prayer has two inseparable
qualifications: discerning prayer and prayer which transforms.
"What does it serve a man to gain the whole world, if he loses his
soul?" and "what do I gain by saving myself outside the world (away
from others, only me)"? The first temptation is that of the poor rich
man, the second of the rich poor man (poverty understood in its
literal sense: the lack in being and in reality). Gaining everything
and losing myself is supreme stupidity ("He was so very poor that he
only had money"), Saint Francis Xavier understood this well. The
second temptation is the puritan temptation of "faith alone": outside
of the reality and the truth of God's creation. This must be firmly
pointed out: outside the world there is no salvation. At least
Christian salvation: Jesus Christ assumes in himself the whole of
creation and every creature. "Flight from the world", in its pagan
sense, is mortal sin for a Christian. Faith creates Justice and Justice
is possible if one has Faith. The AP is not an alienating proposal. It
is a transforming proposal. One of the two final questions is: "What
transforming capacity do our 50 million members really have?".
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5. Recovering the affections. I believe, together with others
who study the Exercises, that the genius of the Ignatian spiritual
proposal lies in its treatment of the affections. Ignatius asks the
exercitant to live from the heart, from orderly affections. The
devotion to the Heart of Jesus is Ignatian by papal assignment and
because of its own charism.
6. Jesus - all heart. There is a theology of the heart for
achieving Christian spirituality. Devotion is not enough. Paul and
Augustine laid down the basis, but the path to follow is still a long
and unknown one. Possibly the Ignatian Exercises offer the best
theological and anthropological structure for this necessary task. It is
an immense challenge for the AP too: "You shall love God with
your whole Heart". The Love of God, the ordo amoris of the Gospel
is the whole of Jesus" kerygma.
7. Living gratefully. This is the eucharistic proposal. The
Eucharist is thanksgiving: the offering of shared love, the theological
and trinitarian celebration of the God-Love, who invites his children,
in the Son, to live his Glory and Plenitude. A grateful heart cannot
be unhappy. The AP has this immense field of thanksgiving in the
heart of the Church and of humanity.
8. Living in reconciliation. The Father General reminds us
of this important mission: "The Holy Father invites the entire
Church to not neglect this aspect of the ordinary pastoral. The
Apostleship of Prayer will not fail to offer its cooperation, since this
sacrament (of reconciliation) is oriented towards making us
rediscover Christ as him in whom God shows us his compassionate
heart andfully reconciles us with him" (Ibid.). The AP as instrument
of reconciliation is an outpost of the paschal mission of the Risen
Jesus: "Peace be with you!".
9. Living "magnifically". The Magnificat is the Virgin
Mary's prayer. Living Marian piety is living this prayer in its three
-447 ­
theological dimensions: a) Faith: seeing reality with God's eyes; b)
Hope: active announcement of a new world; c: Charity: entering into
the ordo amoris of the Gospel. An ever-open missionary and
ecc1esial program which is a challenge and a task for the AP.
10. Holiness vs. Perfection. I build up perfection, I receive
holiness from God's Heart. The AP is a simple and sure path of
Christian holiness, with concrete acts of offering and of love.
- 448­
EUCHARIST AND DAILY OFFERING
Alvaro Lacasta, S.l.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus acted and spoke, the words
and acts of Jesus. His actions fulfilled the Kingdom. His words are
the horizon and feeling of his work. Jesus' work, like that of every
human being, is limited. Jesus' work makes his words concrete, but
the proposal of the Kingdom goes far beyond Je~us' works.
Moreover his prayer of trusting openness towards his Father
and his total availability to his signs are what intentionally cover the
distance between the horizon of what he said and what he did. In
short, he hands back this distance to God for him to fill the breach.
The more Jesus worked, i.e. the more he effectively called
the people to this movement of reunion so that God was the God of
the people and the people were the people of God, the more the
children of God, dispersed by sin, became united in one family, the
greater the opposition of the leaders.
The more he worked, the greater the opposition he
encountered.
So when the leaders thought that the entire people had been
drawn to him, it was then that they decreed his death.
As Peter was to say, Jesus' words and acts are what
provoked his Passion and Cross. Jesus' Passion and death are the not
only negative result of Jesus' words but also of his actions. This is
why Paul was to say that Christ's death sealed the seal of his word.
And this is why the invoking reasons are distinct from the
motive which moves them.
- 449­
When Jesus sees that death is imminent he commits himself
to celebrate a farewell supper. During this supper, while dedicating
the first cup, he expresses his unshakeable hope that death will not
be an obstacle to drinking again with them in the banquet of the
Kingdom. This is what the first dedication says, and researchers
agree unanimously that they are Jesus' own words. Jesus' words are:
"/ shall not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God comes. They
are going to kill me but death will not prevent me from celebrating
with you in the banquet ofthe Kingdom ".
Not content with all this, and this is a great deal - i.e. that
the death they will consider scandalous will in no way be
determinant since its conclusion will be the fulfilment of the
Kingdom -, he gives them the bread to eat and the chalice to drink
from, saying that they are his Body and his Blood, i.e. his life which
will be surrendered to death, and that at that moment he is
surrendering himself for them and for all people.
He anticipates offering this life which they are going to
deprive him of. When Jesus has nothing else to say, nothing to do in
our favour, he surrenders the life they are depriving him of, for our
salvation, in the hope that the Father will receive it, as well as the
disciples. He surrenders to them so that they may live by him, and he
surrenders to the Father so that the Father may save his life, recreate
his life, and it may be the life of others. This oblation of his life is
the culmination of his day-to-day surrender. He departed giving his
life step by step and, at the end, surrendering it completely.
He departed giving himself up entirely, and in this gift of
himself, when he no longer had anything specific or particular to
give, when he no longer had anything to say or to do, he gave
himself completely. And he asks them to do the same, i.e. to
surrender to others the life he gave them.
-450 ­
The difference between the old and the new covenant was to
be essential: "He took some bread, and when he had given thanks,
broke it and gave it to them saying "This is my body which will be
given for you; do this as a memorial of me" In the same way, after
supper, he took the cup saying: "This cup is the new covenant in my
blood which will be poured out for you".
Here we have the maximum revelation of the Kingdom of
God, sealed with the Institution of the Eucharist, the supreme
synthesis of Jesus' words and works. The Eucharist is therefore a
Body Surrendered and Blood Spilt progressively throughout his life.
"Eat and Drink, and now Do This as a Memorial of Me". A
categorical imperative, a call to the Responsibility of the whole of
life, to give the life we have received, to give it to the very end.
In a sermon to the newly baptized on Easter eve, Saint
Augustine very simply summed up the sense of what the Eucharist
is in the following words: "You must be clear about what you have
received. Listen, then, briefly, to what the apostle or, even better,
what Christ said through the apostle, concerning the Sacrament of
the Lord's Body. "We fonn a single Body, one Loaf' (lCo 10:17).
Bear this in mind, that's all. I have told you very briefly; but weigh
the words, do not count them!".
In this single sentence of the apostle we have his opinion on
the totality of the mystery received. The words are not many, but
they carry great weight. The Eucharist is therefore the event through
which Christ rebuilds, recreates his Body and incorporates us too in
a single loaf, a single body.
Therefore the Eucharist can be understood as ecclesiological
plenitude; it is the living event through which the Church constantly
renews its nature of Church.
- 451 ­
The Church is a eucharistic community. It is not simply a
people; it is made up of many people who become one people
thanks to a table which the Lord has prepared for us all.
The Church is, so to say, a network of eucharistic
communities and it remains constantly united to the memory of
Jesus through a single Body, which we all receive. "For its part, the
liturgy itself urges the Faithful so that, satiated with the Pascha)
sacraments, they may be concordant in piety; it entreats God to
preserve in their life what they received in the faith; and the renewal
of the Lord's covenant in the Eucharist kindles and leads the faithful
to Christ's urgent charity. Therefore the liturgy, especially the
Eucharist, pours grace on us as its source, and we obtain most
effectively the sanctification in Christ and the glorification of God to
which the other works of the Church tend as their goal".
This is the goal we are moving towards the Easter. This is
the starting point: "Do this in commemoration of Me". We must all
must make a continuous Eucharist, through our every word and
work, to the point of giving "The Life" we received and giving it
abundantly, definitively, to the point of dying for it.
This, so far, is the most specific aspect of the Eucharist.
Now we must inwardly link all we have said so far with the Daily
Offering.
The Daily Offering of the Apostleship of Prayer - including
its intentions - aims at being the concretion of God's reign and his
Kingdom, here and now. Both the offering and the intentions are the
result of the discernment of the signs of the times. We ask God that
they may be accomplished with our whole mind, our whole heart,
our whole being - what we proclaim to others and what we do if we
ask it of God.
-452 ­
We present the petition the Daily Offering contains for two
reasons. The first because without his grace we can neither say or do
anything profitably: "Without me you can neither say or do
anything". Secondly that he may breach the gap between what we
do and all we must do.
If what Jesus did was limited what we succeed in doing will
be all the more limited. We want his plan to be accomplished, his
Kingdom to come. This desire grows, i.e. it is nourished on what we
say and do for it to occur. Insofar as I am telling "It" to others and
insofar as I strive for "It" to be truth, my desire grows. Only God can
breach this gap. And the more we do, the more this gap seems great
to us.
The Apostleship of Prayer establishes unconditional
surrender to the fulfilment of what we are asking for. It is the link
between the Eucharist and the Offering; i.e. it orients us daily to
unconditional surrender to the fulfilment ofwhat we ask for.
What does all this mean? That Prayer does not substitute
action, but nourishes it and carries it further. In other words, I do not
ask for what I do not do, but rather the contrary; prayer is in keeping
with unconditional surrender to the fulfilment of what we ask for.
This is the characteristic of all the saints. Saint Peter Claver devoted
himself completely to the cause of black slaves and what did he ask
for in prayer? To plunge more intensely into this apostolic task. The
person who prays most for this cause is the person who is most
involved in it with his soul, life and heart, since it is he who most
desires it. And this is true of the whole of life. And since we
understand that all we are doing is not "all", or even much less, this
is precisely why we ask insistently in a continuous form.
And why do I ask for it? For two reasons. So that prayer
may nourish my action and I may be immersed in this apostolic task,
and so that it may lead far beyond the success and achievement
- 453­
obtained so far. And as I am only able to carry out a very small task,
I ask God to help me so that I may overcome my limited
possibilities.
Who can breach the gap between what we are able to do and
the work of God we are entrusted with? Jesus, precisely, who not
only said and did but offered himself to the Father so that his plan
might be accomplished and his Kingdom might come.
Thus we unite our prayers to Jesus' offering - a prayer which
God has listened to and is therefore totally efficacious. This is the
union between Eucharist and Daily Offering.
However this only has meaning when it is not a substitute. It
is not a substitute when we do it in "his" memory; when we give this
life of his, which he gives us, and we give it as Jesus gave his for the
life of the world. Jesus' offering completes what is lacking only if we
associate our surrender to his. This is the indispensable condition. In
other words, we pray; Jesus' offering completes what we do not
attain and achieve only if we do the same as he does, and do it in his
memory. This means if we do it with his Spirit, in order to follow his
path, to follow his mission, to follow him.
As is evident, the dynamics of the Mass and the Daily
Offering in the Apostleship of Prayer are the same, and they
mutually integrate and strengthen one another. The dynamics of the
Daily Offering has to take root in the dynamics of the Mass, and the
dynamics of the Mass gives its whole force to the Daily Offering.
This is the vital point. It is not a question of artificial build-up but of
harmonious integration in the apostle's life - manifested in the daily
actions which give truth to what was expressed with symbols.
It would be very convenient, almost gratuitous, to personally
do nothing and simply ask God in the Daily Offering for the
reparation of sins and the redemption of humankind. I ask you
-454 ­
according to the Holy Father's intentions and it is up to you, Jesus, to
do everything else.
This is why the Mass tells me; Do this in memory of me" ­
the meaning of which we explained above.
Secondly it means that we continue celebrating the Lord's
Supper, though it means in the first place that we give others the
Life he gives us. In this way the Mass is Sacrament.
The theme has a profound unity and total theological and
pastoral coherence. It is a very demanding theme. There is a routine
and partial way of understanding the Daily Offering of the
Apostleship of Prayer, of understanding it, of speaking about it and
carrying it out; and there is a routine and partial way of hearing
Mass, of preferably lingering with the first part; Take and Eat, and
deadening or cancelling the second part; Do This in Memory of Me.
There is also a parallelism between these routine and partial
ways. As there are those who approach Mass to pay for an intention
while someone else undertakes to celebrate it, there can also be
those who approach our Apostleship to "pay for the prayer" and let
God take charge of the rest. I make my Daily Offering in the
morning, in a minute, and that's the end of my responsibility ...
This is why we are starting this presentation with Jesus ­
with the relationship in Jesus between praying, doing and
surrendering even beyond what is possible. This same relationship
gives us the key to understand how the Eucharist and the Daily
Offering can be linked in the Apostleship of Prayer.
Jesus says a prayer on life
Everything he does is done in the presence of his Father and
with his Father, with the strength of the Spirit, obeying his
- 455­
promptings. Besides being God in all things, God is over everything.
This is why Jesus' prayer in solitude means three things:
First: He empties himself absolutely so that God may take
total possession of him.
Second: The absolute trust that he is in his Father's loving
arms.
Third: The absolute availability to do the Father's will, i.e.
not to seek his own glory but that of the Father.
Well, when Jesus is with his Father, living his condition of
Son, this is not Jesus the Individual but the Jesus who carries each
one of us in his Heart. In this relationship with the Father he takes
each one of us to his Heart. To be Sons in the Son - this is the
participation he gives us.
Baptism is a paradigmatic case. After taking us all to his
Heart and asking forgiveness for us in the first person plural, the sky
opens and a voice says: "You are my beloved and chosen son". If we
accept where Jesus has placed us, i.e. in his Heart, we too will listen
to this voice as a voice addressed to us.
As long as we are never satiated with Jesus' Heart, and never
will be, we will continue being sons in the Son, however, as
everyone else is this Heart too, the condition is that we must accept
them in Jesus' Heart.
Thus, to be sons in the Son brings with it the other side of
the coin: that of being brothers of all men without exception. Jesus
does this intentionally. Now, his historical activity, which is the
accomplishment of the Father's plan, is to lead each group and all
people to fully correspond to this attitude.
- 456­
This point is indispensable because since God's proposal is a
Covenant, God's "yes" in Jesus is not sufficient and our "yes" is also
indispensable as an answer to this prime love.
In this sense, God's infinite love revealed in Jesus is not
sufficient for our salvation, it is indispensable that we continue to be
his sons, and brothers in Christ, as fulfilment of this prime grace we
have received.
This is the meaning of the whole of Christ's action. The
Prayer in Gethsemani and on Calvary are two fine examples.
When I can neither do or say anything I offer my whoLe Life,
this is my Offering to the Father. My whoLe trust is in my Father,
God. The last word is up to the Father. The offering was more than
saying and doing. God will say the last Word, and I will in Jesus.
What does this mean? That though the Father said Yes to
Jesus, the Resurrection signifies that God has sent us his Spirit so
that we may follow his path.
Saint Paul was to say: "To answer yes with God's Spirit to
the yes of God, who is Jesus, our Last task is offering, our Last word
is offering".
- 457­
COMMENTARY TO THE POPE'S LETTER TO THE FATHER GENERAL (MAY 15th 2006) Daniel Maria Agacino, S.].
Montevideo, June 2006
Two aspects in this most important Document have
particularly attracted my attention.
1. The first aspect, though circumstantial, refers to the fact
that the Pope addressed his Letter expressly to the Father General
of the Jesuits. Evidently, in this way, the historical theme of the
Society of Jesus' intense participation in the promotion of the Cult
and Devotion to the Sacred Heart is given. But, in view of the
importance of the Document and the occasion chosen for reminding
Catholics of the publication of Pius XII's Encyclical, he could
undoubtedly have addressed it to the Cardinal Prefect of the
Congregation of Rites, or - even - to the Union of the Major
Superiors of the Religious Institutes whose founders chose to name
them after the Heart of Jesus and devote themselves to spread its
cultural-devotional practice.
I have the "suspicion" of "some special reason" which may
have led Benedict XVI - who is wen versed in the situation of the
Society, today and before his Papacy - to take this decision ... - That
of stimulating the entire Society to foster the practice of "Munus
Suavissimum", according to the indications of the Complementary
Directions (n° 276,1), certainly known to his Holiness?
It is of course interesting to note that, at the end of his Letter,
the Pope pronounces a "special apostolic blessing on the Father
General and all the religious of the Society of Jesus" - saying
expressly - "who are always very active in the promotion of this
fundamental devotion".
- 458­
2. The second aspect touches on the basic question and
deserves special attention. Because, since the Holy Father states it in
the introduction of his Letter, it can be taken as a matter ofan initial
synthesis ofthe doctrine he is going to expound.
It refers to John Paul II's textual quotation on reparation and
the present way ofconceiving it and carrying it out, according to the
teaching - he says expressly - of "my venerated predecessor".
In effect Benedict XVI has just stated that "the task of
Christians to deepen their relationship with the Heart of Jesus in
order to revive in themselves Faith in the Salvific love of God,
welcoming it more and more in their own lives, continues to be
actual". And it is at this point that he introduces the quotation from
John Paul II:
"In this way - and this is the true Reparation required by the
Saviour's Heart - it will be possible to build the Civilization of the
Heart ofJesus on the ruins accumulated by hatred and violence".
And so we come to what my attention has been drawn to in
the Letter. His Holiness appears to highlight two questions:
1$I - The capital importance in the Devotion to the Heart of
Jesus of reparation for sin as attitude of love required by the Lord.
2nd - The concrete way to foster the practice by promoting
the love of God in an egotistical and more and more violent society.
As for the first question, Saint Bonaventura succeeded in
expressing with the latin verb "redamare" (returning to love or
loving again) what reparation is: a return to loving God, or giving
him again the love which we own him doubly, as creatures and
redeemed humans, even though, through our sin, we repeatedly
refuse to do so.
- 459­
As for the practical way of offering to the Heart of Jesus the
true Reparation he requires of us and which we owe him it can only
be by promoting the love ofGod, each person in himself and -insofar
as possible - in others.
The Pope calls us to this orientation: "the civilization of the
heart ofJesus".
Consequently, and considering the interpretation correct, the
three chapters proposed by Benedict XVI must be read and studied
in-depth, in a "key" of reparation. Which is to say:
a) By succeeding in penetrating into each one of the three,
not only into the Mystery in the strict sense of the word, but into the
deepest sentiments ofthe heart ofJesus,
- in giving himself up generously for our Salvation ("Giving
himself up in our place ..."; Ep 5-2) and
- in not being repaid by us, in his generous love.
b) Resolving, as the fruit of the "inner sentiment" obtained
through this penetration, to console him, consecrated to him in our
daily lives: and - through him, with him and in him, in the
Celebration of the Eucharist - to return to God the Father, in Unity
with the Holy Spirit, all the love which men and women, living and
dead and we ourselves owe him though repeatedly deny him.
- 460­
CONTENTS2007 Page
N. 1: JANUARY - MARCH
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
ON THE WAY TO
THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
PRESENTATION
3
I. THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
AND THE EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT
9
II. THE HEART OF JESUS
CENTENARY OF THE CONSECRATION
OF THE WORLD TO THE HEART OF JESUS
HOMILIES ON THE HEART OF JESUS (1985-2006)
45
48
ill. THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000
108
IV. THE SPIRITUAL CHARTER OF
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
116
V. SAINT TERESA OF THE CHILD JESUS
PATRONESS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE
APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
126
VI. THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ENCYCLICAL "HAURIETIS AQUAS" (1956-2006)
134
VII. CANONIZATION OF
SAINT JOSE MARIA RUBIO (2003)
141
- 461 ­
N. 2: APRIL ­ JUNE
PRESENTATION
147
LEITER TO THE WHOLE SOCIETY
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
152
LEITER TO THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES
OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
154
"YOU WilL DRAW WATER JOYFULLY
AT THE SAVIOUR'S SPRING"
Italian AP Press Office
156
TH
THE 50 ANNIVERSARY
OF ENCYCLICAL "HAURIETIS AQUAS"
Massimo Taggi, S.J.
DEVOTION TO THE HEART OF JESUS
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, S.J.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE HEART OF JESUS
50 YEARS AFTER THE ENCYCLICAL
"HAURIETIS AQUAS"
Anton Witwer, S.J.
HOMILY OUTLINES LINKING
SUNDAY GOSPELS WITH THE EUCHARIST
FOR THE LITURGICAL YEAR 2007-2008
James Fitzsimons, S.J.
- 462­
158
162
165
185
RENEWAL OF THE CONSECRATION
OF THE MEXICAN NATION TO THE
SACRED HEART OF CHRIST THE KING
Conference of the Mexican Episcopacy
247
N. 3: PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH 2008
253
Presentation
MONTHLY INTENTIONS, 2008
261
January
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
269
February
Benedict XVI, Card. Franc Rode, . Aloys Van Doren, S.J. March
279
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
April
289
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.l.
May
301
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
309
June
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.l.
July
321
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
- 463­
329
August
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
September
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
339
October
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
349
November
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
361
December
Benedict XVI, Aloys Van Doren, S.J.
373
N. 4: OCTOBER - DECEMBER
PRESENTATION
389
TO THE NATIONAL SECRETARlES OF THE
APOS1LESHIP OF PRAYER, NATIONAL DIRECfORS
OF EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT, TEAMS,
COLLABORATORS AND MEMBERS THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD
Claudio Barriga, S.J.
THE APOS1LESHIP OF PRAYER TODAY
Pierre Emonet, S.l.
TI1
STATEMENT OF 7 EAST ASIA AND
OCEANIA ASSISTANCY MEETING OF THE
APOS1LESHIP OF PRAYER
IN SEOUL, OCTOBER 9TI1 _14TI1, 2006
-464­
392
394
409
REPORT FROM THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL
SECRETARY TO THE SOUTH EAST ASIA ASSEMBLY
OF THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES
OF THE APOSTLESIDP OF PRAYER
Vincent Hurley, S.J.
411
REPORT ON APOSTLESIDP OF PRAYER IN INDIA
Fidelis Jayabalan, S.J.
413
REPORT ON AP IN INDONESIA
Andreas Toto Subagyo, S.J.
417
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER IN JAPAN
Manuel Amoros, S.J.
422
APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER - PHILIPPINES
Ray Ocampo, S.J.
425
REPORT OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
IN TAIWAN FOR THE YEAR 2005-2006
Gino Picca, S.J.
430
THE 2006 COUNTRY REPORT ON AP IN KOREA
Joseph Woo-bae Sohn, S.J.
433
APOSTLESIDP OF PRAYER, SRI LANKA
Aloys Vanderwall, S.J.
440
MESSAGE
TO THE PROVINCIALS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
OF LATIN AMERICA
FROM THE 3rd LATIN AMERICAN CONGRESS
OF THE NATIONAL SECRETARIES
OF THE APOSTLESIDP OF PRAYER
AND OF THE EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT
- 465­
442
WHAT WE PROPOSE WHEN WE PROPOSE
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER:
ASSIDUOUS PRAYER,
PRAYING LIFE, LIVING PRAYER
Miguel Angel Rui-Wamba, S.J.
EUCHARIST AND DAILY OFFERING
Alvaro Lacasta, S.J.
444
449
COMMENTARY TO THE POPE'S LETTER TO THE
FATHER GENERAL (MAY 15'" 2006)
Daniel Marfa Agacino, S.J.
458
Contents for 2007
461
-466 ­
Ex parte Ordinis imprimi potest: ALOYS VAN DOREN, S.J. CUM APPROBATIONE ECCLESIASTICA Finito di stampare nel mese di settembre 2007 Tipografia "G~ovanni Olivieri" Via dell'Archetto, 10 - 00187 Roma CONTENTS
"
Page
PRESENTATION
389
TO THE NATIONAL SECRET ARIES OF THE
APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER, NATIONAL DIRECTORS
OF EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT, TEAMS,
COLLABORATORS AND MEMBERS THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD
392
Claudio Barriga,S./.
,
THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRA YER TODA Y
394
Pierre E/llollet, 5.f.
7T H EAST ASIA AND
OCEANIA ASSIST ANCY MEETING OF THE
APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
IN SEOUL, OCTOBER 9T H-14TH, 2006
409
3rd LATIN AMERICAN CONGRESS
OFTHE NATIONAL SECRETARIES
OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER
AND OF THE EUCHARISTIC YOUTH MOVEMENT
BOGOTA, NOVEMBER 2006
442
COMMENTARY TO THE POPE'S LETfERTOTHE
FATHER GENERAL (MAY 15th 2006)
458
Dalliel .'vfm·ia Agacillo, 5./.
Contents for 2007
461
GENERAL OmCE OF THE APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER BORGO S. SPIRITO, 4 - CP 6139 - 00195 ROME - PRATI (ITALY)