A Challenge

One of the main tourist attraction in Macau is the 388 Macau Tower. Those who dare (and have enough money to pay for it) jump from the tower for the trill of it. I came to Macau but not as a tourist but to begin my yearlong pastoral exposure and to work in our community. Soon after arriving I took notice that being a missionary in this part of the world requires also some daring – compared to jumping from the Macau Tower.

Do you want to challenge yourself? If so, come to Macau and be a missionary. Here you will know if you have what it takes to be a Claretian Missionary. The host, Fr. Alberto Rossa will be your guide as you begin this adventure.

First, you will be trained in physical toughness as you walk, or I should say, run with him around the city, as he walks leisurely in strides. By the way, you do not have to pay your tuition; it is completely free. The second week you will be tested in your mental stamina through which you will know your IQ as you deal with proofreading, editing, and translating all kinds of stuff either in print or digital. The third week you will be invited to test your psychological fitness, that is, if you’re still sane with all the deadlines you have to meet, plus all the demands of community. Then, the last week you will learn to have faith as you entrust everything that you do into God’s hands, as if jumping from the Macau Tower which is 388 meters at its highest.

To be in Macau either as a missionary or a visitor is always exciting. I came to Macau this May to live and work here for a couple of weeks as part of my pastoral year. I really enjoy my time here. The Macau community consists of two Claretians – Fr. Alberto Rossa and Fr. Jojo Ancheril – and three Claretian co-workers, Ian Dacayanan and Ate Divine de Leon, working in the publications, and Ate Tess Pardo, in charge of the house. I help in editing the Chinese translation of the Bible. I had never worked like this, but after a few weeks of training I came to realize that it is exciting to work in publishing.

I am so impressed by them and the work they do. I see it as an adventure and a challenge. So why not come and face the challenge with me! If they can “safely” jump from the tower… why ever not join the missionary adventure… Impossible is nothing!

Bro. John, CMF is a Claretian seminarian from the East Asian Delegation presently doing his pastoral year. He has finished his second year of theology in Manila.

Welcome, John!

Claretian Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathil

A Claretian from North India, Fr. Jijo, CMF stayed in our community during the month of May. Let him tell you his experience:

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Somewhere around the South China Sea, a typhoon was in formation and the city of Zhuhai was in the grip of an untimely downpour on 23 May, when I (Fr. Jijo, cmf) first set foot on mainland China. I mumbled a little prayer for the land for which the Barbastro Martyrs offered their lives, nearly a century ago. Fr. Rossa woke me up from my ruminations with his typical hilarious voice, ‘Welcome to China.’ A five-minute drive from the border took us to our house by the sea side. It was high tide, so was my soul. Until then I had only a glimpse of our house from the Macau waterfront, almost every day that I stayed there. Going around the city gave me the feeling of a very eco-friendly development model with parks and gardens all along the roads. It was surprising to note that the taxi-driver who dropped us to our house from the border refused to take a little tip, which Fr. Rossa offered.

I came to Macau for my internship as part of my master’s studies in English. Teaching at Yuet Wah College was quite an experience. The internet-activated smart classrooms were new to me. But I got adjusted to them readily. While teaching, a certain reference to Punjab came about. One of the students was curious about what Punjab was like and its people. We had the ready reference on internet on Manmohan Singh the New Prime Minister of India which changed their idea of Punjab as a land of exotic curiosities. Students everywhere behave the same way. If they like your class you get their attention. Ill-prepared teachers beware, expect villainy according to their age.

Macau, home to the largest casino in the world, is a haven for gamblers. With a total land area of 28 sq. kms., it has 26 casinos, and the number is expected to increase by the end of this year. I went to some big casinos and felt dazed by the obscene use of wealth. I mused on my vow of poverty as I looked around those mansions of vice and greed. It is good to be poor, I realize, lest I build my own Babels of defiance.

Dear Jijo: You were an excellent companion in the community. We put you also to work: writing and editing for long hours and you did it with dedication and joy. THANKS!

From left: Ian, Jojo, Alberto, Tess, Jijo, Divine and John

Meanwhile Fr. Jojo in Hong Kong

These days Fr. Jojo is practicing his Cantonese going back and forth from Hong Kong to Macau. He is still studying while working at the parish of Christ the Worker in Hong Kong and, at the same time, beginning his new assignment at St. Lawrence Parish near our house in Macau, where the bishop of Macau asked him to help in order to improve his Cantonese language skills.

May 1 was the feast of the parish of Christ the Worker in Hong Kong. Here are some remembrances of the day:

Fr. Dominic Chen, Vicar General, Hong Kong

Fr. Thomas Peyton, MM - Parish Priest

Lunch Hong Kong

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A few days later it was Mothers’ Day celebration
and Jojo was at a home for the elderly in Hongkong.

Day of Recollection

Hong Kong Mother's Day

Jojo and his magic

Meet Ian Dacayanan – your blog designer

Divine shares about her teammate and co-worker:

Jack of all trades… an expert in so many things….

Let me share with you what our partner is doing during his extra time in Macau. Aside from being our artist in the Publications, he does other things in our office and community, even as he is also a volunteer in numerous activities in Macau. Since March, he has been like a doctor, nurse and a medical secretary every third Sunday of every month, recording the information of patients during the Free Medical Mission conducted by the Overseas Medical Center in Macau in coordination with the Filipino Pharmacists Association in Macau and in cooperation with the Philippine Overseas & Labor Office in Macau. Our other companion, Ate Tess Pardo also works as a volunteer in this in assisting the patients.

In the pastoral ministry to the Filipino migrants, he is the full-time artist, who does all the brochures, flyers, newsletters, and certificates, designs t-shirts, collates multi-media resource formation materials, and also the purchasing officer and coordinator with the printing press in China. Even without knowing the language, he can bargain for a good price for whatever we need in our pastoral ministry. He has also built a relationship with some middlemen in Zhuhai, who help us get what we need, whether it’s printing job, signage, souvenir items for some speakers, you name it and he’s got it all for you! He too is our photographer.

To his friends, he is their source of information and consultant, creating and editing résumés for them, application letters, visa processing, labor law consulting, finding cheap airline tickets, and the ever-available and always-willing tourist guide (not only to his friends but to the guests of our community as well).

To the “young once,” he has that special charisma for them, as he patiently listens to their stories and helps them in their need, making him their darling and favorite grandson.

This is our Jack – our Ian of all trades and expert in so many things… So we always tell him, “What will happen to us if you are not around…”

Well, he does most of these things during his free time. During office hours he has other assignments: today (May 26) he finished layouting the Chinese Daily Gospel 2010. How can he do it without knowing Chinese? Well… “impossible is nothing”!

Here is the Chinese Daily Gospel 2010

Here you see the cover for 2010.
As we write, the files have been sent to the press for
at least 25,000 copies that will be distributed in
Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Canada…

Half a million and counting…

Books recently published

This month of May we finished several books that were sent or are about to be sent to the press in China. We average half a million books printed in China every year, most of them bibles.

Recently 80,000 copies of Diario Bíblico 2010 left for 20 international ports. Also somewhere on the oceans are other titles: “Praying with St. Paul – Acts of the Apostles and Lectio Divina” (a co publication with Paulist Press); “Salmos y Primera Carta de Pedro” for our Bishop Ruben Medina of Puerto Rico; “Mi Hora Santa Eucarística,” a book by Fr. Pedro Garcia CMF. There are 50,000 copies of the Christian Community Bible arriving in the Philippines, this time printed in India with the help of Fr. Benny Kanjirakatt, Director of Claretian Publications in Bangalore. There are thousands of La Biblia de Nuestro Pueblo on the way to different ports and also on the way to the press once again, as we continue answering the big demand for this bestseller. And, last but not least, the work that has taken countless hours and efforts: The New Testament in Creyol. Thanks to the tireless work of our missionaries in Haiti, Marta and Anibal and their teams, soon they will have the fruit of their labor.

Here is the cover.

Creyol New Testament cover

Meanwhile we are working hard on the revised edition of the Chinese Pastoral Bible, and other projects… but we shall leave some news for the next month.

Just marvelous!

Take a look at these videos…
(Thanks to my friends from Argentina!)

They are shouting:
“Impossible is nothing”!

Chinese Deaf Dancers

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgHmSdpjEIk

The 21 Chinese dancers are deaf-mute.
They receive instructions from the four corners of the stage.
They have already performed in more than 40 countries

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Some more:

Britain's Got Talent: Scala sexiest musician ladies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx9lTR6yzVI&feature=related


Britain's Got Talent: Gin the clever funny dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kKnNyJvRAY


Britain's Got Talent: Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31yzafJerZk

Britain's Got Talent: Paul Potts’ “Nessun Dorma”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USRw5FQJuG0

Welcome to our April newsletter

Easter in Shanghai

上海 Shanghai is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, with over 20 million people. Located on China's central eastern coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Originally a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew to importance in the 19th century due to its favorable port location and as one of the cities opened to foreign trade by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. The city flourished as a center of commerce between east and west, and became a multinational hub of finance and business by the 1930s. However, Shanghai's prosperity was interrupted after the 1949 Communist takeover and the subsequent cessation of foreign investment. Economic reforms in 1990 resulted in intense development and financing in Shanghai, and in 2005 Shanghai became the world's busiest cargo port.

The city is an emerging tourist destination renowned for its historical landmarks such as the Bund and Xintiandi, its modern and ever-expanding Pudong skyline including the Oriental Pearl Tower, and its new reputation as a cosmopolitan center of culture and design. Today, Shanghai is the largest center of commerce and finance in mainland China, and has been described as the "showpiece" of the world's fastest-growing economy.

A view of Pudong skyline from Puxi


On Holy Saturday, April 9, Fr. José Ruiz Márquez and I, Alberto, arrived in Shanghai invited by the Latin American Catholics in that city. From the airport we went to the city, about 50 kms away… but only 15 minutes by train: the famous Maglev.


The Maglev, with a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph).

MAGLEV, or magnetic levitation, is a system of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles, predominantly trains, using levitation from a very large number of magnets for lift and propulsion. This method has the potential to be faster, quieter and smoother than wheeled mass transit systems. The technology has the potential to exceed 4,000 mph (6,437 km/h) if deployed in an evacuated tunnel. If not deployed in an evacuated tube the power needed for levitation is usually not a particularly large percentage and most of the power needed is used to overcome air drag, as with any other high speed train.
Our visit to Shanghai was not for tourism though. We went there to accompany the Catholic Spanish-speaking community to celebrate Easter with the liturgy in Spanish.

It is a unique experience as foreign priests cannot celebrate the Mass openly in China, but Shanghai is the showcase of China to the world and somehow our enterprising “Latinos” were able to get permission to celebrate an open Mass.

More than 100 participated in the celebration, mostly students and business people and their families.

PICTURES

Easter Vigil: celebration of the light.

Easter Vigil Mass: Fathers Márquez
and Alberto concelebrating.

The following day, Easter Sunday,
we participated in an English Mass
with more than 1,000 in attendance.

Heart of Jesus Parish, Shanghai:

Easter Sunday Mass in English.

Catholic Books in Shanghai

There are three Catholic publishing houses in China. One of them is in Shanghai and on Easter Monday we met the Director, Fr. Anthony Chen Ruiqi, and the Editor, Fr. Tian Yuangxiang.

Here we are:

(L-R) Director Fr. Chen Ruiqi, Fr. Marquez,
Fr. Alberto, and Editor Fr. Tian Yuangxiang.

We immediately felt at ease with one another. Our mission in Catholic publishing is similar and we can help each other. We shared information about our respective work and spent some time brainstorming about possible projects for mutual collaboration.

One nice surprise was to find there an old friend: Teresa Xiao. We were in contact with her “last century” (!) in Beijing. When we presented the Chinese Bible to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1998, Teresa was with us and was also able to meet the Holy Father. Afterwards, she stayed there and came back to China with a doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University. As a lay person her contribution to the Church in China is very important. She even published religious books in the open market with great success… and now she will work with us too: Welcome Teresa!

(L-R) Alberto, Teresa Xiao

and José Ruiz Márquez in Shanghai

In the same publishing house we have our dear friend, Cecilia Tao Beiling. We have known Cecilia since the “last century” too. She is the chief editor of Guangqi Press and has translated into Chinese, among other books, “Catholicism” by Dennis McBride, that is published in Chinese in 8 volumes.

Her husband now works in the USA, her son has graduated in Australia… but she has decided to remain in China to be of service to the Church. A truly wonderful person!

Alberto with Cecilia Tao Beiling
at Guangqi Press, Shanghai

Shanghai Expo 2010

With a few hours before going to the airport to fly to Taiyuan, we decided to take a look at the beautiful city of Shanghai as we were curious to know a little more about the famous Expo 2010.

Expo 2010 will be held in Shanghai, China, and is a scheduled World Expo in the grand tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition will be "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as a major economic and cultural center. It is expected to generate the largest number of visitors in the history of world fairs in terms of gross numbers.

The Expo will take place from May 1 to October 31, 2010.

For the first time in history, the Shanghai 2010 Expo will feature a highly sophisticated online version called "Online Expo Shanghai."

Meanwhile we can share with you this short video and some pictures showing what the Fair will be:

Canada unveiled its national pavilion
design last January 22, 2008.

You can just imagine what that will be!

We drove through downtown
and saw hundred of huge crates for the construction
of the fair grounds and buildings – 24/7 Chinese style.