Posted: September 6

Music in the air

(Manila) I knew I was back in the Philippines when I turned a corner in the long walk from the airplane to immigration and heard the sounds of uptempo, happy music. Only this was not a recording: there was a four-piece band, happily welcoming visitors at 11:00 in the evening. I thought the mandolin player was good, but I also liked the stand-up bass that thumped out a rhythm to energize the steps of weary travelers. It had been a long day from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Manila, almost 16 hours in the air, and I needed a boost. Certainly no American city would provide such a welcome, but people here take music very seriously, even when it is just happy music.

The same holds for the Jesuits. They run a very impressive communication center on the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University. The biggest part of the operation is Jesuit Music Ministry, which produces church hymns, inspirational songs and music videos that appear on broadcast television and are also sold in their own kiosks in three shopping malls. Several generations of Jesuits have composed the songs that they produce. Music is a form of communication that touches the hearts of the people here.

We finished the first of three days of meetings for JESCOMEAO – Jesuit Communication for East Asia and Oceana with men coming from Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and the Marshall Islands. One man even came from Calcutta, India to represent the Jesuit communicators of that nation. The last time this group met was seven years ago, so it is an opportune moment to review what they are doing and look to the future. One of the themes that is emerging is collaboration and greater networking. A year and a half ago some of these same men met at a retreat house in Manila to explore ways for Jesuits in India and Asia to work together. That same interest is already manifest here. Of course, the men of the Asia assistancy already cross great barriers of distance and culture just in their ordinary work since this Jesuit area encompasses so many countries. There are not many Catholics, which might explain why communication ministry is stronger here than in Europe or the United States. They intuitively understand the advantages of spreading their message more widely.

I also enjoy seeing people again whom I have already visited in their home places. In the course of the last five years, I have been to practically all of the works they represent and I have a good understanding of what they are trying to do. My job is just to encourage them and help them see how they can do even more.