Jesuit Father General Celebrates Mass and Meets with the Magis 2011 Pilgrims
Magis 2011 officially started on Friday, August 5 with an opening ceremony on the grounds of the Sanctuary of Loyola in Azkoitia, Spain. More than 3,000 young people from 50 different countries gathered together on the grounds of the Sanctuary of Loyola where they were welcomed in their own official language and treated to a performance with dance, music, light and special effects. The performance, given by group of Jesuits and lay people from Portugal, was based on the Meditation on the Two Standards, a fight between good and evil. During the night prayer that followed this performance, the reading told of God calling Abraham to leave his home and begin his journey. Prayer finished at midnight with a procession of torches carried by young people from different parts of the world. You can view this video to see a summary of the opening events from that evening.
The next morning, pilgrims woke up to a morning prayer in different languages in the garden. The Magis 2011 coordinator, Jesuit Father Abel Toraño, delivered a speech to the young people giving thanks “to all the people who have been doing so much to make MAGIS come to reality.” He asked the young people “to be open to an encounter with ourselves, with others and with God during this weekend in the hometown of Saint Ignatius”.
Today, around 3,500 people attended Mass celebrated by Jesuit Father General Adolfo Nicolás, leader of the Society of Jesus, in the plaza of the Sanctuary of Loyola. The pilgrims celebrated this special Eucharist before being sent forth to their experiences, which will start tomorrow in more than 100 locations across Spain and Portugal. During his homily, Fr. General evoked the founder of the Society of Jesus in this significant place: “God is in the gentle breeze, in its peace and its refreshing calm. And Saint Ignatius tries to make us sensitive to that breeze, to the soft voice of God.” He also wanted to send a message to all the young pilgrims before they left on their experiences tomorrow, “If we are only worried about our welfare or success, we will sink helplessly. If we are worried about service and the suffering of others, where Christ lives… we will walk on the sea.” After Mass, Fr. General, accompanied by all the concelebrants, prayed in the Chapel of Conversion of St Ignatius.
Later, in an afternoon press conference, he highlighted the role of young people in facing the challenges of this globalized world. “The young people are the ones who can change our world”, but they need to be ready “to answer questions that we cannot even imagine,” Nicolás said. “As information increases, the capacity for reflection decreases”. Fr. General encouraged them to have “profound feelings”. He insisted that every person must find his/her own vocation, own path and own way to serve. According to Fr. General, if you find it, you will be what the world needs and you will be happy – and both things are important. The big challenge that young people face today is to fight against “the globalization of superficiality.” To counteract that, young people must choose to live with wisdom and depth. “Think about Ignatius and how he changed his dreams. He stopped dreaming the dreams of a small valley and started dreaming dreams of the world. Go and do the same,” Nicolás encouraged the pilgrims gathered to hear his press conference.
From there, the pilgrims set off for their 10 days across Spain and Portugal for their Magis experiences. There are six types of experiences: Pilgrimage, Social Service, Art and Creativity, Faith and Culture, Spirituality, and Ecology. These include visiting Fatima, volunteering in a prison, accompanying marginalized families, serving pilgrims at Lourdes and restoring a hermitage.
The video below showcases this last day in Loyola before the pilgrims were sent off by Jesuit Father General Adolfo Nicolás:
Experiencing Magis as a Reporter
Kaitlyn McCarthy (back row, black shirt) with the MAGIS 2011 Communications Team met with Father General Adolfo Nicolás in Loyola
In a year pilgrims from across the globe will arrive to begin their Magis experience in Brazil. In 2013, Jesuits from the Jesuit Post will travel to Brazil to cover the event on behalf of the US Jesuits.
In 2011 reporters included Kaitlyn McCarthy, who worked in the Communications Department the offices of the Jesuit Conference of the United States in Washington, D.C. But, for three weeks, she assigned to the Magis team and wrote and blogged for the entirety of the trip and during World Youth Day. She submitted this reflection to us on her trip overseas and becoming apart of the large contingency of Magis volunteers and pilgrims.
My trip to Magis really ramped up two days before my actual flight took off. Receiving an email from one of the communication coordinators, I found out that I would be participating in the experiences not only as a member of the communications team (which I already knew) but additionally in the role of pilgrim. I wouldn’t be staying with the rest of the communications team, but rather accompanying the students; doing what they did, eating what they ate, sleeping where they slept. Now, I would be an embedded reporter in pilgrimage.
“What?!” I thought, as I finished the email. No bed! No regular shower! And most importantly, no guaranteed coffee! As I rushed off to a sporting goods store to buy last minute but much needed camping equipment, I began to reflect on my expectations of Magis and how they were already changed by a simple email.
“Will I do my job well? Will I communicate effectively outside my comfort zone? Is the possible language barrier going to be a problem? Will I embarrass myself professionally?”
These thoughts, unfortunately, continued to swirl in my head as I packed for my flight. The flight to Madrid was uneventful. No line at customs; the official with a cursory glance, stamped the appropriate pages, and I was in! Grabbing my bags, I arrived to a sunny, warm and welcoming Madrid. The weather, while hot, was a sweet relief from the hot and humid Washington I left.
My comfort zone was quickly throw aside just with the simple time change. Yet transitioning from Eastern Time to Spanish time is about more than just switching time zones. When do you eat? Lunch at noon? Nope – try 3pm. Dinner at 6pm? Sorry, we’re closed – come back at 9pm.
The Magis Communications team members began to pour into Madrid, meeting at the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Recuerdo before driving for five hours to Loyola in caravan. Driving through the plains Castille, we saw the craggy mountains signaling our transition into Basque country, the home of St. Ignatius. While my expectations had already changed, the excitement among all the members of the Communications Team was evident, and the common bond of this adventure already began to form. We were all out of our comfort zones, doing something many of us had never done before.
Winding through valleys and mountains, we made our way to the town of Azkoitia, where Loyola is located. One common misconception is that Loyola is a town. I’ve asked multiple Spanish Jesuits about this, and I keep being told “Loyola is a place in the town of Azkoitia.” For such a small village, the Basilica of Saint Ignatius is a baroque masterpiece nestled in the unassuming valley. It makes a visitor wonder how they were able to move all the marble and building materials over these mountains.
The area around the basilica is already buzzing with activity in anticipation of the pilgrims arriving en masse. Numbers hover somewhere around 2,500 attendants, which will exponentially increase Azkoitia’s population. We are working long hours, but there is a common ideal to help pilgrims – both in Spain and at home alike – to participate in MAGIS, bringing them closer to God.
The video below will give you a glimpse of the full day of preparation as the Magis pilgrims arrived yesterday and the opening ceremony in the evening on the grounds of the Sanctuary of Loyola.
Magis 2011 begins today at the Sanctuary of Loyola
For the pilgrims arriving in Loyola today to begin their Magis experience, this is just the start of their 10 days of being “with Christ at the heart of the world.”
For the Magis volunteers, coordinators, Jesuits, lay partners and organizers, Magis 2011 has been over a year of planning, preparing and practicing. It has all been leading up to this day.
Six Students from U.S. Jesuit Schools Plan to Report on Magis & World Youth Day Experiences
Six students from Jesuit colleges and universities in the Maryland, New England and New York Provinces of the Society of Jesus have volunteered to report on their experiences at Magis and World Youth Day.
Look for their tweets, photos and commentary here and on our twitter feed throughout the month!
These Magis/World Youth Day reporters are:
 Caroline Davis is often thinking about sports. A junior at Saint Joseph’s University, she’s majoring in sports marketing and is junior manager of the men’s basketball team. When she graduates she hopes to work on public relations or marketing for a sports team. She is well-connected to the Church as well. A parishioner at St. Barbara’s in Philadelphia, she is head sacristan for campus ministry, a leader and participant in Koinonia. When members of her parish went to WYD in Toronto, she decided then she wanted to go a future World Youth Day. When Caroline’s parents threw in their support, she knew it was a go. Now she just has to pack. The meetings and retreats are over. Once she figures out how to get everything in her bag, she’ll be ready. Oh, there’s one more thing: she’s been looking for an item to trade with other WYD participants. And she’s hit on it: the rally towel used by Philadelphia Phillies fans. “Since baseball is the great American pastime, I was thinking it would be a great thing to bring,” she said.
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 Elena Habersky has a long answer for what she does at the University of Scranton: Hoping to work in Foreign Service or for an NGO in the Middle East or North Africa, she’s a double major in International Studies and Philosophy, Minor in Arabic, Concentration in Peace and Justice Studies, and her extra curricular activities include Justice Club, University Ministries, United Students for Fair Trade, Invisible Children Club, and I work at The Language Learning Center for the Department of World Languages and Cultures. Oh, and she’s spending her junior year at the American University in Cairo. She’s leaving two weeks after she returns from World Youth Day. Elena has been hearing World Youth Day stories since her Aunt Janice went to the Colorado pilgrimage in the 1980s. In fact, she’s taking her aunt’s WYD shirt with her. Elena, a parishioner at St. Therese’s Church in Shavertown, Pennsylvania, has been hoping she’d have the chance to go her self for a long time. She knew she was going after she handed in the deposit and got an email saying she was going. “That was a great email,” she said.
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 Beth Villanyi, a sophomore at Saint Joseph’s University, has wanted to go to World Youth Day since she heard stories from friends who attended WYD in Sydney in 2008. Although she’s signed up and she’s ready to go, ”It still hasn’t hit me that we’re going,” she said. “I probably won’t realize we’re on the way until I set foot on the plane.” A psychology major with a minor in fine arts, Beth keeps busy at SJU. She plays rugby, and takes part in Appalachian Experience, the Students for Peace and Justice, Koinonia and the school’s weekly service program. A parishioner of Church of the Resurrection in her hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland, she looks forward to meeting people from around the world, even if she’s worried about language barriers. “I’m very excited for the Magis program and to be part of this experience.”
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 Andrew Bevilacqua, a junior at Fordham University, doesn’t expect to have language problems during Magis and World Youth Day. He’s majoring in Spanish and English and hopes to teach after college — perhaps at a great Jesuit high school such as his alma mater, Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. A parishioner at St. Anastasia in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, he’s active at Fordham. He’s a Christian Life Community leader and a liturgical minister, as well as a tutor in a weekend program for kids in Bronx grade schools. When Andrew went to an information session about World Youth Day he wasn’t sure he wanted to go — until he saw video from the Sydney WYD. “As the meeting went on and we heard more about our pilgrimage and watched some promotional videos for the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney and this year’s in Madrid, I started thinking that going would be an amazing experience,” he said. Now he can’t wait. “I talked to a good friend of mine who went to the last World Youth Day in Sydney, and he said that it’s an earth-shattering experience for your faith, because you meet so many different people from different places but are able to bond instantly with them because you’re sharing that powerful spirit that brought you all to World Youth Day. So, I’m looking forward to that feeling of camaraderie and fellowship — with my own Fordham group and everyone else — the most.” He expects he’ll be talking a lot about World Youth Day when it’s over.
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 Kimberly Vo – she likes to be called Kimmi — is a sophomore at Boston College. A business major, Kimmi is also a member of the college’s hip-hop dance company, Synergy. “I’m looking forward to the whole experience a lot. I don’t know how I feel about trekking in 90 degree weather for hours at a time, but I’m sure that’ll just add to the experience,” she says with an optimistic spirit. She’s been preparing for her adventure by attending retreats, including one sponsored for WYD participants at BC, and attending church more often. A member of St. Ambrose Parish in Dorchester, Massachusetts, Kimmi decided she wanted to take part in World Youth Day during a talk on “BC Hook-Up Culture” with Professor Kerry Cronin. Professor Cronin had talked about seeing the pope at World Youth Day. WYD pilgrims have to pack lightly but Kimmi’s debating whether to take her ukelele and her koala toy Walli.
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 Gabriella Karina, a junior communications major at Boston College, is active in Smart Women Securities as well as two Catholic student groups, the St. Thomas More and Gratia Plena, and in the spring, an ambassador for the Options through Education program at BC. In addition, Gabriella has danced in BC’s culture shows with the Southeast Asian Student Association and the Korean Students Association. She works as a receptionist at the Jesuit residence, St. Mary’s Hall. Gabriella, a parishioner at St. Antoninus in Cincinnati, calls Cincinnati home since she has lived there for the past six years though she grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia. Although she considers her dream job to be as an event planner in Los Angeles, she said, “I’ll just follow whatever/wherever God leads me.” Gabriella was not able to go to World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008 so she made a concerted effort to attend WYD in Madrid. “I think I look forward most to 1) MAGIS 2) meeting a lot of people from literally, all over the world with the same faith!!! That thought alone blows my mind away, let alone attending Mass with the Pope and the adoration!” she said. |
Pilgrims and Their Jesuit Chaperones Headed to Spain for Magis 2011
Over 200 young people from Jesuit schools across the United States are getting set to join their Jesuit chaperones and hundreds of other young people from Jesuit schools across the globe for this year’s Magis 2011 in Spain.
The events kick off this Friday at the birthplace of the founder of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and from there pilgrims disperse across Spain and Portugal for their week-long experiences as diverse as volunteering in a prison, accompanying marginalized families, serving pilgrims at Lourdes or restoring a hermitage. There are six types of experiences: Pilgrimage, Social Service, Art and Creativity, Faith and Culture, Spirituality and Ecology. Almost 100 experiences are planned.
After, the Magis pilgrims will join back together in Madrid along with hundreds of thousands of others who are there for the World Youth Day 2011 festivities.
But, before their three week pilgrimage in Spain can begin, the pilgrims need to pack! Since accommodations will include roughing it across the country while staying in dormitories and even camping outdoors, the pilgrims are expected to carry what they need only in a backpack.
Marquette University student Emma Scuglik is taking us along on her travels to Spain. In the video below, she shares her excitement with us as she packs for Spain and tries to figure out how she is going to fit everything she needs for a three week trip into just one backpack.
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