MAGIS 2023: creating a hope-filled future
The MAGIS 2023 Team: Joana Barbado, ACI; João
Pedro Filipe; Sam Beirão, SJ
From “Jesuits 2023 - The Society of Jesus in the
world”]
A presentation of the world Ignatian youth gathering previous to the World Youth Day with the Pope in Portugal.
The life of Jesus is a story of encounters. And the life of Christians is a story of successive encounters with Jesus. Each of us is the writer of a page of the faith we share. As was Ignatius of Loyola. Deeply moved by the life of Christ he found in his convalescence, he wished to be another Christ in the world, in search of the magis that would bring him closer to the Lord of Life.
The magis of Ignatius bore fruit and is a gift for the Church and for the whole world, today. It is the search for God’s will by each of his children in the depths of their being.
Today, throughout the world, the Ignatian language is able to kindle encounters, unite people, set in motion those who look for a community in which to live their faith.
A pilgrim from Lebanon who has participated in some editions of MAGIS says that her “favorite part of each MAGIS is meeting people from all over the world.” We certainly live in times of constant movement, of meetings at a distance made possible by networks. But we miss the contact, the spontaneity of the sight, the laughter, the sharing.
Therefore, whenever you think of a MAGIS encounter, you dream of the joy of the common celebration.
Pope Francis’ announcement in Panama in 2019
filled the Portuguese with joy. When we heard that the next World Youth Day
would be in Portugal, we immediately began to dream of the Pope’s coming to our
country. In particular, the Jesuits and the Ignatian Family in Portugal began
to dream about MAGIS 2023.
MAGIS is already under construction
MAGIS grows and takes shape in various encounters, meetings and times of prayer between the members of the coordination team: a layman, a woman religious, Handmaid of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and three Jesuits - from Portugal, Zimbabwe and Brazil. It was in prayer and sharing that a name was found: MAGIS 2023: creating a hope-filled future. Inspired by the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus for 2019-2029, we commit ourselves to accompany young people in creating a hope-filled future.
Youth are the protagonists of the present time. We live in the age of big questions and big desires. It is the age of the search for God and the meaning of life. Youth are the ones who can make their voice heard in the fight for justice. But they are also the most likely victims of poverty and exclusion caused by contemporary inequalities. They are the hope for an increasingly ecological and sustainable future and the heirs of the way we treat our Common Home.
We want MAGIS 2023 to be an experience that
deepens motivation and strengthens youth’s commitment to the world. We hope
that, at the end of these ten days, their eyes can see and their hearts are
prepared to create, as a new generation, a hope-filled future. This
determination will point the direction of the following days: World Youth Day
will be attended by millions of young people who, inspired by Mary, cannot
stand still, but who, having got up, leave hastily to any place where peace,
justice and happiness are not a reality yet.
We dream... And we dream a lot! It is the third Apostolic Preference that makes us enter into this dynamic of hope and dream. The logo chosen for MAGIS 2023 also brings us into this movement: the waves evoke the opening to dialogue, to new horizons, to welcoming and meeting so many cultures. The five corners in the MAGIS 2023 logo are present on the Portuguese flag and represent the five wounds of Christ. While the colors of the lettering are those of the Portuguese flag. The blue reminds us of Mary, Our Lady, Queen of Portugal and Mother of the Society of Jesus. Mary who arose and left with haste, the motto that Pope Francis chose for the XXVIII World Youth Day in Portugal.
From 22 to 31 July 2023, Lumiar Ignatian Center, in Lisbon, will be transformed into the big MAGIS Villa. A school, a university center, a guesthouse, a parish, JRS, various Ignatian works and the Jesuit Provincial Curia. All at the service of the two thousand young people between the ages of 18 and 30, Jesuits and religious of Ignatian spirituality from more than 100 countries around the world who will gather to celebrate this great event.
We are challenged to continue Ignatius’ dream,
to create this story together. A story that has a lot of future, a hope-filled
future.
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