4-11 July 2008. In the experience of World Youth Day in Germany in 2005, there was a clamor to offer an Ignatian program to young adults. With World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, the Jesuits and congregations with Ignatian spirituality such as the Sisters of Charity (RSC), Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ), Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ), and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), collaborated to develop a program that reflects the diversity of both Asia and Australia. Thus, the Magis08 Program accompanies young adults into their own spiritual journey that takes inspiration from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Magis has three components, or you can call it, three experiences in one’s pilgrimage. After all, people who join World Youth Day are called pilgrims.
The first component is called the Experiments. In the formation of Jesuits, the novitiate involves Experiments. The experiments for Filipino novices will include the 30-Day Retreat (the Experience of the full Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius), the Mission Trials (living in a remote mission of Jesuits in Mindanao and Culion), the Hospital Trials (Orthopedic, Mental, Tala, or PGH), Urban Poor, and finally, the Factory Trials. In the Magis08 Philippine Experiment, there were three basic areas: the GK Batangas Site, the Payatas community of the FCJ sisters, and the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service at the Maximum Security in Muntinlupa. It ended with a cultural experience of a mass with BukasPalad, the Ateneo Dormers, Musica Chiesa and the UP Filipiniana Dance Group at the Church of the Gesu, and a Filipino feast with cultural dances. The groups from Georgetown and Fairfield University in the US and the Taiwan Youth delegation enjoyed learning the steps of the Tinikling, the Philippine national dance.
The Experiments is a test, more like a diagnostic exam. Ignatius wanted us to put ourselves in different and unfamiliar situations to understand clearly the truth about other people’s situations, to see how intense our love for others has become, and to discover how far we have reached in our following of Jesus. The idea is not to condemn but to assess so that one could further better oneself towards becoming like Jesus. And thus, the experiments inspire and motivate us to give ourselves more. The “more” here is the Ignatian magis.
We had 46 different Experiments across Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia. In Australia, the pilgrim discovers an indigenous culture and spirituality. Every Experiment involves young people from all over the world: they build friendships, as they also experience the lives of others. They widen their horizons, enrich their lives with the diversity of cultures, discover common aspirations, and experience God more deeply.
Every day in the duration of the Experiment, each pilgrim goes through a process: the Magis Core Elements. It begins with a Morning Prayer, a daily prayer with scripture and points for reflection that gives focus and direction for the day. A mass in small settings: it celebrates the Eucharist with people who share the same significant experiences as the pilgrim. In the Philippine experiment, the mass was said at the venue of the Experiments, in GK’s Batangas site, Payatas, or Muntinlupa. When the day ends, the pilgrims gather for the Magis Circle, a venue for reflection, learning and sharing the Experiment activity. It ends with an Examen. St. Ignatius believes that God works in our lives every single moment. The examen is based on this certainty, so this prayer is done about 10-15 minutes per day (for a Jesuit, twice per day), to see the inner workings of God in our lives.
The Experiments initiates a pilgrim into Ignatian spirituality. It gives a pilgrim a starting point by providing a closer and more personal encounter with a smaller group, a specific cultural community, and a process that is accessible to a young adult.
The second component is a larger Ignatian Gathering at St. Ignatius College in Riverview, Lane Cove, Sydney, Australia.
More pictures at jboygonzalessj.multiply.com. Homily of Final Mass at faithofacenturion.blogspot.com.
