Renewed in Gratitude: Celebrating the Ignatian Year – Advent Reflections 2021

Robert Stephan, Director of Ignatian Formation and Adult Spirituality at Loyola High School in The United States shares an Advent prayer book – 4th edition,  composed by Loyola colleagues; lay persons and Jesuits who are companions in the mission of Jesuit education.

“Since May of this year the Ignatian family has been celebrating the Ignatian Year, marking the 500th anniversary of Ignatius’ “cannonball experience”; a near-mortal injury that during Ignatius’ convalescence opened a path of conversion. We have contemplated personal cannonball experiences and acknowledged the “global cannonball” that has been the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside the many additional challenges of this time. Words and concepts like pivot, change, disruption and re-thinking are common.

For Ignatius, it doesn’t end with the cannonball; it is in fact the beginning of his journey to, for, and with God. Advent is a time for beginning and renewal. It is a time to consider Emmanuel, intimately present in our lives through the mystery of the Incarnation and made real in the
everyday relationships and encounters we experience. It is a time to wonder at how we might, like Ignatius, emerge from our cannonball experiences with more awareness of God’s daily presence in our lives.

It is a privilege and joy to share this 4th edition of Advent reflections. This year every entry has been composed by Loyola colleagues; laypersons and Jesuits who are companions in the mission of Jesuit education. Advent Blessings! Loyola’s Office for Mission”

Please click here to download the Advent prayer book – 4th edition.