The Global Community of Educate Magis is Living the Ignatian Year!

Through the global student project “The World that Christ Desires” and the new global learning experience « 4 Key Practices in Ignatian Spirituality », students and educators from our Jesuits schools all over the world are reflecting on and discerning a way “to see all things new in Christ”.

The theme for this Ignatian Year 2021 – 2022 challenges and invites us to open the eyes of our hearts and see all things new in Christ. As a global network of Jesuit schools, we have invited students to participate in the global reflective and creative activity: “The World that Christ Desires”, a global project inspired by Ignatius, co-creating with Christ.

The project has 4 steps: Context, Experience, Reflection and Sharing, and Creative Action. This is an in-depth prayerful reflective experience that introduces students briefly to the story of Ignatius of Loyola, focusing especially on his experience of conversion and change of perspective. The following 500 years are the fruit of that vision, one that invites us all to dream up and contribute “to building a better world” (Fr. General Arturo Sosa).  The experience part of the project encourages students to pray an Examen, after which, they are invited to a short, personal imaginative reflective exercise, contemplating the world with Christ, as a friend by their side. The final step is a creative action where students will use the insights they gained from this experience together with their imagination to capture their feelings and ideas by way of a creative piece, in the form of drawings, paintings, photos, art pieces, and poems on Educate Magis by using the dedicated album, the link to which is included in The World That Christ Desires Step by Step – Resources and Guide.  

Furthermore, did you know that in the Jesuit tradition, the life, work, and spiritual experiences of Ignatius exemplify a practical way to engage in one’s interior life, by starting with an awareness of personal experience? Some of the spiritual practices and processes Ignatius offered to his companions helped them uncover and deepen their own interior, spiritual development, which in turn helped ignite other fires. Some of these key practices were reflection and reflective prayer (the Examen), attentive listening and speaking (Spiritual Conversations), a specific process to make choices and decisions (Discernment), and integrating these into everyday life and work (Contemplation in Action). The practice and mastery of these Ignatian insights can also help us uncover and deepen our own interior, and spiritual lives enabling us to better accompany others.

To dive deeper into these practices we have invited everyone in our global community to journey through a new course created by members of our global community titled “4 Key Practices in Ignatian Spirituality” a facilitator-led synchronous experience inspired by the life and spiritual experiences of Ignatius of Loyola. The learning dynamics are based also on the widely practiced Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP). Participants engage in activities and interact through discussions led by facilitators and with colleagues from around the world! The course lasts for 8 weeks and each group of learners will have 5 synchronous sessions led by facilitators. For more information go to “4 Key Practices in Ignatian Spirituality” Facilitator Led Course.

These inspiring new Ignatian global experiences are an opportunity for students and educators alike to deepen and gain a deeper understanding of how this 500-year-old tradition is still relevant today and can help us ignite this interior fire and share it with others. Ignatius’ influence is still very much felt today and his spiritual insights, practices, and exercises are alive and fueling our Jesuit and Ignatian schools. We are all invited this year and beyond, to see all things new in Christ, following the example of Ignatius.

Are you participating in “The World that Christ Desires” and/or have you already signed up to participate in the « 4 Key Practices on Ignatian Spirituality » facilitator-led course? If not, we invite you to join us! If you would like to read more about these global Ignatian opportunities please click here: 4 Key Practices on Ignatian Spirituality – A Synchronous Global Learning Experience,  Students Imagining « The World that Christ Desires » – Global Project.  Visit the Educate Magis Ignatian Year page for more information on these projects and read news about the Ignatian Year initiatives in schools around the world.