Energised and inspired by its first experience of MAGIS in Madrid in 2011, the Korean Province is deep into preparations for MAGIS-World Youth Day (WYD) 2013 in Brazil. Fr Joseph Songyong Choe SJ shares their preparations with us.
A group of 34 went to the MAGIS in Madrid – three Jesuits, one sister of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and 30 young adults. On their return from Spain, participants reflected on their experience of MAGIS, and we organized three prayer teams as follow-up. The prayer gatherings continued for about a year; and the group still meets occasionally.
For MAGIS-WYD2013 in Brazil, the Korean Province has a delegation of 27 pilgrims (12 men and 15 women) travelling from Korea, who include two Jesuits (Fr Jong-In Park SJ and Scholastic Hoi-Kang Jung SJ) and a priest of Daejeon Diocese who works in youth pastoral activities. Four university students studying abroad, in the United States, South Africa and Mexico, will join us in Salvador. Also in our group is a journalist from The Catholic Times in Korea who will report and introduce MAGIS Brazil to the Korea Catholic Church.
Since we recruited young adults to MAGIS Brazil last December, we have been holding preparation meetings twice a month. Using preparatory material from the organizing office of MAGIS Brazil, we pray and reflect together; and share our reflections on Facebook. We also spend time learning Ignatian spirituality, and we celebrate mass in different languages (Spanish, Portuguese, English and Korean) in rotation. In addition, we invite international exchange students of Sogang University to join us, and from them we are learning basic Portuguese, the country’s culture, and some songs. The Korean MAGIS team has recently begun preparing a short performance for the “Festival of Nations”, to introduce Korean culture and images through traditional dance and songs to the young adults of the world.
Before 2011, the Korean Province had organised somewhat static programmes, such as retreats, for youth and young adults. However, since 2011 we have been trying to have more active programmes. Some of these are Catholic Youth Talk, a programme to encourage greater passion and a freer life among young adults through discussions of issues encountered by those in their 20s and 30s; Rdv (Rendezvous), which seeks to build solidarity with neighbours through community reflection; Religious Life Experience School of the Society of Jesus, which uses the Spiritual Exercises to help in developing the personality and character of youth; and Catholic Academy, academic lectures on a variety of topics to help deepen the quality and depth of the life of youth.In the very early morning of July 12, the Korean MAGIS group will arrive in Salvador where the first Jesuit missionaries arrived to begin their mission in South America. The pilgrims will participate in a three-day festival with other Ignatian youth from around the world, after which they will be divided into four groups (Arts, Social Action, Cultural Immersion, and Ecology) and sent to various regions of Brazil such as the Amazon, northeast Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Rio Grande do Sul. The young pilgrims will meet again in Rio de Janeiro to share the richness of their experiences, and also to be united with millions of other youth from around the world for WYD.
We also organized Sogang MAGIS last summer. For seven nights and eight days, students of Sogang University and the Youth Ministry Team of the Society of Jesus visited the “Village of the Sacred Heart” for people afflicted with leprosy. During the day, the students spent time with the lepers, and in the mornings and evenings, they had a MAGIS programme comprising the five core elements of Morning Prayer, Liturgy, Activity, MAGIS circle, Examen. Through this voluntary programme, participants developed a sense of God in their own lives and experiences, and they increased their capacity to do something to build a better world. Sogang MAGIS is scheduled to be held again this year, at the Village of the Sacred Heart in August.
Fr Joseph Songyong Choe SJ is responsible for the preparations for the Korean province’s participation in MAGIS 2013.
MAGIS is the most important meeting of Ignatian youth in the world, and is sponsored by the Society of Jesus, in conjunction with World Youth Day. MAGIS 2013 will be held from July 12 to 22 in Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and about 40 other Brazilian cities. It will be one of the largest delegations of WYD. Organizers expect 2,000 young people, between the ages of 18 and 30, to come from 50 countries, including the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Jamaica, Kenya, Lebanon, Syria, Latvia and Lithuania, Singapore, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and Zambia. For more information on MAGIS, visit www.magis2013.com.