Canisius Launches myMAGIS in Celebration of Ignatian Ideals

January 1, 2014

Buffalo, NY – Canisius University will begin a celebration of shared Ignatian ideals during the Christian season of Advent with a campus-wide reflection and conversation about magis, a key element of Jesuit spirituality. The myMAGIS initiative asks students, faculty and administrators to reflect on how they experience these defining ideals in their daily lives. Participants are then encouraged to share their thoughts in words and images, which will be posted in virtual and public places across campus.

Magis is the Latin word for more,” explains Rev. Michael F. Tunney, SJ, director of mission and identity at Canisius. “It’s also a Jesuit philosophy that calls for a deepening of one’s self-understanding, an openness to the larger world, and a generosity that engages others in the pursuit of wisdom, faith and justice.”

Click here to read current reflections. 

The myMAGIS initiative began on December 1, which is the start of the Advent season, and continues through December 24. A second observance will also run through the 2014 Lent and Easter seasons. It is sponsored by the Canisius offices of Mission and Identity, Campus Ministry and Student Affairs, which last year organized a similar campus-wide reflection and conversation. The Cura Personalis Project invited students, faculty and administrators to express the Ignatian spiritual principle – care for the individual – in writing, on their arms, faces and hands. Participants were photographed and the portraits were posted across campus where they remain on display.

To participate in the myMAGIS initiative, send your reflection to Father Tunney at @email.

Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.