BUFFALO, NY – Canisius University is celebrating its Ignatian ideals with the launch of the MAGIS@Canisius video project. In the inaugural video in the series, Ashleigh Maciejewski ’15 reflects on a campus ministry service immersion trip to El Salvador in May 2014.
While in El Salvador, students investigated a foreign culture in order to serve individuals on the margins of society. Nowhere is that better illustrated than inEl Salvador. In the capital, San Salvador, students visited after school programs and a women’s empowerment program, the home of a local street vendor, Catholic Relief Services offices and League, a factory run by former gang members and people with disabilities.
“The trip was an opportunity for the students to learn about and understand a culture that has suffered, and yet, finds hope and the strength to journey together, despite the poverty that still endures,” says Michael Hayes, director of campus ministry. “Many Salvadoran people spoke to the students about their experiences in the horrendous Civil War. Their resiliency is inspirational.”
Students heard first-hand accounts of the atrocities of the Civil War and the stories of courage and optimism that followed from a local priest, a catechist, and women who worked with or knew the late Archbishop Oscar Romeo. They also visited the memorial site where six Jesuits, their housekeeper and daughter were murdered in 1989.
“This is the first in a series of MAGIS@Canisius videos produced by The Offices of Campus Ministry and Mission and Identity,” observed Rev. Michael Tunney, S.J., director of mission and identity. “Mike Hayes and I look forward to exploring the ongoing experiences of our Canisius community members who are living the Ignatian ideal of magis (from the Latin term “for more”) here on campus, in our Buffalo community and around the world. Ashleigh provides us a beautiful start!” View Ashleigh’s reflection here.
The myMAGIS Project, originally shared with the campus community during the 2013 Advent and 2014 Lent/Easter seasons, asked students, faculty and administrators to reflect on magis, a key element of Jesuit spirituality, through written essays, and how they experienced this defining ideal in their daily lives.
The myMAGIS graphic is courtesy of Alex Valvo '15.
Canisius is one of 28 Jesuit universities in the nation and the premier private university in Western New York.
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