17 February 2025
Bilbao Campus
More than 350 young people from different MAG+S, MAG+S communities, linked to the institutions that are part of the network, including 6 students from Deusto and two chaperones, participated in the 3rd edition of the MAG+S Macro-meeting, which took place from February 14 to 16 at Colegio San José (Valladolid).
Under the motto 'Come, follow me', which is the Líneas de Fuerza del curso 2024/25, the young people were invited to stop and delve into God's dream for each one of them. In this sense, the school became a space for sharing, where each young person could deepen their faith journey and respond to the call of Jesus. In fact, the vocational theme was the central axis of these days.
Some of the young people met again in yet another Ignatian experience and many met for the first time, something that further strengthens the network of MAG+S communities in Spain. The presence of Jesuits, religious (Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, Sisters of Jesus and Mary, Daughters of Jesus, Sisters of the Society of Mary and Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) and lay people of Ignatian spirituality (CLC and people committed to the mission), provided a close and personalized accompaniment to each participant.
The opinion on vocation
For Maite Gutiérrez, from Seville, vocation is finding the path of each person: “It means responding to what we are called to, where God imagines us to be happy and where we find ourselves in our place,” she said. He adds that it is also a search and a destiny: “These days in Valladolid have strengthened me a lot, for me to follow Jesus is a gift that I do not want to waste,” he explains.
For Luis Arranz SJ it has been a great opportunity to accompany: “I have met many people and I have been able to accompany many doubts and concerns, as well as to bring young people closer to Jesus,” he acknowledges. Luis is clear: for this Jesuit, vocation means life: “It means everything.
In the opinion of Jesús Leach, from Zaragoza, coming to the macro-meeting has been an opportunity to see many people and to get in touch again: “I haven't seen them for a long time, since Easter or WYD, and it's a good opportunity to meet them again,” he says. His greatest learning has been that God has a dream for him: “God sets me free and wherever I go, I am sure that He will give me the necessary gift to be able to give myself,” he says. On vocation: “For me, it is to stop making oneself and let God make me, which is a bit like looking for what God wants in my life and turning it over to Him,” he ad
The 'fast food' way of thinking
Enric Puiggròs Llavinés SJ, provincial of the Society of Jesus in Spain, shared some time with the young people on the last day. He began by valuing what Ignatian spirituality brings: “It is a gift of the Spirit, but it is not the private property of anyone,” he said. During his intervention, he made a grounded reflection on the song 'Declaración de domicilio', by Cristobal Fones SJ: “It is a declaration of intentions to say where we declare our domicile, to say where we want to live”, he began.
God, the Provincial added, expresses himself in the heart of the world in a fuller way: “He walks among the most everyday, if we translate it into modern language... we would say that Artificial Intelligence is an amateur next to God”, he replied. Continuing with his talk, he spoke of today's world and how complex it is at times: “Our society is not comfortable with complicated discourses, but moves in a place of ‘fast food’ thinking, which does not allow us to approach deep reflections,” he said. A depth, in short, that we want so that we do not get lost in the distractions of life.
Link to all the photos.
