29/07/2022
Saint Ignatius Day – Words by Francisco Guarner

We are at the gates of the celebration of the feast of St. Ignatius, our patron as alumni of Jesuit schools and universities and of the Ignatian family and communities.

Let us be grateful this year in which we commemorate the conversion of Ignatius of Loyola, that person who 500 years ago saw a new light and began a new path in his life, which transformed himself and has taken us all with him.

He gave a new meaning to his life and with it an education and a guide for our lives. Let us be grateful for that step he took and pray that his example will help us to walk with firmness and will.

Ignacio de Loyola was a fighter and entrepreneur, he was thoughtful and inspiring. Today we have lived a Barcelona in which he also lived, we feel these days of Barcelona 2022 in which we have intensely shared friendship and experiences and where Father General has reopened the feeling of our identity as “jesuit alumni “. We appreciate it.

His message has been clear with his invitation to unite us with passion, creativity, energy and self-identity to the mission of reconciliation and justice that the Society of Jesus has entrusted today. An invitation to learn to collaborate as companions, as mature adults in a shared mission between Alumni and the Society of Jesus.

Let us thus take a new step from our associations to feel part of a global community, capable of collaborating without limits. Let’s not put an end to ourselves and dream with illusion and enthusiasm to be able to share and transfer our feelings of life and experiences.

Let us be especially grateful today for the education we have received and share it with those around us. And let’s sing together with a personal feeling “en todo amar y servir “ .

Francisco Guarner
President of WUJA

 

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