You see him on the hard court as the Blue Eagles’ team captain. You see him hosting his own television show on GMA 7. You see him at the John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center managing his own business venture. And yet, Chris Tiu (V BSM AMF) still manages to excel in his classes. With his many achievements, many Ateneans consider Tiu as someone who displays the Ignatian value of magis.
Ateneans are usually considered to show magis when they’re consistent dean’s listers and, at the same time, active org officials and members. With this notion, they strive to embody this value by studying hard and going to great lengths to achieve their goals.
But then, what exactly does magis mean?
Being more
“Magis literally means more,” says Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Eduardo Calasanz. “It’s the call to do, to be, and to love more in response to God’s call and the needs of others.”
Beyond this, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ, the University President, further explains magis as indicated by the context St. Ignatius used in Meditation of the Spiritual Exercises.
St. Ignatius wrote the Spiritual Exercises for reflection and meditation. Similar to physical exercises, the Spiritual Exercises is not only read but, more importantly, done. It is divided into four parts, called weeks. The first of these parts is focused on meditations on sin and forgiveness. At the end of this part, St. Ignatius invites the retreatant to pray before the crucifix, remember his sins, and how he’s forgiven. The retreatant should also ask himself what he has done for Christ and what more he might do for Christ.
Nebres says that the gift of Christian spirituality is that even pain and failure become a means for people to be one with the Lord. For St. Ignatius, an outstanding person (magis) would not only work very hard, but also follow Christ even in the face of suffering and humiliation.
“The person who tries to follow the magis is not just a person who works harder and harder and harder,” he says. “But, [he is] a person who is willing to serve others and accept the pain [and suffering] that comes with serving others.”
Models of magis
The first response to St. Ignatius’ invitation in the Spiritual Exercises is work (totus ad laborem), giving oneself completely to the Lord.
This may be misinterpreted by some to mean doing more or working harder. In a survey conducted by the Ateneo Statistics Circle for The GUIDON, only 29% of the 175 respondents believe that magis means doing more for God. The majority believes that it’s either about doing more work, getting into the dean’s list, joining as many organizations as possible, or doing social work.
Omi Castañar (V AB DS), president of the Sanggunian, observes that, because of this misconception, students would tend to look at magis based only on their output. They overlook the means and ways they achieve magis, as well as its meaning for them.
He also believes that the Ateneans’ understanding of magis changes over time. For example, the Ateneans of the late 1980s may have thought people who embodied magis were those who went to rallies, studied well, and were also articulate in expressing their political views.
Meanwhile, Calasanz believes that students think of magis as getting high grades and joining more student organizations because these are easy to get, easy to count, and easy to talk about. “It’s [magis] more of a qualitative thing but it’s easier to talk about if you just reduce it to quantitative terms,” he says.
For Nichel Gaba (IV BS ME), Ateneo Christian Life Community president, Ateneans exemplify magis based on the values they grew up with. He says that a person frequently going to the library because he values studying may exemplify magis in the academic field.
Castañar thinks, however, that the students are driven to excel in their studies to find good jobs in the future. The end goal then is neither giving glory to God nor finding self-actualization.
He doesn’t blame Ateneans for thinking this way because he says it’s in the culture they participate in. “It’s a mix of family pressures, peer pressure, and even the competitive environment within the Ateneo,” he says. In fact, according to the said survey, 66% of the respondents feel burnt out from trying to incorporate magis in their lives.
So-called hell weeks are times when Ateneans are usually more compelled than the usual to exemplify magis. At this time, students are usually bombarded with more orals, papers, and tests than the usual.
Although many complain about hell weeks, some like Winna Francisco (III BS Psy) see them as something positive. “What sets Ateneans apart from other schools is [that] students are really pushed to their limits,” she says. “We’re given the opportunity to join orgs that would explore our different talents and capabilities. Then, we juggle those with academics so we are honed to be holistic.”
Tiu believes, however, that magis as pushing for more is not always what’s best. “If you think of it always as doing more, how can you keep helping or serving others more and more and at the same time take care of your own well being?” he asks.
The challenge of magis today
“I guess in a way, we all want to become more,” says Gaba. “We want to be the best we can be, but the challenge is re-focusing, like, at this point in my life, what are the things that are important to me? Is it DOTA? Is it drinking every weekend? Or is it helping other people, teaching, and also maintaining healthy relationships?”
According to Nebres, there’s the need for Ateneans to think about their daily experiences and separate themselves from the roles they portray. Identifying oneself too much with roles may result to taking criticism too personally. “Separate God from work, studies and other things. Learn to be able to retreat to that world which is you, your family, and God and say to yourself that these other things are important but they are not you in the deeper sense,” says Nebres.
For Francisco, Ateneans learn magis through the different stages of the Integrated Non-Academic Formation Program. Through the program, students are made more aware of the reality of poverty by immersing themselves in a working class environment. She also believes, however, that this value should always be reiterated to the Ateneans since it’s not explicitly taught in academic subjects.
To make the spirit of magis more explicit, Sanggu is currently working with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (ADSA) office on a campaign for good citizenry. This campaign is not only a response to the apparent increase in disciplinary cases this school year. It’s also a way of addressing the youth’s underlying problems that could lie underneath these cases.
According to Castañar, these disciplinary cases manifest a trend among students of “feeling lost,” of groping in their lives in terms of relationships with their families, peers, and even themselves. Many are looking for role models and new paths to follow, but are cynical with regard to current issues. He believes that this campaign will try to go back to the students’ morals as a starting point, to make magis more explicit.
“Magis is a spirit, an attitude. It’s not a noun. It’s an adjective and an adverb,” asserts Calasanz. For him, the challenge of magis is to be attentive to God’s personal call and to the call of others.
“Everyone can live it [magis] out in every action or decision that they make in their everyday lives,” says Tiu. He believes that magis can be lived out even in small things, like warmly greeting the school personnel or honestly answering exams.
“The challenges of living out magis are to realize that life is not always full of work and success and to continue to care and to love even when there is pain,” says Nebres. “For Ignatius, magis is ultimately a question of love and the heart.”
*with a report from Maria Antonea C. Bernardino
