Upbeat about AMDG
Some 300 young people from across the country are participating in the first year of a pilot program run by Boston College that seeks to promote the renewal and expansion of Catholic faith practices for participants by means of a yearlong immersion in faith exploration and service through Jesuit spirituality.
The program, AMDG (short for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, the Latin version of the Jesuits’ motto “For the Greater Glory of God”), is being operated under the aegis of BC’s Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies and supported through a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its National Youth and Young Adult Initiative on Faith and Service.
The participants come from Boston College and 24 other Jesuit institutions—high schools, colleges/universities, and parishes—across 18 states.
“Though each participant has a different background and experience, what ties them together is an openness to Catholic belief and practice,” said AMDG Program Director William Healy.
According to organizers, AMDG is about providing both breadth and depth of experience. “There’s so much beauty in Catholic faith practices,” said Healy. “We’re trying to give everyone an encounter with the rich varieties of ways to engage in the faith: liturgical, sacramental, prayer, pilgrimage, communal, contemplative, and service based. For those participants who may already engage in many of these practices, we want to offer a way and a space to go deeper in their belief, practice, and understanding of what it means to be a person of generosity and service in the world.”
AMDG participants began their year on campus last July where they took part in “Ever to Excel,” a weeklong transformative program for youth and young adults seeking meaning and help discerning their place in the world. Built on the foundation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, “Ever to Excel” features activities, group discussions, and keynote speakers to help guide the participants in deepening their faith, discovering their gifts, and gaining valuable tools for personal discernment.
The AMDG cohorts range in ages from 16 to 28. “In terms of programming, what works for a 16-year-old boy is quite different from what works for a 27-year-old adult woman in the workforce,” said Healy. “But we are enjoying the age difference because the cohorts are learning from one another. Some of the adult parish participants reported being energized and inspired by the passion of the younger participants. And of course, the older participants have a great deal of life experience and wisdom to share with our high school participants. So, while the generational difference can be difficult, it’s also been really rewarding.”
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(Left to right) AMDG Program leaders: Assistant Director Evan Mansour and Director Will Healy (Photo by Matthew Healy)
During the academic year, the participants are back at their home institutions where they take part in various faith formation activities and community service. Each of the 25 cohorts is led by an ambassador from their home site.
The faith formation piece of AMDG consists of biweekly meetings that can include reflections on service experiences, Eucharistic adoration, reciting the rosary, or discussions about faith and spirituality.
“While AMDG is a new program, it’s based on practices, ideas, and beliefs that are hundreds and thousands of years old,” said Healy.
Throughout the program, the vast resources of the IAJS and BC’s Church in the 21st Century Center are available for the ambassadors to use with their cohort. By the end of the program, each cohort also will have participated in a four-day retreat at one of the Jesuit retreat houses in Grand Coutu, La., Oshkosh, Wisc., or Dallas.
“I am so pleased with the beginnings of this important program,” said Haub Vice President for Mission and Ministry Casey C. Beaumier, S.J. “Jesuit spirituality has been so helpful to so many people for so many years. AMDG demonstrates Boston College’s commitment to the future by promoting the gifts of this spirituality for future generations.”
The cohort from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland is led by ambassador Joe Betz, a Boston College alumnus who serves as the school’s theology department chair. He credits the flexibility inherent in AMDG’s platform as a major benefit because it allows him the freedom to create, recruit, organize, structure, and adapt programming to fit the needs of his community.
“The formation through classes, guest speakers, and collaboration with other adults in the AMDG program have permitted me to think creatively and outside the box with some of the best and brightest in the Jesuit school network and beyond,” added Betz.
His cohort’s community service project is with an afterschool program for elementary and middle school children. They help the younger students with homework and participate in activities such as sports and cooking. The cohort members also are reading The Call to Discernment in Troubled Times: New Perspectives on the Transformative Wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola by Dean Brackley, S.J., in preparation for their retreat.
Betz says his students have told him that taking part in AMDG has deepened their faith, personal relationship with God, and commitment to service.
As part of AMDG, ambassadors have the opportunity to participate in a 15-credit academic program that will deepen their understanding of the spirituality, history, and leadership methods associated with the Society of Jesus and its apostolates. Those completing the program will earn a Certificate in Jesuit Studies from the IAJS.
In addition to the ambassadors, key figures in the AMDG program are the beadles, 25 Boston College undergraduate student leaders who each are matched with a cohort.
“The beadles are companions on this yearlong journey,” said AMDG Program Assistant Director Evan Mansour. “They have been wonderful leaders.”
“They participate with their cohort in Ever to Excel, play a leadership role in the retreat, and serve as role models by demonstrating what it means to be fully engaged in their faith and in this year of discovery,” added Healy.
Lynch School of Education and Human Development sophomore Steve Martins serves as a beadle for the cohort from Fairfield College Preparatory School, an all-male high school. “I knew that becoming a beadle would not only help strengthen my own spiritual life, but also the spiritual lives of the young men I would be responsible for.”
The cohort from Fairfield Prep volunteers weekly at Blessed Sacrament Parish’s food pantry, which serves more than 500 families. Martins has visited his cohort at Fairfield Prep and accompanied the group on their retreat in Louisiana.
For most of the retreat, participants were asked to remain silent and technology was off limits. Martins called the experience powerful and life changing.
“The retreat helped me see parts of my spiritual life that I had never noticed before,” Martins recalled. “It also pushed me to ask deeper questions about my relationship with God, the way I live my life, and how those two things connect.”
Martins described a moment from the retreat that captured the AMDG experience, which occurred upon reflecting on the passage from Exodus about Moses and the burning bush. “What stood out to me most was how that encounter happened. Moses was simply going about his day, as we often do, but when he noticed something unusual about the bush, he stopped. He took the time to pay attention and understand what was happening, and that is how he encountered God.
“The AMDG program gives young people, from beadles to participants, the opportunity to do the same in their own lives,” he continued. “It invites us to pause in our busy routines, step back from distractions, and reflect on where God is present.”
Julia Kobayashi ’27, a Global Public Health and the Common Good major who serves as a beadle for a cohort of young adults from St. Thomas More parish in St. Paul, Minn., echoed Martins’ assessment.
“AMDG provides unique spaces to remove yourself from real life for a little bit, which is so refreshing amidst the busyness of life,” she said. “Ever to Excel, the retreat, and the service projects are all chances to have an extensive, dedicated amount of time to reflect on and grow in our individual faith and spirituality.”
She added that members of her cohort have said the AMDG program has had them step out of their comfort zone, but that it has led to spiritual growth.
“Jesuit spirituality has been so helpful to so many people for so many years. AMDG demonstrates Boston College’s commitment to the future by promoting the gifts of this spirituality for future generations.”
The capstone to the AMDG program will be pilgrimages along the Camino Ignaciano in Spain that take place in May and June, during which the participants follow the footsteps taken in 1522 by St. Ignatius. A Jesuit will serve as a companion for each of the pilgrimages. He will celebrate Mass daily and provide spiritual and historical context throughout the journey. Beadles, including Martins and Kobayashi, plan to accompany their cohorts on the pilgrimage.
While the ambassadors and beadles are a part of AMDG to support the formation and growth of the participants, AMDG is a year of discovery, formation, and leadership development for them as well, according to AMDG organizers.
“They are not merely chaperones or facilitators,” said Healy. “They are meant to benefit from the beauty of this tradition and this experience so that they too can continue their formation, growth, and development and to carry that with them into the rest of their life. What AMDG is doing through this program, among other things, is developing the next generation of leaders in our Jesuit high schools, colleges, universities, and parishes.”
Healy and Mansour expressed gratitude to Fr. Beaumier; Mission and Ministry Associate Vice President Matt Schweitzer; Ever to Excel leaders Dan Balk and Elizabeth Campell; partners at the C21 Center; and the entire IAJS team for their collaboration and support in this inaugural year of AMDG.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the partner parishes, universities, high schools, and their leadership, and each site’s program ambassador for their partnership and for their collaboration,” they added.