Link between the World Executive Council and the Christian Life Community PROJECTS World CLC Day 2022: From conversion to commitment: a path of love, joy, and friendship. Nº 177, December 2021 Original: English “The wound Ignatius suffered in Pamplona was not so much a happy ending, but rather a happy beginning. Conversion consists sometimes of great moments of change, but it is also a never-ending process. We need to put Christ in the centre every time, again and again.” (Fr. Arturo Sosa SJ.) To the National Executive Councils and all CLC members: Introduction This jubilee year (May 20, 2021 – July 31, 2022), we have been celebrating the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, our patron saint and father in spirituality. Ignatius, healed of his wound, offered himself completely to the Lord. We are also celebrating, on March 12 th, 2022, the 400th anniversary of the canonization of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier who, with several others, co-founded the Society of Jesus. Their friendship in Christ blossomed out of spiritual conversations, the kind of conversations that we seek to engage in CLC and even in our Church today as she prepares for Synod 2023. Additionally, their friendship exemplified an ongoing, deepening commitment in the way of the Spirit, one that grew in love, support, and enthusiasm for one another, on mission together in the world, with Christ. Living in the world, in our humanity, we experience woundedness in many forms—in our personal journeys, in our families, in our workplaces, in our communities, in our Church, in our world. Drawing on the inspiration of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier, we consider how to work through our woundedness to conversion, and we seek ways to offer ourselves to the Lord, through an increased desire to love, to serve, and to deepen our commitment to the CLC way of life on many levels. In this Projects Nª177, we invite our members to identify these areas of woundedness, to reflect on ways to open ourselves to conversion, and to explore ways to deepen in our commitment, service, and friendship in Christ. Ignatius' wound and conversion Ignatius' conversion was the result of a wound, a cannonball that broke his leg, in Pamplona, in 1521. During his convalescence, he discovered that only the Lord can produce in us a lasting, profound joy, CHRISTIAN LIFE COMMUNITY – COMMUNAUTÉ DE VIE CHRÉTIENNE – COMUNIDAD DE VIDA CRISTIANA 1 Link between the World Executive Council and the Christian Life Community different from the superficial joy that disappears and plunges us back into sadness. "No one will take your joy away from you" (Jn 16:22). As a result of this wound, Ignatius experienced a personal encounter with the Lord. Christ touched his heart. He realized that the Lord is the source of life, of his life, that He has given him everything, that "all good comes down from above" (SE 237). He then converted, changed his life and offered himself entirely to the service of His Divine Majesty. Ignatius did not choose to keep his experience to himself. He shared it with us in the book of the Spiritual Exercises, in order to allow others to be touched by the Lord, to be converted, and to follow Him. After his conversion in Loyola, he started his life as a poor pilgrim following his newly discovered God. He left everything aside, but he discovered that that was not enough. In his deep crisis in Manresa, he touched the roots of his physical, mental, and spiritual vulnerability and finally, he realized that the mercy of God was immensely greater than his sins and his good actions. This experience is what he shared with us in the Spiritual Exercises. It is a blessed wound that has given us such a saint! My wound and my conversion Like Ignatius, each one of us has perhaps been hit in our lives by a cannonball, a shock, an incident, a particular event that wounded us, made us suffer, put us in a situation of doubt and uncertainty, of handicap, and which led to a turning point in our lives, a conversion, a change. In that particular moment, the loving Lord reached out to us, touched the heart of each of us, in one way or another. He came to meet us. He healed the wound and allowed us to get back on the road. We do not have to look far to identify this woundedness: personal traumas, health problems, global pandemic, ecological crises, polarization, racism, poverty, marginalization, colonialization, corruption, violence, war, hunger, etc. We look to Jesu