This October, I had the grace to join Jesuit Major Superiors from across the world in Rome for the Third Meeting of Major Superiors of the Society of Jesus. Gathered around Fr. General Arturo Sosa, we prayed, reflected, and shared deeply on what it means today to be companions of Jesus – forgiven sinners, sent on mission. 

We began, as always, with retreat. In silence and prayer, we placed ourselves once again be­fore the Lord, asking Him to renew in us the desire to “be placed with the Son,” as St Ignatius once prayed. In a world so marked by division, noise, and speed, these days of recollection reminded us that all good things begin in prayer — that only in the stillness of our hearts can we hear the Lord’s call to serve anew. 

Pope Leo XIV, in his audience with us, echoed this same call. He reminded the Society of Jesus that “the Church needs you at the frontiers – geographical, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual.” The frontiers are not far away: they are found wherever people search for mean­ing, justice, reconciliation, and hope. The Holy Father encouraged us to read the signs of the times with spiritual depth — to be creative and courageous, to walk with Christ to the peripheries of human life. 

Fr. General, in his closing homily at the Church of the Gesù, invited us to humility – the humility of the tax collector who simply says, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” It is in acknowledging our weakness that we discover our true strength: the companionship of Jesus, who calls us, forgives us, and sends us forth. To be a Jesuit is to live under the banner of the Cross, to struggle for faith and for the justice that faith demands. 

As I return home from this encounter, I carry with me a renewed conviction: that our mission flows not from efficiency or success, but from mercy — from knowing that we are loved and forgiven. The Universal Apostolic Preferences continue to point the way: showing the path to God, walking with the excluded, accompanying the young, and caring for our common home. These are not mere programs but invitations to conversion, to deeper companionship with Christ and one another. 

Let us, then, continue to walk humbly and hopefully as companions in mission — rooted in prayer, open to the Spirit, and ready to go wherever the Lord sends us. May Our Lady of the Way guide us always to her Son, that we may serve Him with joy, even at the frontiers.