Rome – SJES Publishes a New Book ‘Cannonball Moments’
On Tuesday, September 19, the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat published on its website the digital version of the book, “Cannonball Moments: Testimonies of Conversion.” This new publication, available in English and Spanish, presents an anthology of conversion stories within the Jesuit social apostolate from the six Jesuit Conferences worldwide.
The anthology is a follow-up to the 2021-2022 Ignatian Jubilee Year celebration, “To see all things new in Christ,” which marked the 500th anniversary of St. Ignatius’s conversion after being hit by a cannonball. Curated are 25 testimonies from nearly 150 website-published narratives of personal encounters with the Lord in accompanying the poor and excluded. No two testimonies are the same. Each is unique and beautiful, often impossible to describe in words. We believe that these real-life stories can move people’s hearts, as it happened in the life of Ignatius, by reading the lives of saints while convalescing.
The theologian, Paul Béré SJ in the foreword writes, “Human suffering is repugnant. It provokes revulsion and can inspire hatred and violence in those with pure and wounded hearts who are outraged by all suffering. But the testimonies in this book confirm the transformative power of believers who see people in distress, crushed by life, lonely and helpless, imprisoned by society’s indifferent gaze and hindered by hatred and injustice. Each story illustrates the words of the eternal King: For I was hungry and you gave me food… (Matt. 25:35-36).”
These testimonies mirror how people motivated by altruism to serve the poor personally encountered Christ. Through the grace-filled encounter, they evolved as Christ’s contemporary disciples, “seeing all things new in Christ.”
Testimonies of Conversion
The official launch of the book will take place soon. You can now download the PDF version for free by clicking
Here
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