The feast is done! Now what, with Ignatius?
1.17 | August 1, 2020 | Faith, Hope and Love in the Time of Corona
The feast is done — its festive celebrations being a lot subdued this year. I have been here at Manresa House in Ranchi for the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola (c.1491-1556) on 31 July. In what used to be quite a religious extravaganza in pre-pandemic times with High Mass at the Cathedral, followed by a much-anticipated football match between scholastics (those in religious training) and priests, cultural displays, a reception for collaborators and friends, that culminate with a community benediction and dinner; not a few Jesuits remarked to me: “It hardly appears to be a feast this year” — though most of them did welcome this break in its external celebrations.
Remarkably, the subdued celebrations had given rise to a much more meaningful and interior celebration of our spiritual desires. I noticed this spiritual movement not only over here in Ranchi, or in my home province in Goa, but also across the globe. While so much of it had spilled online, the scholastics at Manresa House had organised a very creative nine-day preparatory novena to the feast.
But why fuss about St. Ignatius, and that too, after his feast is done? What relevance does this sixteenth-century Basque nobleman-turned-mystic have for us today? Over the past years, I have kept asking this question, especially in the run-up to his feast. However, this year — especially in the midst of a pandemic — this question seemed particularly relevant to me.
I have pondered on this question not only as a Jesuit but also as a historian who studies the legacies of the five-centuries-old company — the Society of Jesus — that Ignatius founded in 1540. With over 15,000 Jesuits and far too many collaborators spread across the world, the Jesuits remain engaged in a global mission of faith and justice (see video in postscript). In my own field, scholarship on the history of the Jesuits has been a burgeoning domain of research. Some of its most erudite researchers are not necessarily Jesuits, not necessarily male, not necessarily Catholic! Apart from being a field of study, scholarship on the Jesuits has influenced other areas like leadership and management studies. For instance, read Chris Lowney’s Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World.
What gives? In this post, I would like to reflect on the relevance of Ignatius through his spirituality, more so on the meditation on the Principle and Foundation. I believe his spirituality enables us to have a meaningful perspective on our own lives while also maintaining a social concern and commitment.
Ignatius was formed by his own experience and spirituality; which he subsequently bequeathed to the Jesuits and anyone who sought after him. Much of his experience can be found in his Autobiography wherein he narrates on how after having been schooled by God, he learnt to discern God’s voice. It was through his uncertainties that God led him to follow a pilgrim’s path to Rome. His Spiritual Diary (February 1544 - February 1545) give insight into his intense mystical experiences.
Early on — already since the days of his conversion at Pamplona and Loyola (May 1521 - February 1522) and his sojourn at Manresa (March 1522 - February 1523) — Ignatius was able to draw insight from his own spiritual experiences and then translate them into a spiritual programme that could benefit other seekers. What resulted was a timeless spiritual classic, The Spiritual Exercises (composed between 1522-24 in Spanish and first published in 1548 in Latin). The Spiritual Exercises is a four-week programme that “have as their purpose the conquest of self and the regulation of one’s life in such a way that no decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment.”
The ingenuity of the Spiritual Exercises lies in the manner with which Ignatius enables us to have a perspective on our own lives. He introduces this perspective right at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises through the meditation on the Principle and Foundation. (Consider reading either a literal translation or a more accessible contemporary version of the Principle and Foundation.) The meditation invites us to consider the meaning and purpose of our lives and our relationship to God, to ourselves, to our fellow human beings as well as to nature and objects around us. In the course of the Spiritual Exercises the love of God becomes the fulcrum of our lives, as we are challenged to walk with Jesus. In the end, in the Contemplation to Attain Love, our life is seen as an outpouring of love to God and the world at large.
Perspective matters. And Ignatius is a master in the manner he enables us to see our lives. In his now well-known rules of discernment for making decisions, Ignatius is very methodical in the manner he invites the participant to consider the pros and cons, the evidence for and against, before making a choice. At times, he takes on the role of a historian whose research enables a certain perspective on the world. Much like the historical method, Ignatius’ rules for discernment invite us to examine the evidence — both for and against — that we have so far gathered; and interpret them within a theoretical framework in order to derive a perspective. However, in Ignatius’ framework, our perspectives are larger; they are about our own lives and how they participate in a space and time that is being mediated by God’s love.
The Ignatian perspective to life — far from being some kind of utopian perspective for perspective’s sake — exhibits a social conern. Right from the Principle and Foundation to the Contemplation to Attain Love where “love ought to be put more in deeds than in words” the Ignatian perspective demonstrates its translatability into a social commitment.
Later on, as Ignatius and the early companions revised the Formula of the Institute (the original charter/plan of the Society of Jesus) — incorporated within the papal bull, Exposcit debitum (1550) — they outlined the ministries of the Jesuits as a call “to perform any other works of charity, according to what will seem expedient for the glory of God and the common good.” For Ignatius, the glory of God could be best served and realised through a civic mission of the common good. David Hollenbach’s article is a fine reading of the Ignatian perspective where “promoting the common good and giving greater glory to God are deeply interconnected.” In our turbulent times, Hollenbach suggests that such an engagement requires immense solidarity on our part.
The pandemic that continues to ravage us has marked our lives with great uncertainty. Yet, amidst this uncertainty, Ignatius invites us to pause and consider the meaning and purpose of our lives. When viewed through the love of God, we realise that our lives take on a more meaningful existence — an existence that can also draw meaning from our commitment to the common good.
Right now, how could we serve that common good? For a start, maybe by wearing a mask!
Yes, the feast is done! The relevance of Ignatius is found beyond the feast, and in daily life. The pandemic could probably help us discover it.
Rinald D’Souza SJ
HISTORIA DOMUS
Readings
FAITH
Principle and Foundation
Ignatius of Loyola | Spiritual Exercises
God created human beings to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing this, to save their souls.
God created all other things on the face of the earth to help fulfill this purpose.
From this it follows that we are to use the things of this world only to the extent that they help us to this end, and we ought to rid ourselves of the things of this world to the extent that they get in the way of this end.
For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things as much as we are able, so that we do not necessarily want health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long rather than a short life, and so in all the rest, so that we ultimately desire and choose only what is most conducive for us to the end for which God created us.
HOPE
The Glory of God and the Global Common Good: Solidarity in a Turbulent World
David Hollenbach | Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America | 3 August 2017
Both the common good and th e glory of God should be pursued in ways that respect both the full reality of our life as human persons and the integrity of natural world. Attaining the common good and showing forth God’s glory should never obscure the freedom of individual persons or threaten the rightful integrity of the natural order. Rather, promoting the common good and God’s glory should bring persons to their proper fulfillment. To do this, global solidarity should be combined with respect for both the freedoms and rights of each person and for the appropriate roles of local and regional relationships. Similarly, the identification of the common good in its fullness with God’s glory requires full respect for all God’s creatures, including the earth.
LOVE
Ignatius Loyola and the Catholic Reformation
Ryan Reeves | Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary | 25 May 2015
After the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church began to reform some of its abuses. The Catholic Reformation, though, was not only a reaction to Protestantism, but also a flowering of Roman Catholic practice. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits are the best example of the Catholic Reformation. This video explores both Ignatius and the Jesuits as well as the wider Catholic Reformation.
Postscript
Postscript
A.M.D.G. — A world is not enough
Loyola Productions | 30 June 2020
This film commemorated the Jesuit Jubilee Year 2006 that celebrated the lives of Ignatius Loyola, Peter Faber and Francis Xavier.
REFLECT
For it is not so much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul,
but the intimate understanding and relish of the truth.
The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, #2
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And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love. | 1 Cor 13:13
Thanks, Rinald , for the on-going search in the direction fo deepening the Ignatian SPirituality. Your reflective writtings are very qualitative and deep. congrats!
Hi, Rinald, your reflections are very enriching. Paying attention to what we celebrate makes all the difference. Your reflections lead one to discover true anchor in life.