Today is the first in my “bloglife”. Yes, I am a newbie to blogging, but even at 37, I can learn a new trick. With this space on the web, I hope to create a place to share faith and build community for the Greater Glory of God.
How appropriate it is that today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. I find it appropriate because he has always been a special priest for me. I was impacted early in life by a tremendous Jesuit missionary and have always admired and appreciated the Jesuits. More importantly, the life of St. Ignatius is one of journey, of listening to God throughout ones life, and following his will, even though we seem to have our own ideas.
St. Ignatius Loyola lived from 1491 to 1556 St. Ignatius started with thoughts of glory and was a romantic in his young days, before being injured in battle at age 30. While recuperating he asked for books to read, but all they had were books on the life of Christ and the lives of the saints (though he wanted romance novels to read). These inspired Ignatius – he saw the saints as worthy to imitate. At the same time, he had visions of worldly and of winning the heart of a certain noble lady. Even here, at this stage we see Ignatius struggle with discernment.
After recuperating from his physical injuries and his longing for worldly glory (and winning the heart of the noble lady), Ignatius went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to be where Christ had been. He wanted to stay in the Holy Land , but was told that it was too dangerous and left. Here again, we see that God may have had other plans than Ignatius.
At 33, he decided to become a priest – but did not have the education. He started building that needed education, including attending school with children to learn Latin so he could attend theuniversity. While at University, he met friends who would be the first Jesuits along with Ignatius. The goal of this original group was to go to the Holy Land to convert Muslims. We see in this objective, the heart of a soldier and a romantic. But God again had other plans.
While in Rome, the pope set the companions to the task of teaching and preaching. Here is where the Society of Jesus was official founded as a new order, and Ignatius headed that order. The Jesuit motto is “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” – for the greater glory of God. Teaching was not what Ignatius originally had in mind when starting the Jesuits. When his companions and he came to Rome they put themselves at the disposal of the pope to go where they were needed. I suspect, Ignatius wanted to go where the action was. But God again had different plans. Today, Jesuits are indeed known as great missionaries, but are perhaps best known as the defenders of the faith through teaching and the great Universities the order has created.
St. Ignatius Loyola inspires me because of his passion and his searching the will of God. He wants to do great things for God’s, and he thinks he knows what they are, but apparently, God knows better. It is the willingness to follow God and the openness to his calling. It is the continual discernment of his will, even when it is not easy, that inspires me. Discernment and calling are not something that only happens to the young or just once – it is a continual process and experience.
I pray today that God will bless this endeavor, and I ask St. Ignatius Loyola to put a good word in for us with the Lord as we continue our faith journeys. Who knows where we will end up.
For more on St. Ignatius Loyola, visit Loyola University, or American Catholic Saint of the Day.
