St. Ignatius of Loyola: An Inspiration to be a Faithful Follower of Jesus
Jesus, the son of God and the son of Mary and Joseph, invited certain people to become his disciples, and later that invitation was extended to more and more people, or to all people. In some sense, following was an easy job — all commandments are summed up in two; in another sense it’s a challenging mission — live the ideal of beatitudes. Over the course of time, many followed him; some like Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Theresa of Child Jesus, Marie Vianney, John Bosco, Mother Theresa and Carlos Acutis discovered a style of following Jesus which were imitated by many others too. Ignatius of Loyola fits in this category of pioneers.
A soldier named Inigo had his great plans for his glory, which was crushed by a cannon ball; during the period of recovery, he could only read some books on the life of saints; why can’t I do those things if St Francis could do it, if St Dominic could do it? A journey began for Inigo aka Ignatius of Loyola; a journey with God where the various intimate experiences with God transformed his desire for self-glory to search for the glory of God. When God’s mercy encounters our root sin, it becomes the point of root grace. Thus his life became a way of doing great things for the glory of God. The discernment criteria is whether that act is for the glory of God or not. As we appreciate Ignatius and all other saints who were wonderful followers of Jesus, it is good to reflect on how they can be an inspiration to a follower today? I will atleast point out a few points from the life of Ignatius that has relevance for a contemporary disciple of Jesus.
Desire: The contemporary world appreciates the desires and interests of individuals, and we are often invited to follow such paths for a contented life. Does a Christian have to throw away his desires and interests? Like many Christians, Ignatius would say No; but will add, channelize them for the glory of God. This is what one of the sons of Ignatius, James Martin SJ said of desires and vocation:
“Everyone has a vocation. I mean, the most fundamental vocation is to become the person whom God created. And it’s both the person you already are and the person that God calls you to be. And I think we find that out through our desires. What moves us? What touches us? What are we drawn to? Part of that’s career. But only part of it. I mean, it’s really who you are called to be, and that’s why that question really spoke to me. A vocation is your deepest identity” Desires are important in discovering my vocation and that is my unique way of being a disciple.
Singularity/ Uniqueness: Christian spirituality and Bible constantly speak of the uniqueness of each person created in the image of God. Contemporary humans appreciate the search for their uniqueness and singularity. Though some feel that such a search forgets our common roots and we lose our means of making connection, I don’t think it has to be so. A search for uniqueness doesn’t mean our commonalities with fellow humans are fully neglected or that there are no options for connecting with others. Just as various talented musicians playing different instruments can produces a musical polyphony, the same applies to life. Though this polyphony creation is not easy, it is much better than a creation where there is only repetition of the same style by all of us (in a way forgetting the God given uniqueness).
Where does Ignatius help in all of these? One of the greatest contributions of Ignatius to the church is the Spiritual Exercises. When we do a thirty-day silent Ignatian retreat (or its smaller versions), it always starts from the premise that God is working on you in a unique way. Even though we might do the retreat in a group, the retreat director through his personal meetings with the retreatants is helping them to move in that unique Spirit directed way. This unique, intimately personal, individual experience of and with God, is not to keep myself in the pedestal, but it flows into a daily life with the fellow humans and the entire creation, where love has to be shown in deeds. When Ignatius appreciates and encourages the search for our singularity, it is always for the glory of God, and glory of God is always intimately connected to the good of humanity and the creation.
Experience of God: Karl Rahner, one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century says, “The Christian of tomorrow will either be a mystic, someone who has experienced something, or he will cease to be anything at all.” When we see many people leaving the church, one of the significant reasons is that they are not being helped to have an experience of God as Jesus’ Abba. (There are surely other reasons like the inauthenticity of the ministers of the Church etc). Ignatius’ aim was to help the people experience the divinity, and then following of Jesus becomes a personal choice and not forced by family, traditions etc. Before starting the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, our novice master used to tell us: “The retreat is not about gathering knowledge about God, but having an interior or intimate knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ. It is not knowing about, but knowing Jesus. This invitation of Ignatius (many other saints and mystics have conveyed the same intuition in different ways) is relevant for all times.
Praying the Word of God: After the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the people of God had better access to the Bible as it was translated into local languages. But Biblical context is very different from our times; so help is required to understand many of the Biblical passages. Bible is also not just a book of information about God’s activity in the life of his people, it’s also a book to be prayed with. Like many other methods available (Lectio Divina being one of the most popular ones) Ignatian contemplation helps us to pray with the Biblical passages. Ignatius invites us to immerse oneself in the Biblical narrative happened 2000 years ago as happening today. You are an active participant in the event during your prayer. You are not just a curious or devout or sceptical or any kind of observer. You are involved in the scene. You are participating in the scene. When we pray the encounter of Jesus with Zacchaeus or the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, we experience loving, merciful gaze of Jesus offered to Zacchaeus and the woman being given to us. Prayer becomes an encounter with Jesus and his mercy.
Ignatius, the great saint of 16th century, invites each one of us to discover our vocation and to live it in own unique way, for the glory of God. Each of us are different, yet beautiful flowers in God’s garden. It is a constant invitation to each one of us to find the contemporary relevance of the Gospel and the saints and to live it out in our own lives.
