Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. And so, some questions to mark the occasion: Who is the Ignatius that you know best? Which Ignatius inspires your prayer and accompanies you through your days?
Is it the soldier, the man eager for a fight, brandishing sword and shield and plunging into battle — spiritual or otherwise?
Is it the pilgrim, the wandering wonderer, clad in simple clothes, clutching a walking stick, eager to find God in the strangest of places?
Is it the mystic, the one communing with the Spirit in the darkness of a cave, grappling with both sins and spiritual successes, desperate to put prayer to paper?
Is it the founder, the inspired leader, the one who drew together a disparate crew of unlikely fellows to become friends and companions and — eventually — a religious order marked by the standard of Christ and the name of Jesus?
Is it the administrator, the would-be missionary confined to a desk, writing letter after letter to manage and maintain the fledgling company that looked to him for global guidance?
Is it Iñigo the wounded or Ignatius the saint? The young man eager to prove himself or the elder statesman concerned only with God’s greater glory?
You say, of course, these questions are unnecessary! The premise false! Each description points to the same person; why splinter his identity?
And of course, you are right. Ignatius of Loyola — like each of us — was many things over many years. And he, like each of us, cannot be reduced to a meager smattering of words.
And yet.
I wonder if one of these statements speaks more loudly to you than another. I wonder if one discomforts you while another intrigues. I wonder what images each line conjures in your mind, and if you can see yourself more readily in one over another.
What is the foundational story within the Ignatian tradition that most inspires you? And is it the whole story?
We’re often tempted to turn our heroes into legends; we allow ourselves to be motivated by myth rather than truth. In so doing, we may omit parts of the story and only skim the surface. We may reduce complex people, places and events into one-dimensional avatars.
Listen: I love myth; it has its place. Myth leads to wonder and creates worlds larger than our own, propelling us into something greater. Perhaps one of the Ignatian descriptors above has done so for you, ushering you into our shared mission of finding God in all things and serving God’s greater glory. That’s a great thing!
But there’s always more to the story. And we must embrace the ongoing journey. We continue to flesh out the fullness not just of St. Ignatius of Loyola — his strengths, his failings, his hopes — but of ourselves and those around us. Let us not limit ourselves to caricatures or solitary lines from an imagined resume.
Instead, as we engage both saints and sinners, heroes of the past and ordinary people of the present, let us be curious about the whole person. And in so doing, love others in their fullness — as we do ourselves — and all creation.
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