TO ALL THE READERS OF THIS BLOG:
A VERY HAPPY FEAST
OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA!!!
FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
St. Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Jesuits, was born in the family castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Iñigo. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain to fight against the French. A cannon ball and a series of bad operations ended his military career in 1521. While St. Ignatius recovered, he read the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to becoming a soldier of the Catholic Faith. Soon after he experienced visions, but a year later suffered a trial of fears and scruples, driving him almost to despair. Out of this experience he wrote his famous "Spiritual Exercises". After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many first hated St. Ignatius because of his humble Lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted several followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order called The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.
THROUGH HIS INTERCESSION
MAY WE "FIND GOD IN ALL THINGS"...
SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION
When celebrating the Feast of St Ignatius Loyola on 31 July each year, we try to capture something of his rich legacy to the church. Ignatius certainly understood the richness of conversation. From time to time it got him into trouble, even into prison, as religious authorities were suspicious of his motives for talking to people, all sorts of people, about the things of God. There was no doubting, however, the powerful influence of his conversations on those young companions of his like Francis Xavier and Peter Faber who banded together with him as ‘friends in the Lord’. Those friendships and conversations issued forth in the birth of the Society of Jesus in 1540, a body of priests and brothers which has outlasted its enemies and remains strong across the globe today.There are all sorts of conversations, of course. There is that ongoing inner conversation with ourselves which requires careful listening and for which Ignatius has left us some excellent guidelines for sharpening our antennae. Secondly, our conversations with God are an important part of our prayer and are beautifully elaborated and illustrated in the Spiritual Exercises. Finally, we have group conversations, peer conversations, where we need to listen carefully to a variety of voices and often the words behind the voices. Good conversation is a ministry of listening, and good listening is an act of healing.When that excellent monthly, The Mix, closed down in 2007, I, like many others, was saddened. It had been an outstanding example of the sort of conversation we need in the Church. In part I wrote to the editor, Father Michael Whelan sm, thanking him for his leadership: ‘There is a time for everything under heaven, of course. However, I want to thank you for everything you have contributed as Editor over the years. Your thoughtful writing, modelling the conversation you have been promoting in the Australian church, has always given me hope and encouragement.’Good conversation, the sort that Ignatius Loyola excelled in, engages others on an equal footing and with mutual respect. It involves careful listening for the hidden treasures to be revealed. May we continue to learn this great art of conversation and invite the help of that artful conversationalist, Ignatius Loyola, when 31 July rolls around this year. http://www.madonnamagazine.com.au/articles/julyaug09/gleeson.html
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FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
St. Ignatius Loyola, the Founder of the Jesuits, was born in the family castle in Guipúzcoa, Spain, the youngest of 13 children, and was called Iñigo. When he was old enough, he became a page, and then a soldier of Spain to fight against the French. A cannon ball and a series of bad operations ended his military career in 1521. While St. Ignatius recovered, he read the lives of the saints, and decided to dedicate himself to becoming a soldier of the Catholic Faith. Soon after he experienced visions, but a year later suffered a trial of fears and scruples, driving him almost to despair. Out of this experience he wrote his famous "Spiritual Exercises". After traveling and studying in different schools, he finished in Paris, where he received his degree at the age of 43. Many first hated St. Ignatius because of his humble Lifestyle. Despite this, he attracted several followers at the university, including St. Francis Xavier, and soon started his order called The Society of Jesus, or Jesuits.
THROUGH HIS INTERCESSION
MAY WE "FIND GOD IN ALL THINGS"...
SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION
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