St Ignatius of Loyola: Master of Let Go
Dr. Billy Graham writes meaningfully a story:
A little child was playing one day with a
very valuable vase. He put his hand into it and could not withdraw it. His
father too, tried his best, but all in vain. They were thinking of breaking the
vase when the father said, "Now, my son, make one more try. Open your hand,
hold your fingers out straight as you see me doing, and then pull it out."
To their astonishment the little fellow said,
"O no, father. I couldn't hold my fingers out like that, because if I did
I would drop my penny."
Inigo Lopez de Loyola, well known as Ignatius
of Loyola, was the youngest son of a nobleman of the mountainous Basque region
of northern Spain. Trained in the courtly manner of the time of King Ferdinand,
he dreamed of the glories of knighthood and wore his sword and breastplate with
proud arrogance.
When Ignatius was born in 1491, the Middle
Ages were just ending and Europe was entering into the Renaissance period. So
Ignatius was a man on the edge of two worlds.
The Europe of the late 15th Century was a
world of discovery and invention. European explorers sailed west to the
Americas and south to Africa, and scholars uncovered the buried civilizations
of Greece and Rome. The printing press fed a new hunger for knowledge among a
growing middle class. It was the end of chivalry and the rise of a new
humanism. It was a time of radical change, social upheaval and war.
In an attempt in 1521 to defend the Spanish
border fortress of Pamplona against the French artillery, Inigo’s right leg was
shattered by a cannon ball. His French captors, impressed by Inigo’s courage,
carried him on a litter across Spain to his family home at Loyola where he
began a long period of convalescence.
During that time, he read a couple of several
religious books, the only reading material readily available. These books and
the isolation of the recovery period brought about a conversion which led to
the founding of the Jesuits. Ignatius began to pray. He fasted, did penance and
works of charity, dedicated himself to God and, after some troubles with the
Spanish Inquisition, decided to study for the priesthood.
As a student in Paris he drew a small band of
friends to himself and directed them in extended prayer and meditation
according to his Spiritual Exercises.
After further studies, the first Jesuits were ordained to the Catholic
priesthood in Venice and offered themselves in service to Pope Paul III. In
1540, Paul III approved the Institute of the Society of Jesus. St. Ignatius was elected Superior General and
served in that post until his death in 1556 at the age of 65.
After his conversion St Ignatius was a new
man with a new vision and mission. He was a man who went beyond worldly
attractions. He always said to himself: The saints were of the same frame as I,
then why should I not do what they have done? From that moment on what was more
prominent in his character was not to please others or to satisfy himself at
the expense of others. The basis of all his life was his great ambition: to
please God alone. He was well aware that to please God he must say no to this
worldly pleasures. Consequently Ignatius becomes master of letting go of all
that is worldly.
St Ignatius was a man of great depth. He had
great reflections regarding letting go of all that belonged to this world. The Spiritual Exercises is the fruit of his
depth. Letting go entails pain and suffering, and requires loads of compassion.
It is not a passive way of living. It is actively allowing God’s will to work
in us. “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 life rather than a short one, 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.” (Sp.Ex. 23)
The followers of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
have imbibed the same quality of letting go of self for the service of faith
and promotion of Justice. Thus many of his followers through the centuries have
won recognition by the Church for their holiness. Many Jesuits are canonized
saints; still more are among those whom the Church calls Blessed. Among the
Jesuit saints are Francis Borgia, Francis Xavier, and Peter Claver of Spain;
Aloysius Gonzaga and Robert Bellarmine of Italy; Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, and
John de Brébeuf of France; Edmund Campion of England; Paul Miki of Japan; Roque
Gonzalez of Paraguay; Peter Canisius of Germany and the list can continue.
Today Jesuits have widened their horizon to
include men and women who share this vision of service to faith and to the
justice that faith demands. Together Jesuits and lay partners place themselves
in the presence of the God who created all people and ask themselves the
questions that St. Ignatius suggested to his first companions:What have I done for Christ? What am I doing
for Christ? What will I do for Christ?
In the Spiritual Exercises St Ignatius teaches
us how to let go of ourselves. The
prayer “Take and Receive” brings out the depth dimension of our complete
surrender to God. Thereby St Ignatius proposes to go beyond ourselves and find
God in everything.
Take, Lord,
and receive all my liberty,
my memory,
my understanding,
and all my
will,
All that I
have and possess.
You, Lord, have
given all that to me.
I now give
it back to you, O Lord.
All of it is
yours.
Dispose of
it according to your will.
Give me love
of yourself
Along with
your grace,
for that is
enough for me. (Sp.Ex. 234)
St Ignatius of Loyola, Pray for us.
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