Feast of St. Ignatius

Today, July 31 is the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. The Jesuits are often associated with excellence in education and with a progressive charism. As a member of one of the few Jesuit parishes around, I have learned a bit about St. Ignatius and gained an appreciation for the order and for their spirituality, based on The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. We parishioners have been blessed with wonderful priests over the years who have shared their gifts with us and have accompanied us through times of great joy, great sorrow, and the many days in between. The following excerpt by David Fleming, S.J. is  a modern paraphrase of The First Principal and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises, certainly worth reflection.

The Goal of our life is to live with God forever.
God, who loves us, gave us life.
Our own response of love allows God's life
to flow into us without limit.

All the things in this world are gifts from God,
Presented to us so that we can know God more easily
and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God
Insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives,
They displace God
And so hinder our growth toward our goal.

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance
Before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice
And are not bound by some obligation.
We should not fix our desires on health or sickness,
Wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
A deeper response to our life in God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this:
I want and I choose what better leads
To God's deepening his life in me.

Happy feast day to all members of the Society of Jesus.