The Wisdom of Ignatius

 The future Christian is either a mystic or nothing at all (Karl Rahner)

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (Jn. 15:15).

Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" ...But Abraham remained standing before the Lord (Gen. 18:19).

When Ignatius of Loyola first underwent his conversion, it was partially triggered by reading the lives of the saints.  As a soldier and a knight in service to his king, Ignatius thought to himself, "If these men can do thus and so, I can do better!"  He set out to "best" the saints, if you will, to outdo their great deeds.  He almost destroyed his health by fasting and acts of penance.  However, it was only when -- and after -- he had given up trying to do great things that God began to reveal Himself and His secrets to Ignatius. 

From his own experience, Ignatius began to keep a journal and to develop his own spirituality, based on that of Francis of Assisi, but rooted in Ignatius' own personality and gifts.  Like Ignatius, most new converts immediately ask, "What does God want me to DO?"  We set out to do great things for God, but soon discover that God wants instead to do great things for us, as Mary verbalized in her Magnificat.

As Ignatius developed his spiritual exercises, the goal of his spirituality was to praise, reverence, and to serve God.  However, he was very clear in his definition of "service."  For Ignatius, service was not "doing things" for others, but to be in companionship with Jesus Christ, Who received all things from His Father.

Ignatian service is being in a relationship with God, as seen from the two Scripture quotations above:  "Should I hide from Abraham (God's friend) what I am about to do?"  God was the One acting, doing, here, not Abraham.  But He was also revealing to Abraham what He was doing.  In the case of Jesus, He was the One "doing," but He was revealing to His apostles what he was doing.

I once heard someone say, "Lord, whatever you are doing today, don't leave me out of it!"  That pretty much sums up the idea of Ignatian "service."  Whatever God is doing, He allows us in on it --- and in fact, makes us part of it, if we are His friends and companions.  He told Abraham, "Walk in my Presence and be perfect."  For Ignatius, that was what is meant by Praise, Reverence, and Service.

The grace of "reverence" for him was the grace to empty oneself to allow God to fill us with the divine Essence so that we can engage in relationship with other people and with all of life/creation.  "Praise" for him meant to find our identity in God, to be lost in Him.  He compared our "doing" or "service" to the rays of the sun, as extensions of the sun -- allowing God to fill us with all that He is, to experience the interconnectedness of all of life.  Our "doing" overflows from our connectedness with God.

If we, like Abraham, remain standing before the Lord, we will be doing what He requires of us --- or rather, He will be doing His work in us and through us!