The Solemnity of St Ignatius will always be a day of celebration for Jesuits and their mission partners. It is also an opportune moment to reflect on Ignatius’ enduring legacy. A person’s legacy, in common parlance, can refer to the long-lasting impact of their life, as manifested in their words and deeds. In the Church, a saint’s legacy can refer to the gift or charism granted by the Holy Spirit to the saint for the good of the entire Church.
Many things can be said of Ignatius’ enduring legacy in terms of the gift or charism he received and that has been passed on to all of us. For our consideration, I draw generously from Brian O’Leary’s work, Unlocking a Treasure: Our Jesuit Constitutions. First, Ignatius writes in the Formula of the Institute that a Jesuit is to take care as long as he lives, “first of all to keep before his eyes God”. A Jesuit must keep God before his eyes at all times, whatever he may be doing or planning, whether in solitude or the company of others. O’Leary refers to Jeronimo Nadal’s phrase: contemplativus etiam in actione, “contemplative likewise in action,” as describing the Jesuit’s life disposition. A Jesuit is not only contemplative in formal prayer but also in the everyday experiences of his life.
Second, Ignatius writes in the Formula that a Jesuit is then called to keep the nature of the Institute before his eyes. By “Institute,” it denotes the founding document, especially the Spiritual Exercises, the Formula itself, the Constitutions, and the relevant papal decrees. O’Leary goes on to say that the term also connotes the whole Jesuit “way of proceeding,” that is, the concrete apostolic life-form to which these documents point.
These two gifts of learning to be “contemplative likewise in action” and that “way of proceeding” granted to Ignatius are enduring gifts shared with us through the Holy Spirit. Jesuits and mission partners, therefore, “in keeping before their eyes God” are graced with finding the divine in their everyday experiences, whether in prayer or action. Moreover, by growing in familiarity with God and “the way of proceeding,” they can discern together the path—the life-mission—that leads to God. This is possible even in an era of declining faith and amidst a troubled, divided, and broken world. St Ignatius invites all of us to share in these wonderful gifts that he received and to share in that daily mystical experience of finding God in all things!
Happy Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola, everyone! +AMDG+
Jun Viray SJ
President, Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific