Tag: St. Ignatius Loyola

Whose Standard Do You Follow?

“Whose Standard?” That is the question posed by St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits. But first, would I be out of line to say that the Society of Jesus is not what it used to be? I don’t want to be a Jebbie basher: I have studied under and worked with many Jesuits over the years. I have liked most of them, even admired a few.  There are a few Jesuits in public life who are eloquent expositors and defenders of the faith as handed on by the Apostles. Fr.s Fessio and Pacwa, for instance, and Fr. Schall before he passed away several years ago come to mind.

 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  

(Galatians 2:20) 

These Jesuit defenders of Catholic orthodoxy are outliers, unfortunately.  A Jesuit of my acquaintance once dismissively referred to Fr. Fessio as “a complicated man.” The clear implication was that his brothers in the Society would disown him if they could.  It’s no surprise that the public face of the Society of Jesus today does not belong to Fr. Fessio or Fr. Pacwa.  No, by far the most recognizable S.J. right now is Fr. James Martin. His mission does not seem to be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ so much as celebrating, well, more earthy pursuits.

Two Different Lives

It wasn’t always that way. For a very long time the Jesuits followed the mold of their founder, St. Ignatius Loyola. We celebrate his feast day today, July 31st. Like St. Paul, who told the Galatians he had been “Crucified with Christ,” Ignatius lived two different lives.  The crucible of pain and defeat transformed his life. A life of worldly ambition became a new life of sanctity and service. The poor but proud Spanish nobleman Inigo Lopez was indeed reborn as a different man when he became Ignatius.

Like St. Martin of Tours, St. Ignatius had been a soldier before he turned his life over to God. A French cannonball shattered his leg during his brave but futile efforts to defend the city of Pamplona. Doctors performed several extremely painful operations on his leg. They were unable, however, to correct the damage fully.  It was clear that he would never be a soldier again.

A Different Battlefield

But something else had happened as well.  During his months-long convalescence Ignatius had little to occupy his time other than reading and thinking. The fact that there were only two books in the castle, however, limited his reading. One book was a life of Christ, the other a lives of the saints.  That left lots of time for thinking.  He eventually noticed that fantasizing about his old worldly ways felt good when he was doing it. Tellingly, it left him feeling empty afterwards.  

Reflecting about what he had read in the life of Christ and about the saints left him feeling joyful and uplifted.  He began to realize that God was calling him to be a soldier on a very different battlefield.  He eventually embraced the life of spiritual heroism exemplified by the likes of St. Francis and St. Dominic. Like them, he gathered his own group of followers who, in time, became the Society of Jesus.

Whose Standard, Christ’s or Satan’s?

After his conversion Ignatius sought to live differently.  He gave up the military officer’s stern and harsh way of addressing his subordinates, for instance. Instead, he employed a humble and gentle mode, even when administering necessary discipline.  At the same time, he never lost his “fighting spirit”, even if he expressed it in a new way. And instead of directing his fire at human enemies, he was now concerned with “the principalities, . .  .the powers, . . . the world rulers of this present darkness, . . . the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

In fact he saw the inner life of every believer as a battlefield. Here, each one of us must choose between following the battle standard of Christ, or that of Satan.  His distinctive spirituality includes an emphasis on the “discernment of spirits.” This is a prayerful sifting of feelings and other influences to determine whether they are from the Spirit of God or the Spirit of the Devil.  Drawing on his own experience of conversion, St. Ignatius forged an extraordinarily effective weapon to assist followers of Christ in this internal combat: the Spiritual Exercises, a potent mix of imagery, prayer, self-examination, and spiritual direction.

The Church Militant

Having self-disciplined himself in this way, Ignatius believed that the Christian should then, like a good soldier, submit to his superiors in obedience: 

. . . we ought always to hold that the white which I see, is black, if the Hierarchical Church so decides it.” From The Spiritual Exercises, “To Have the True Sentiment Which We Ought to Have in the Church Militant”

This is not, however, simply the outward obedience that the man under arms must exhibit. It is also the inner obedience of both the Will and the Intellect. The saint explains further in his famous Letter on Obedience [text here]. The short version is that it is an obedience born of love, not fear.

This seems a good time to remember the concept of the “Church Militant”, that each of us is a Soldier for Christ.  I’m not talking about soldiering in a literal sense. Granted, given the fallen state of humanity, there will always be need for that.  I’m thinking more of the war to defend our souls and the souls of others against the “spiritual hosts of wickedness” that St. Paul mentions in his letter to the Ephesians.  

Soldiers in the Cosmic War

Of course, the two kinds of warfare are not unrelated. Jihadists and their allies, for example, can see the spiritual decay in our culture. This only serves to embolden them (just as Osama Bin Laden says he was inspired by the apparent weakness of the United States after our inelegant withdrawal from Somalia).  As the forces of Jihad discovered at Lepanto, however, they can’t hope to succeed against a Christendom united in Faith and fortified with Prayer. But against mere Secularism, well, what’s to stop them?

Having said that, it is good to remember that any conflict with Islamism, secularism, or any other “ism” that threatens Christian culture in this world is secondary to the big cosmic struggle.  The outcome of that cosmic battle is not in doubt (see the Book of Revelation). There will be casualties along the way, of course. We have no guarantee of the outcome of the internal battle each one of us must fight.  St. Ignatius, a seeker for his own glory who, by God’s grace, was transformed into a soldier for Christ, shows us how to stay on the winning side, and follow the battle Standard of Our Lord.

Featured image top of page: “Ignatius is wounded at the Battle of Pamplona” by Albert Chevallier-Tayler, 1904