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Jesuit Jubilee Mass

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam

(A.M.D.G.)

With this week’s celebration of the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), a reprise of things Jesuit seems proper. As a preface to this, one should bear in mind that within the umbrella of Catholic Christianity, there are several distinct schools of spirituality, among them Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Benedictine, and Jesuit, just to name a few. Each emphasizes one aspect or another of Christianity. This reflects the basic fact that different people have different ways of praying to and serving God. However, each tradition is an equally valid way of living the Gospel message that the Church proclaims. In this sense, Jesuit spirituality presents nothing new to the believer other than that it’s the same Gospel message expressed in a particular way in accord with the experience of St. Ignatius of Loyola as articulated in his Spiritual Exercises.

Jesuit spirituality presents a concise way of living the Gospel message radically through an emphasis on knowing God’s will, imitating Christ, and making a choice for Christ in freedom (election). Crucial to this are self-knowledge attained in prayer and conquest of self made possible by God’s grace. At the core of Jesuit spirituality lies the glorification and worship of God (AMDG) by which man attains his end. Knowing this, the human person is encouraged to find God in all things in order to help him in the attainment of that end. The criterion by which the person chooses for God stems from an indifference begun by ridding oneself of disordered attachments, reinforced by going against tendencies that weaken spiritual resolve (agere contra), and permeated with a generosity directed to serving God (Prayer of Generosity). Contemplating the Lord’s goodness, the believer is led to gratitude for what God has given him, but he also becomes aware that his own sins and attachments have impeded his own generosity toward God, neighbor, and self. One becomes conscious of being a sinner who is nevertheless loved by God. Sorrow and revulsion to the life of sin lead to contrition, penance, and a desire to amend one’s life. The former life of sin is then replaced by a new life of discipleship with Jesus Christ, to whose summons of companionship and service he has responded and concerning whom one begins to ask, “What have I done for Christ, what am I doing for Christ, and what ought I to do for Christ?” Contemplating the life of Christ, as recounted in the gospels and as proclaimed and taught by the Church, effects a conversion of heart and mind, indeed a reformation of life itself, that leads to a total self-identification with the life of Jesus Christ. The person makes the standard of Jesus His own way of life and being. In fact, such has been the change in one’s being that a person comes to the point basing his decisions on what Christ wants (choosing freely for Christ). The full consequence of this, of course, is realized in one’s uniting oneself to Jesus in His passion and death (Anima Christi prayer). The joy of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead then gives the disciple the assurance and conviction of the God’s active power in this world and as the driving force in one’s own life. Knowing the lengths to which God in His great love has gone to save mankind and seeing how He works in all things, the Jesuit life comes its culmination when, in gratitude and generosity, a person offers himself unconditionally to God in complete freedom (Suscipe prayer): “Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my entire will, all that I have and possess. You have given all to me. To You, O Lord, I return it. Dispose of it wholly according to Your will. Give me only your love and your grace, for that is enough for me.” May we respond generously to God’s call and not count the cost of doing so.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. David Brown, S.J.
(Outgoing Interim Administrator)