De Anima et Pneuma - Masa's Corner: St. Ignatius of Loyola – A Man of Vision, Gutso and Humility for Grace to be Magnified

The end of July is always a day I look forward to in celebrating the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, as I was educated in a Jesuit school – Loyola University Chicago. In honoring St. “Iggy”, let’s reflect on who he really is and what his life can teach us.

What is your impression of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founding “CEO” of one of the great global “corporation” with more than 450 years of history of operation, a.k.a. the Jesuits?

The “business” of this global corporation that Ignatius founded is aligned with Jesus’ teaching on the works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, reflecting Matthew 25:31-37 and Matthew 28:20 with the motto of “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”.

To me, Ignatius was a man of vision – a vision of the Kingdom. He is also a man of enthusiasm and passion to drive himself with him companions toward the realization of the vision. In fact, it was his machismo for self-glorification, as a young gung-ho Spanish soldier that gave way to a renewed gutso for greater glory of God (ad majorem Dei gloriam). As his self-centered machismo transformed into renewed gutso to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth for greater glory of God, Ignatius’ fat ego shrunk and his new sense of self emerged with humility to desire to serve as a channel of grace.

As a young man, Ignatius already had a grand vision of a kingdom. But, this vision of a kingdom was for the Spanish Empire to advance with conquistadors, upon putting all other kingdoms in Europe under the royal crown of the Castile.

I am not sure if St. Ignatius had vision for the Kingdom of God in comparison to the Castilian Spanish Empire, as St. Augustine envisioned the Roman Empire to be like the Kingdom of God in his “De Civitate Dei contra Paganos”. But, it is possible that Ignatius had thought to make the growing Spanish kingdom to be like the Kingdom of God, given it was also the time of Spanish Inquisition. Of course, any earthly kingdom or empire, such as the Roman Empire and the Castilian Spanish Empire, to the Kingdom of Heaven are not compatible, given the meaning of Jesus’ these words, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm”(John 18:36) to Pontius Pilate. The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus has promised to establish and that we are to assist this mission of Jesus is transcendent of all earthly kingdoms, which are also envisioned in Daniel 2 and 7, as it is the eschatological kingdom envisioned in the Book of Revelation.

Whether Ignatius’ early vision for the Kingdom of Heaven was analogically drawn with the Castilian Spanish Empire or the Roman Empire, his vision for the Kingdom was really where glory of God is manifested through our faith and our commitment to faith. It is also where God’s grace is manifested in concrete and tangible ways. In this regard, it is sacramental.

According to a Jesuit psychiatrist, Fr. William Meissner’s posthumous psychoanalysis of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Ignatius had quite obvious narcissistic disposition. However, this young Spaniard soldier with machismo sublimated his narcissistic ego into his charismatic servant leadership for the Lord. Of course, this psychological cure of narcissism was not done by any physician or psychologist. This cure of his narcissism did not take place by accident, either. It was, indeed, done by grace of God – perhaps through the Holy Spirit. That is why Santo Ignacio was very sensitive about the movement of the Holy Spirit, as well reflected in the Ignatian spirituality, in particular, the Spiritual Exercises he composed, based upon his own spiritual struggles and growth.

Just as good fishermen sense how the tide moves to find fish the Ignatian spirituality teaches us to sense the dynamics of the Holy Spirit in discerning the Will of God for us, in dialectic juxtaposition to self-exploration, which Jesuit theologian, Bernard Lonegan, calls “self-appropriation”. This is mean to guide us toward the fullness of who we are in union with God. In this sense, the Ignatian spirituality is similar to the spiritual journey of St. Teresa of Avila, Ignatius’ contemporary another Spanish Saint.

So, has healing grace of God touched narcissistic Ignatius gently? As a matter of fact, no. It was far from being gentle. It was has painful as a cannon ball hit.

Before getting to know God, Ignatius was heading toward the Machiavellianism, which was a popular philosophy among young soldiers with fat ambitions. Ignatius has his enough share to push himself in this. But, his inflating narcissistic ego was shattered by a cannon ball shot by the French army during the Battle of Pamplona in 1521.

It the near-fatal impact of the cannon ball made Ignatius die with his narcissistic ego to let Christ live in him, in light of these words of Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”(Galatians 2:20).

As Paul rejoiced and became so grateful for his new life in Christ and in spirit as he let his old sinful life die with Christ’s death on the Cross, reflecting on the Yom Kippur atonement aspect of the Crucifixion, Ignatius gradually became grateful and rejoiced in his new life of self-appropriation in God’s light.

One way to assess this transcendental transformation of life in spiritual growth is our abilities to appreciate grace. The more we become able to sense and appreciate a tiny bit of grace, the further transformation we have made from a life in flesh to a life in spirit, as Paul addresses in Romans 8.

For Paul, after stating, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”(Galatians 2:20), he says, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could e gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”(Galatians 2:21). Further more Paul says:

Although if I should wish to boast, I would not be foolish, for I would be telling the truth. But I refrain, so that no one may think more of me than what he sees in me or hears from me because of the abundance of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not become too elated,^* a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,^* in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:6-10)

Wow!

Paul, who used to pride himself for persecuting those who followed the teaching of Jesus, have become such a passionate follower of him, as he became enlightened to the power of grace. Paul was no longer a slave of the law but became, as he puts it, a slave of Christ (1 Corinthians 7:22), for true freedom.

Given the similarities between Ignatius and Paul, these men’s conversion processes make an interesting parallel. While Ignatius’ transformation was prompted by a near-fatal cannon ball, Paul’s transformation was prompted by the divine lightening that totally knocked him into 3-day comma. When Ignatius came out of the recovery process, his heart began to seek the greater glory of the Lord, rather than self-glorification for himself. Likewise, when Paul came out of the comma, his heart was open to Christ and became ready to fight for Christ, not against him. Both Ignatius and Paul, however, retained the same gutso, which was once used for wrong purposes but directed to advance in God’s mission, upon their conversion of heart.

Like Paul’s case, the conversion journey of Ignatius reminds us that God’s grace can touch us with a hard painful hit, like a cannon ball shot for Ignatius and like a lightening hit for Paul, if our ego is so hardened to be cracked open. But, once our heart is opened by grace, we become better able to see that grace of God is all we need and we no longer feel insecure about our own weakness – because we know we are strong when we are weak, as Paul said paradoxically in 2 Corinthians 12:10.

We do not need to be strong, as our strengths may become a stumbling block for God’s grace to be manifested through us. What we think as our strengths can be nothing but our own illusion, stemming from our narcissistic disposition. Therefore, we transform our ego-driven strengths into our weakness, namely, our humility, we become a more effective catalyst of God’s grace to be expanded. In juxtaposition to the Puline teaching of grace, this is what a life of St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us.

In honoring Ignatius’ humility, let us join him in his below prayer to offer up all we have for the sake of God’s grace to become more fruitful. After all, it is a prerequisite for us to march on with Ignatian gutso, in light of “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam”!