“Finding God in All things”

“Finding God in All things”

Life is a search, a quest to find something meaningful that will enrich our lives. As we seek and search we find knowledge, food, shelter, friends, money, joy and happiness. Our life on this earth revolves around or focuses on one aspect i.e., of “finding something”. The life of St. Ignatius whose feast we celebrate today was also a life of constant finding and constant seeking.

As a young lad, Ignatius desired to find the lady he loved. He engaged in courageous deeds just to impress the kings and all the courtiers so that he would find himself as an outstanding knight amidst the noble men and women. In his findings for power, prestige, wealth he was knocked down by a cannon ball at the Pamplona battle. His shattered leg made him stay put in the Loyola castle. The courageous, energetic, romantic, restless, independent and popular Inigo was now a lifeless, lonely and dependent lad. To kill the time of sadness, loneliness, irritation and pain he asked his sister in law, Magdalena to bring some romance story books, the kind he liked. Magdalena gave him “the Life of Christ” and “The lives of Saints” and said to Inigo, “I have brought the two greatest romance stories that were ever written. Nothing can equal the love of Christ for us and the love of the saints for the Lord”. As they were the only books available in the house Inigo was compelled to read, hoping that Magdalena would bring him some romance stories after reading the two books. As he hesitatingly opened “The Life of Christ”, Inigo found himself in the hills of Galilee walking with Master Jesus. He stood with Him by the sea and heard the words of eternal life. He experienced the compassion of Christ and the thrill of the crowds over the healing of the blind and crippled. He experienced his mercy when he forgave the woman caught in adultery. Then time stood still as the he knelt beneath the cross to watch a crucified God died for him a sinner. Ignatius discovered that the fantastic adventures of chivalrous knights, all their deeds of love, all their sacrifices for earthly honor faded into colorless deeds, love and sacrifices compared to earthly desires. Inigo, the soldier for the earthly king had now become the soldiers for the Divine King. He inflamed the world through education, charitable works, parish ministries and missionary zeal. He founded the Society of Jesus, who lived like friends in the Lord, to love and to serve all people for the greater glory of God.

 All the readings of today i.e., the 1^st, 2^nd and the Gospel could be summarized in the phrase, “Finding God by surrendering to Him”. The book of Deuteronomy tells us that it is only when we surrender our lives to God we shall “live and multiply” and the “Lord our God will bless us”. St. Paul in his letter to Timothy acclaimed that he received mercy only after surrendering himself to the Lord as a sinner. In the Gospel Jesus says that those who want to follow Him have to surrender themselves, take up the cross and then follow Him. It is only when we surrender ourselves to the Lord we will be transformed and like Peter we will be able to say, “You are the Christ of God”.

The Theme “Finding God in all things” unveils the truth that God is the Alpha and the Omega. It includes the aspects of finding God in oneself, others, in nature and in all earthly and heavenly beings. When we find God in ourselves we begin to love others and nature. We begin to deepen our relationship with God, human being and nature. When we find God in everything all our intentions, actions and operations will be ordered purely to the service and praise of the Divine Majesty.

 Let us pray during this Eucharist that we may be able to see and find God in ourselves, in our brothers and sisters and in nature. May saint Ignatius pray for us that we be able to surrender ourselves to the Lord, cast away power, prestige and possession and put on the clothes of justice, love, peace humility, sharing and caring. “Love ought to manifest itself more by deed s than by words”.

ST. IGNATIUS AND MOTHER MARY

ST. IGNATIUS AND MOTHER MARY

St. Ignatius had a tender devotion to mother Mary. He considered mother Mary to be the instrumental in his conversion at Loyola. He reveals in his autobiography how one night while awake he saw clearly an image of our lady with the holy child Jesus. This vision brought him tremendous joy that lasted for a considerable amount of time. In this context, he began to feel ashamed of his reckless past. He decided to change his life completely. In fact, his transformation was so deep that everyone noticed a radical change in his outward behavior

In gratitude to our lady, his first stop after he set out from home in the service of Christ was at the shrine of our lady of Aranzazu where he spent a whole night in vigil. Then he proceeded to the shrine of the black virgin on the peak of Montserrat. There, he placed his sword and dagger at the altar of our Lady and spent the night in vigil either standing or kneeling before the statue of our lady.

He made a vow that instead of sword and dagger he would take up spiritual arms and fight against evil so as to establish the kingdom of Christ. After that he set out as a pilgrim. Through his continuous devotion to our lady, Ignatius came closer to Christ. Therefore he suggests those undergoing the spiritual exercise to ask to our lady to obtain from her son and Lord three things.

a.                 We may feel an interior knowledge of our sins and detest from them.

b.     That we may feel the disorder of our actions so that we feel with horror of them may amend our lives and put it in order.

c.      That God may put away from us all worldly and vain things.

In the most important exercises of the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius asked retreatants to have three colloquies. The first Colloquy is to Mother Mary. Mother Mary takes pivotal place in is spiritual life. As Ignatius lost his mother at an early age Mother Mary has become his only mother.