The Jesuits

Appreciating the life and labor of St. Ignatius of Loyola

07/31/2018

Matthew 13:36-43 Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field." He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

It could easily be argued that no other saint has had a greater or on-going impact on modern culture and society than St. Ignatius of Loyola. His followers, called the Society of Jesus, or “Jesuits” for short, have founded 190 universities and colleges, not to mention 380 secondary schools world-wide. Just think of all the colleges in the United States that have “Loyola” in the name and you get a hint of his holy impact: Loyola Marimount, Loyola in New Orleans, Loyola in Chicago. Let me mention some of the Jesuit colleges you may or may not be aware of: Boston College is Jesuit, Creighton University is Jesuit, Fordham University is Jesuit, Georgetown University (where President Bill Clinton earned his law degree) is Jesuit, Gonzaga University (with the great basketball program) is Jesuit, Marquette University (where Scott Hahn got his Ph.D.) is Jesuit, Saint Louis University (where Fr. Andrew Hart studied) is Jesuit, Xavier University is Jesuit, and so on and on. It behooves us, therefore, on the Feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola to take a moment and marvel at his life and legacy, and give the glory to God as Ignatius would insist.

Ignatius was born on October 23, 1491 (the year before Columbus sailed the ocean blue), and spent the early part of his life as a soldier. After being wounded seriously, he spent several months in a hospital where the only books available were the life of Jesus and the saints. Reading those books inspired St. Ignatius to catch the fundamental difference between spiritual reading and secular reading, and formed the basis of his spiritual exercises. Many of the priests of our diocese are sent to Creighton University to study the spiritual exercises.

In 1539, Ignatius with the help of St. Peter Faber and St. Francis Xavier, formed the religious order called the Society of Jesus or Jesuits. They were a missionary society and went all over the world to evangelize. Francis Xavier even arrived on the southern coast of India and helped re-evangelize India. That’s where my family is originally from (a southern state called Kerala), and that’s why I include St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier on the list of saints at the end of my daily rosary. Thanks to those pioneering Jesuits, I am a Roman Catholic priest today. You may feel like thanking them, too. Or maybe not.

To inspire his followers St. Ignatius invented a motto in Latin – “ad majorem Dei gloriam,” which means “for the greater glory of God.” Some of you who went to school and were taught by nuns might have been instructed to write “A.M.D.G.” at the top of your assignments. That comes from St. Ignatius. You may also have seen the letters “I.H.S.” on altars and statues and even the vestments that priests wear at Mass. That too originated with St. Ignatius. However, many people commonly confuse it to stand for the English words “In His Service” or some such edifying but erroneous equivalent. Those are actually the Greek letters “iota” “eta” and “sigma” the first three letters in the name of “Jesus.” IHS is really Jesus, and you’ll recall Acts 4:12 explains the power of that name. There we read: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” Maybe that’s why the nickname for the Society of Jesus is simply “Jesuits,” Jesus.

Let me add one last historical point. Did you know that Pope Francis is a Jesuit? He belongs to the Society of Jesus and he’s the first pope ever to be elected as a Jesuit. What makes that remarkable is that all Jesuits are characterized by a fourth vow – besides the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience – namely, a secret vow of obedience to the pope. Jesuits have never sought the seat of St. Peter because they could not keep the fourth vow by making it to themselves in the mirror! This was one of the many reason why Pope Francis was reluctant to accept his election at the hands of the cardinals in 2013. But he did. Just like he relinquished his missionary mandate by accepting the call to be a bishop and archbishop, so he surrendered his fourth vow when called to serve the universal church.  That’s the power of the name of Jesus.

Today you might take a minute to learn about the life and legacy of St. Ignatius of Loyola. His impact on the world grows every year by graduates of his universities, by converts in countries like India (me!), and now by the presence of a Jesuit pope in the Petrine office. His whole life was inspired by one name, Jesus, IHS, and our lives should be so inspired as well. In that sense, we should all be Jesuits.

Praised be Jesus Christ!