Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest
I had a dry spell in my young adult life regarding an interest in the lives of the saints. Thankfully it was renewed while my children were still young, in part through James Martin’s “My Life with the Saints” and Robert Ellsberg’s “All Saints,” which helped bring them back to life for me. Today, I draw upon Ellsberg’s writing to reflect briefly on the life of St. Ignatius Loyola whose memorial is celebrated on this anniversary of his death. Along with today’s readings from Jeremiah and Matthew, I hear a theme of growing and moving beyond our childhood and familial origins to respond to God’s call. A call that often requires leaving behind the comfortable and familiar.
For Ignatius, that meant leaving his origins of Spanish nobility and his training as a soldier in service of the Spanish king. Yes, it took a serious injury in battle and a long recuperation for him to hear the call that eventually led to a pilgrimage and laying his sword and dagger on the altar of Our Lady at Monserrat. Signifying his new life, it is said he traded his wealthy clothes with those of a beggar.
For Jeremiah, perhaps it meant leaving his childhood, and the belief that he was “too young” to be the prophetic voice God was calling him to be (he was not yet 30). At the beginning of this Old Testament book, Jeremiah argues with God, “I know not how to speak; I am too young.” (1:6b) But God argues back, and Jeremiah is given the words to speak (words that are not always welcome).
For Jesus, as we read in today’s gospel passage, it meant leaving his “native place,” his origins, where they could not believe that this man they knew to be the local carpenter’s son could be so full of wisdom. The people who “knew” him to be an ordinary man’s son, “took offense at him” and Jesus “did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith.” He had to move on to fulfill what he was called to.
And what about us? Have we heard the call to move beyond where we have been or believe ourselves to be, to leave the comfortable or familiar, to respond to God’s call? What might be holding us back? Today may be a very good day to ask St. Ignatius for right discernment as we listen for God calling us in our own unique way. What must we leave behind to be God’s voice, God’s healing touch, God’s presence in the world?
~Eileen Miller