The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything

485 Pages·2016·2.55 MB·English

by  James Martin

T J G
HE ESUIT UIDE
TO
(A )
LMOST
E
VERYTHING
A Spirituality
for Real Life
J M , S.J.
AMES ARTIN
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Chapter One – A Way of Proceeding
Chapter Two – The Six Paths
Chapter Three – What Do You
Want?
Chapter Four – Beautiful
Yesterdays
Chapter Five – Beginning to Pray
Chapter Six – Friendship with God
Chapter Seven – God Meets You
Where You Are
Chapter Eight – The Simple Life
Chapter Nine – Like the Angels?
Chapter Ten – More by Deeds Than
by Words
Chapter Eleven – Surrendering to
the Future
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Chapter Twelve – What Should I
Do?
Chapter Thirteen – Be Who You Is!
Chapter Fourteen – The Contem-
plative in Action
Acknowledgments
For Further Exploration
Index
About the Author
Praise for The Jesuit Guide to (Al-
most) Everything
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One
A Way of Proceeding
What Is Ignatian Spirituality?
WHO ISST.IGNATIUSLoyola, and why should you care?
The short answer is this: St. Ignatius Loyola was a sixteenth-
centurysoldier-turned-mysticwhofoundedaCatholicreligiousor-
dercalledtheSocietyofJesus,alsoknownastheJesuits.Andyou
shouldcare(or,morepolitely,you’llbeinterestedtoknowabout
him)becausehiswayoflifehashelpedmillionsofpeoplediscover
joy, peace, and freedom and, not incidentally, experience God in
their daily lives.
St.Ignatius’s“wayofproceeding,”touseoneofhisfavoriteex-
pressions,hasledpeopletomorefulfillinglivesforover450years.
All in all, not a bad record.
ThewayofIgnatiusisaboutfindingfreedom:thefreedomtobe-
comethepersonyou’remeanttobe,toloveandtoacceptlove,to
makegooddecisions,andtoexperiencethebeautyofcreationand
themysteryofGod’slove.It’sbasedonanapproachfoundinhis
own writings as well as in the traditions, practices, and spiritual
know-howpasseddownbyJesuitpriestsandbrothersfromgener-
ation to generation.
While these traditions, practices, and spiritual know-how have
guidedmembersoftheJesuitOrdersinceitsfoundingin1540,Ig-
natiuswantedhismethodstobeavailabletoeveryone,notjustJe-
suits.FromthefirstdaysofhisOrder,IgnatiusencouragedJesuits
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to share these insights not only with other priests, brothers, and
sisters, but also with lay men and women. “Ignatian spirituality”
was intended for the widest possible audience of believers and
seekers.
Maybeit’sgoodtoaskanotherquestionbeforewegoon:whatis
a “spirituality”?
Inbrief,aspiritualityisawayoflivinginrelationshipwithGod.
Within the Christian tradition, all spiritualities, no matter what
theirorigins,havethesamefocus—thedesireforunionwithGod,
anemphasisonloveandcharity,andabeliefinJesusastheSonof
God.
But each spirituality emphasizes different aspects of the tradi-
tion—one accents the contemplative life, another the active life.
This one emphasizes joy, this one freedom, this one awareness,
thisonesacrifice,thisoneservicetothepoor.Alltheseemphases
are important in every Christian spirituality, but they are high-
lighted differently by each spiritual “school.”
Practical Jesuits
JesuitstaketheircuefromIgnatiusintermsofapractical
spirituality.OnejokehasaFranciscan,aDominican,anda
Jesuit celebrating Mass together when the lights suddenly
gooutinthechurch.TheFranciscanpraisesthechanceto
livemoresimply.TheDominicangivesalearnedhomilyon
how God brings light to the world. The Jesuit goes to the
basement to fix the fuses.
InhisbookTheJesuits:TheirSpiritualDoctrineandPractice,
firstpublishedin1964,whichIreadduringmyfirstfewweeksasa
Jesuit,JosephdeGuibert,aFrenchJesuit,offersacharmingana-
logy first made in the Middle Ages.
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Aspiritualityislikeabridge.Everybridgedoesprettymuchthe
same thing—gets you from one place to another, sometimes over
perilousground,orariver,orgreatheights.Buttheydosoindif-
ferent ways. They might be built of rope, wood, bricks, stone or
steel;asarches,cantilevers,orsuspensionbridges.“Hence,”writes
Father de Guibert, “there will be a series of different types, with
eachonehavingitsadvantagesanddisadvantages.Eachtypeisad-
aptabletogiventerrainsandcontoursandnottoothers;yeteach
one in its own way achieves the common purpose—to provide a
passagebymeansofanorganic,balancedcombinationofmateri-
als and shapes.”
Every spirituality offers you a distinctive “passage” to God.
Manyofthemostwell-knownspiritualitiesintheChristiantradi-
tion flow from the religious orders: Benedictines, Franciscans,
Carmelites,Cistercians.Eachorderhasdeveloped,overthecentur-
ies,itsownspiritualtraditions,somedirectlyhandeddownbyits
founder,othersthatcomebymeditatingonthelifeandpractices
of the founder. Today members of those religious orders live out
what Father de Guibert calls a “family tradition.”
Spend time with a few Franciscans, for example, and you’ll
quicklynoticetheirloveofthepoorandtheenvironment,apas-
sion shared by their founder, St. Francis of Assisi. Live for a few
daysinaBenedictinecommunity,andyouwillsoontastetheirex-
pansive, welcoming spirit, passed down from St. Benedict—not a
surpriseforsomeonewhosaid,“Allguestsshouldbewelcomedas
Christ.”Religiousorderscallthisthe“charism,”orfoundingspirit,
passedonbythefounder.(CharismcomesfromtheLatinwordfor
“gift.”)
Likewise,spendtimewithaJesuitpriestorbrother,andyouwill
begintoexperiencethedistinctivespiritualityofSt.IgnatiusLoy-
olaandtheJesuitOrder,whichwe’llsoondescribe.Thesumtotal
ofthepractices,methods,emphases,accents,andhighlightsofthe
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Christian way of life that comes to us from Ignatius is known as
“Ignatian spirituality.”
ThatspiritualityhashelpedtheSocietyofJesusdosomeremark-
able things in its colorful history. It’s impossible for me to talk
about Jesuit accomplishments without sounding too proud
(somethingwe’reaccusedofdaily),soI’lllettheEnglishhistorian
JonathanWrightdosoinstead.Thisthumbnailsketchisfromhis
marvelousbookGod’sSoldiers:Adventure,Politics,Intrigue,and
Power—A History of the Jesuits:
They have been urbane courtiers in Paris, Peking, and
Prague,tellingkingswhentomarry,whenandhowtogoto
war, serving as astronomers to Chinese emperors or as
chaplainstoJapanesearmiesinvading Korea.Asmightbe
expected, they have dispensed sacraments and homilies,
and they have provided educations to men as various as
Voltaire, Castro, Hitchcock, and Joyce. But they have also
been sheep farmers in Quito, hacienda owners in Mexico,
wine growers in Australia, and plantation owners in the
antebellumUnitedStates.TheSocietywouldflourishinthe
worlds of letters, the arts, music, and science, theorizing
aboutdance,disease,andthelawsofelectricityandoptics.
Jesuits would grapple with the challenges of Copernicus,
Descartes, and Newton, and thirty-five craters on the sur-
face of the moon would be named for Jesuit scientists.
IntheUnitedStates,Jesuitsareprobablybestknownaseducat-
ors, currently running twenty-eight colleges and universities (in-
cluding Georgetown, Fordham, Boston College, and every college
named Loyola) and dozens of high schools and, more recently,
middle schools in the inner city.
SinceIgnatiuswantedhisJesuitstobepracticalmenwhocould
speaktopeopleclearly,it’snotsurprisingthatovertheyearsJe-
suits have boiled down their spirituality into a few easy-to-
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remember phrases. No single definition captures the richness of
thetradition,buttogetherthephrasesprovideanintroductionto
thewayofIgnatius.Soherearefoursimplewaysofunderstanding
Ignatianspirituality.Thinkofthemasthearchesunderthatbridge
we talked about.
FOURWAYS
ThereusedtobeasayingthatJesuittraining wassoregimented
thatifyouaskedfiveJesuitsfromaroundtheworldthesameques-
tion,youwouldgetthesameanswerfromallfive.ThesedaysJe-
suitsareamoreindependentbunch,andyouwouldprobablyget
five different answers. Or six. The Italian Jesuits have a saying,
“Tre gesuiti, quattro opinioni!”Three Jesuits, four opinions!
Butthere’sonequestionthatwouldelicitasimilaranswerfrom
thosefivehypotheticalJesuits.IfaskedtodefineIgnatianspiritu-
ality,thefirstthingoutoftheirmouthswouldmostlikelybefind-
ing God in all things.
Thatdeceptivelysimplephrasewasonceconsideredrevolution-
ary.Itmeansthatnothingisconsideredoutsidethepurviewofthe
spirituallife.Ignatianspiritualityisnotconfinedwithinthewalls
of a church. It’s not a spirituality that considers only “religious”
topics,likeprayerandsacredtexts,aspartofaperson’sspiritual
life.
Mostofall,it’snotaspiritualitythatsays,“Well,that—whether
it’swork,money,sexuality,depression,sickness—issomethingto
avoid when talking about the spiritual life.”
Ignatianspiritualityconsiderseverythinganimportantelement
of your life. That includes religious services, sacred Scriptures,
prayer, and charitable works, to be sure, but it also includes
friends,family,work,relationships,sex,suffering,andjoy,aswell
as nature, music, and pop culture.