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'For the greater glory of God’

Feast of St Ignatius Loyola

by
Noel Sproles
(This article originally appeared in 'Christian Traveller' our parish magazine)

Iñigo Lopez de Loyola, better known to us as St Ignatius Loyola, was born nearly half a world away and half a millennium ago. Yet on 31 July each year, in a land whose very existence was more supposition than certainty for Iñigo, we still remember him and honour him in celebrating the anniversary of his death. In this edition of "Christian Traveller" we go some of the way to explaining why this is so with articles which tell us about Iñigo’s journey in seeking God and how the results of that journey can still affect us here today in Norwood.

Sr Margaret Honner tells us of the four essential movements of God as revealed in the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius. Diana Herd writes on the Christian Life Community, an Ignatian movement which spread throughout Australia from Adelaide. Fr Mario Bugna tells us of the spiritual journey of St Ignatius as he searched for God and our parish priest, Fr Paul Cleary, explains how St Ignatius’ spiritual exercises can be relevant to us and help us as individuals. The human side is revealed in the ongoing achievements of Jesuits both past and present as we read about Frs Hinterœcker, Carlson and O’Kelly.

St Ignatius was a Basque born in 1491 at Loyola in northern Spain. He studied at Barcelona, a city well known to us from the recent Olympics. His early life was led at court and in the army where he was badly wounded and captured by the French at Pamploma. As a result of these experiences, he abandoned his old life style and was converted to a life of holiness. He examined his own thoughts and feelings and pursued with his soldierly zeal the goal God wanted for him. He went on to study theology in Paris, gathered companions around him and later, in Rome, founded the Society of Jesus. His apostolate was very fruitful and his disciples were outstanding in Church reform. St Ignatius died in Rome on 31 July 1556. He left a priceless legacy to his followers in their search for God in the form of his ‘Spiritual Exercises ’ and over 7000 letters.

As members of the St Ignatius community at Norwood we are all Ignatians as, to a greater or lesser degree, it is this Ignatian spirit which draws us here. To be Ignatian does not mean that you have to be a Jesuit. St Ignatius was a layman when he started giving his spiritual exercises and the Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) was still to be founded. The Society of Jesus is but one expression of Ignatian spirituality. It has been suggested that Ignatius as a soldier, saint and sinner, as a battler prepared to take on all odds, as a loyal friend in the face of difficulty represents much of what makes up the Australian character and that there is a bit of Iñigo in all of us. Maybe that is what attracts us to St Ignatius, Norwood!