Readings: (1) Deuteronomy 30:15-20; (2) Psalm 1; (3) Philippians 3:8-14; (4) Luke 9:18-26
In his letter of congratulations that was read during my investiture as LST President, Father Adolfo Nicolas, Superior General of the Society of Jesus and Chancellor of Loyola School of Theology, cited the three words His Holiness, Pope Francis gave during his address to the Jesuits at La Civiltà Cattolica last June 14, 2013. These three words are: dialogue, discernment, frontier.
Father Nicolas added that these three words “should characterize any Jesuit intellectual apostolic ministry, such as LST”. He quoted the words of Pope Francis in defining dialogue, discernment and frontier:
“Dialogue” means “not to build walls but bridges; it is to establish a dialogue with all people, even those who do not share the Christian faith but who ‘respect outstanding human values,’ and even, ‘those who oppose the Church and persecute her in various ways’ (Gaudium et Spes, n. 92).”
“Discernment” means seeking “to read reality in the light of the Gospel;” it involves believing that “God is at work in the life of every person and in culture” and seeking “to find out what God has brought about and how to continue his action.”
“Frontier” means “avoiding the spiritual illness of self-referentiality” and going out to the peripheries, where new questions, new challenges, new hopes call for a creative response from the Church.
These three words from Pope Francis quoted by Fr. Nicolas also reflect the message of our readings today and the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
First is dialogue. The question asked by Jesus in the gospel “Who do people say that I am?” opened a dialogue with his disciples. Jesus asked first the opinion about him from other people, and they identified him as John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. Next, Jesus asked his disciples directly, “But who do you say that I am?” To this question, Jesus received the response from Peter who described him as “the Christ of God.”
In this dialogue with the disciples, Jesus’ identity as the Christ of God is made known. For Peter, the dialogue with Jesus becomes a personal encounter which leads to divine revelation. This dialogue with Jesus echoes a favorite line of Benedict XVI from his encyclical Deus Caritas Est that “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” For the disciples, the personal encounter with Jesus gave them “a new horizon and a decisive direction.” It emboldened them to build bridges with other peoples as they proclaimed the good news to all. Thus, the heart of dialogue is the personal encounter with Jesus and the consequent proclamation of his good news to all.
Similarly for Ignatius, the heart of dialogue is Jesus. After his initial conversion experience in Loyola, Ignatius began “talking to the members of the household about the things of God and he thus brought much profit to their souls (Autobiography, n. 11). Throughout his pilgrim years, Ignatius continued this ministry of spiritual conversation as he loved to dialogue with others about his spiritual experiences, which became the basis of his Spiritual Exercises. Indeed, dialogue was a central characteristic in all the apostolic ministries of Ignatius and the early Jesuits.
Second is discernment. In the first reading, Moses exhorts the people to choose life by obeying the voice of the Lord. To obey the voice of the Lord is to obey his commandments and to walk in his ways. The opposite is to turn their hearts away from the Lord by not hearing his voice and by worshipping other gods. Following the exhortation of Moses, discernment is discovering in prayer where we are being led by the spirit: towards God by obeying his commands or away from the Lord by ignoring his voice.
For Ignatius, to obey the voice of the Lord is to imitate the life of Jesus and the saints. While convalescing in Loyola, Ignatius discovered how his holy desires filled him with deep and lasting consolation, and how his worldly desires brought him desolation and unhappiness. Discovering this difference led him to “perceive the different spirits that were moving him; one coming from the devil, the other coming from God” (Autobiography, n. 8). It was from this spiritual experience that Ignatius received the grace of discernment which has enriched not only my present LST students in my class on “Discernment and Spiritual Direction” but also the spiritual journey of many in the church.
As mentioned by Pope Francis and quoted by Fr. Nicolas, “discernment means seeking to read reality in the light of the Gospel.” In other words, discernment requires having gospel eyes. Discernment consists in viewing everything from an evangelical perspective or evangelical horizon. Discernment is anchoring everything on the Word of God (Dabar Adonai) which is the “soul of our theological studies.”
Third is frontier. The second reading describes the life of St. Paul who forfeited everything in order to have Christ as his only wealth, justice and faith. In a way, Paul stretched the frontiers of his being by making Jesus the sole pattern of his life. Paul also used the image of an athlete whose aim is “to push on to what lies ahead.” His entire attention is on the finish line which sets the boundaries or frontiers. Thus, for Paul, this frontier is “life on high in Christ Jesus.”
This pushing on to what lies ahead or this apostolic passion of Paul also reflects the experience of St. Ignatius. For Ignatius, the frontier is “in omnibus amare et servire Domino” – to love and serve God in everything. “It is to find God in all things and to find all things in God!” The frontier is “ayudar las almas” – it is to help souls. The frontier is everything that leads “ad majorem Dei gloriam” – for the greater glory of God. Like Paul, Ignatius’ attention is on the finish line which is life on high in Christ Jesus.
In pushing on to what lies ahead, Ignatius opened new frontiers in the church as he founded various charity works in Rome, gathered his first companions, and formed a religious order with a new apostolic identity, lifestyle, and mission. His favorite phrase “ayudar las almas” avoided any self-referentiality. Even his favorite prayer of contemplating the stars at night pushed his spiritual consciousness to embrace the universe.
So, on this solemnity of St. Ignatius, may we in the LST community accept the three words of Pope Francis and Fr. Nicolas – dialogue, discernment, and frontier – as characteristic of our LST way of proceeding. With gospel eyes, may we commit ourselves to apply these words in our work of administration, teaching, and study. With St. Paul and St. Ignatius may we push on to what lies ahead, focusing our attention on the finish line, centering ourselves on the goal of our theological formation which is “life on high in Christ Jesus”. Amen.
July 24, 2013
