SHOWING THE WAY TO GOD
By Frank Cumbo, Xavier College Director of faith and service
As is the case along many pilgrimage routes, the path from Montserrat to Manresa is dotted with wooden posts and plaques that feature a pilgrimage logo, a ceramic tile with a design reminiscent of the rays that surround the famous Jesuit IHS Christogram, and an orange arrow pointing pilgrims to their destination. These signs are typically some distance apart, but they have been installed in sufficient numbers to assist pilgrims with finding the correct path in the mountainous terrain.
Nonetheless, pilgrims often deviate from the set path. Signs are regularly missed at critical junctures and the resultant day’s walk is sometimes many kilometres longer than was necessary. Walking for at least some time in the wrong direction was part of the pilgrimage experience for staff on the Ignatian Leadership Pilgrimage in 2023 and students on the 2024 Soccer Tour of Spain, as it has been for countless other pilgrims on this route.
Along with the importance of attentiveness to one’s surroundings, these experiences serve as examples of the importance of being willing to change course when needed. Once pilgrims recognise that they are off course, they immediately move to correct, backtracking if needed to make sure they return to the right path. Willingness to change course to quickly correct errors and respond to changing circumstances is a central characteristic in Jesuit communities.
While College leaders take great care to avoid making mistakes in the first instance, Jesuit schools remain imperfect and relatively limited. Rather than pursuing the impossible goal of perfection, Jesuit schools combine thoughtful discernment in decisionmaking with what other institutions may term organisational agility or a willingness to pivot. One phrasing of this principle was beloved by St Ignatius, who was fond of describing Jesuits as men who live “always with one foot raised, ready to hasten from one place to another.”
This complements and extends Ignatian indifference, as living with one foot raised entails an active and continuous search for magis service, and a willingness to set aside even what is good for what is better. Those who serve at Xavier College for any length of time become well experienced in operating in this way. A game plan developed and drilled over weeks is abandoned and a team is restructured on game day when a student sprains an ankle the night before a championship. Time-critical agenda are abandoned at the commencement of a meeting to resolve urgent matters as they develop. Appointments to call parents are missed without notice as teachers console distressed students after exams.
Of course, this occurs in every school. The difference in Jesuit schools is that staff who live with one foot raised do not respond to such circumstances with frustration, anxiety or fear. Instead, they adopt a pilgrimage mentality, one that seeks the good in all things and embraces a sense of shared adventure, enjoying not just the journey and the company of fellow pilgrims but the excitement of the unknown and unexpected opportunities to test and extend personal capabilities.
There can be no doubt that St Ignatius based this approach on the life and example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he had a strong and well documented devotion. Along with his early companions, St Ignatius consecrated himself to Mary before commencing his mission and Jesuits continue to invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary as patroness of the Society with the title Madonna della Strada (Our Lady of the Way).
An image associated with this title, beloved by St Ignatius, is on display in the Gesu Church in Rome, the mother Church of the Society of Jesus. It is certain, then, that St Ignatius took inspiration for his description of Jesuits from Mary’s response to the deeply challenging news the angel Gabrielle delivered at the Annunciation; Mary went “with haste” to assist her cousin Elizabeth after learning that she was in the third trimester of what obstetricians unflatteringly term a geriatric pregnancy.
For those serving in Jesuit communities, Mary provides a perfect model of living with one foot raised. Her willingness to respond to the greatest need, even when contending with challenging personal news, is a consolation and inspiration in equal measure when changes to roles and responsibilities occur. Looking to Mary’s example provides a helpful perspective during times of change by ensuring that the work at hand, no matter how important or personally rewarding, never becomes central to identity.
Veneration of Mary and participating in Marian devotions is therefore highly beneficial in fostering a culture of one foot raised, yet this poses some challenges in contexts where such devotions are not well established in Catholic communities. Care is required in forming staff and students well before introducing practices such as the recitation of the rosary, the Angelus and other forms of Marian devotion if these devotions are to yield the desired fruits.
In the heart of the Church, the mediation of Mary, as our intercessor and mother, can only be understood as “a sharing in the one source, which is the mediation of Christ himself”, the sole Redeemer. For this reason, “the Church does not hesitate to profess the subordinate role of Mary”. Devotion to the heart of Mary in no way detracts from the sole worship due the heart of Christ, but rather increases it: “Mary’s function as mother of humanity in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power”. Thanks to the abundant graces streaming from the open side of Christ, in different ways the Church, the Virgin Mary and all believers become themselves streams of living water. In this way, Christ displays his glory in and through our littleness. (Pope Francis, 2024, Dilexit Nos, 176)
Banner image of Madonna della Strada courtesy Jesuits.Media / General Curia Communications Office.