Saint Ignatius, as you know, had a great vision and he went about implementing it his entire life.
He was inspired by Saint Dominic, who was a great preacher and used the good news to preach good news to people. However, it was not for Ignatius.
Ignatius was also inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi who lived a life of poverty and serving the poor. However, this was not for Ignatius either, because he could not see himself being a begger for his whole life.
His vision was a very practical one for Ignatius. He wanted to be active and contemplative at the same time. Discerning God’s will for himself and of society were at the centre of his spiritual discernment.
We can be inspired by many Saints and people in our lives. However, we can find our own vision just like Ignatius did. Some inspiration will not work for us. Therefore, we need to find what our own vision is.
Ignatius took quite a long time to do so. The Spiritual Exercises were not written overnight and he practiced it over and over with his companions and with other people.
It was his mission in helping people gain a deeper relationship with God. An exercise of spiritual conversation with our Lord and discerning God’s will for each person to discover the love of God for each person.
Our Province vision is: the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. To let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
This is our Province mission.
We have all been anointed the day we took our vows and at our ordination.
Is God’s spirit upon us? Have we been proclaiming the good news to the poor? Have we been accompanying those in captives? Have we been journeying with those who are blind and oppressed in ministry?
I believe we have been doing this as Jesuits. At times with some success, while at other times, not too successful.
However, bringing the good news to others is our mission and our vocation. Our mission is a call to service, serving God as well as our brothers and sisters.
May we continue to place ourselves under the banner of the cross and ask God to provide us the grace to fulfill the mission, the vision, which we all adhere to as companions of Jesus in our own Province.