THE SWORD, THE STAR, AND THE SEAL OF ST. IGNATIUS

Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ

Ignatius High School July 2010

Today, as we celebrate the feast of our founder, our patron saint, the father of Jesuits and thus the father of all Ateneans, St. Ignatius of Loyola, let us focus on three things that I think defined who he was, and that could define who he can be for us today. Three things: the sword of Ignatius, the star of Ignatius, and the seal of Ignatius.

First the sword of St. Ignatius. One of the most popular images of Ignatius, as we know, is his offering of his sword to the Virgin of Montserrat. The sword meant a lot to him. It defined who he was: a soldier missioned to protect his king, a soldier who will fight battles for the Crown, a soldier who will give his life for the Spanish kingdom of his time. The sword represented the life he has been living as a young man, filled with vanity and ambition, consumed with pride and personal glory, prestige and power. Yet as we know from the story of Ignatius, after his conversion in Loyola he decided to leave this life behind and follow God wherever God may be calling him. This meant saying goodbye to his being a soldier. It meant giving away his expensive clothes, and in its place, wearing a poor man’s robe. It meant surrendering his sword, during a whole night vigil or prayer, kneeling in front of the Black Madonna in the Chapel of Montserrat in Spain. In doing so he gave his life – single-heartedly – to God, and to God alone. And almost like saying, I am yours, it is up to you, take me, and lead me where you want me to go. He knew, he was certain, that he was being called to something greater.

When we see the sword of Ignatius, when we think about it, perhaps we can also think about our own swords, the swords of our own personal lives. What are the things that we have that define who we are, our passions, things that we can, yes, give up, offer to God, in place for something greater, something better, something more. Could our swords be our material things, the stuff that we tend to accumulate and are in excess of, like perhaps cellphones and computers, games and gadgets, clothes and clutter. Such that if we let go of them, we simplify our lives, and when we simplify our lives, we become closer to God. Or perhaps, could our swords be those that are great about our selves, like talents and gifts, like things we are good at, academics, sports, music, making friends, being good leaders, and being good followers too, and how about our precious time and energy – things valuable to us, which we can offer to God, so that God can use them toward something greater. Something greater like using our talents and gifts for others, for service of the poor. Remember that God still used the soldier in Ignatius, and called him to fight not anymore for the human king, but for Christ the King, for God’s kingdom, over the forces of evil in the world. In your lives, dear students, what do you think is your sword? What is your passion? What can you offer to God? What can you sacrifice to God so He can transform it, use it, for something greater, something for the betterment of others, for the betterment of the world. What is the sword that you can offer and surrender?

Second, the star of Ignatius. Ignatius was a busy man. His typical day was devoted to so many things: listening and talking to people, helping the poor and the hungry, raising funds, getting the support of the rich and powerful men and women, writing letters to the first Jesuits, to Popes, bishops, kings, and queens. He must have been very tired at the end of each day. At nighttime, Ignatius would stop, go out to the veranda of his room, and look up to the heavens, and gaze at the stars. Ignatius was a star-gazer. Star-gazing kept him quiet. It kept quiet his mind, his heart, his soul, after a tiring, noisy and busy day. More than this, star-gazing gave Ignatius some insight and perspective. It made him see that he is part of something infinitely bigger and greater. When he gazes at the stars, the infinite horizon, he realizes how small we are in the vast expanse of the universe. And this renders him silent. He is awed. He is humbled. It made him see that there is a greater power to all the things of the world. It made him see God, the greater power, loving and caring for us, small creatures of this planet. It made him feel grateful that he is still alive, kept alive and happy by God.

When we see the star of Ignatius, when we think of it, can we also think of our own stars. What are the things in our lives that keep us quiet, reflective, silent, prayerful? Perhaps, our teachers, the Jesuits, the required prayer periods, the required masses like this one? I hope not only these. I hope other things like a time we set aside for ourselves, not being forced to do so, alone, silent, perhaps in our rooms, or in any quiet places, nothing and no one to disturb us, where we can reflect, where we can pray. Jesuits call this contemplation. It focuses our mind, our heart, our soul. It connects us to our God, and like Ignatius, it gives us light, perspective, happiness, in the middle of our very busy schedules, in the middle of the so many things we do in our lives.

Can our friends be our stars? Like the friends in Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies. Remember Toy Story? How Andy realized toward the end of the movie that his old toys, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jesse, Rex, Slinky Dog, Mr and Mrs Potato Head, are really his friends, friends who have taught him the value of love, loyalty, even sacrifice. In the same way, our dear parents, our family, our teachers, our classmates, our administrators – they can be our stars, giving us light amid darkness and confusion, joy amid our sadness, helping us pray. They are stars who make us choose life, as we have heard in the second reading a while ago. Do we feel grateful for these stars in our lives? Have we thanked them in one way or the other?

And now, the third, the seal of St. Ignatius. In the time of Ignatius, seals were very important. All noble families, like Ignatius’ own, the Loyolas, have their own emblems or seals. The Loyolas have the famous seal of two wolves feeding on a pot of food, which showed abundance, sharing, and generosity, there was enough food to share, even to the wolves. When Ignatius became the head, or the General of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, he had to write thousands of letters – more than 7000 letters actually – to Jesuits and other people. He used a symbol to seal and stamp with wax the letters he sent all over the world. His seal bears the first three letters of the name of Jesus, IHS. It became the seal of the Society of Jesus.

When we look at the seal of Ignatius and the Jesuits, think about and reflect on your own seal. If you were to draw, or create a seal for yourself, how will it look like. What images will it contain? Will it have animals like wolves? Or initials and symbols? I am sure that many of you have made such visual representations of yourselves. In our modern-day pop technological jargon, we call them Avatars, like those we use for yahoo emails. In Facebook we can choose any type of profile picture, and represent ourselves with cartoons, photos, notes, links, and others. In the dazzling world of computer games like the amazingly phenomenal DOTA or Defense of the Ancients, we can choose our favorite heroes – Zeus, Naix, or Lina Inverse from all of 97 heroes, sentinels or scourge, level-up in experience, strength, agility, intelligence, craft our game plan, strategies and tactics, or in Guitar Hero, select and synchronize our favorite rhythms, songs and artists. We can construct our own personal websites, webspaces, chatrooms, games, rules, and others. The possibilities – creative and exciting – are endless in terms of defining ourselves today, introducing, presenting ourselves to the big world. And yet, the question remains: who are we, who shall we be, who do we want to be. In the Gospel, Jesus asks his disciples: who do people say that I am? The question of identity confronts us. Are we real or virtual? Actual or imagined? Are we portraying our selves as we are now, or as we wish to be in the future? Who do you say you are? Who do people say you are?

In the case of Ignatius, he chose his identity to be simple, uncomplicated, yet deep and profound. He chose his identity, his avatar, his hero, to be near, to be close, to the identity of Jesus. Jesus, simply, profoundly Jesus. The first Jesuits named their group in honor of Jesus, the Compaña de Jesus. They wanted themselves, their identities to be near that of Jesus, so that they will not wander far and forget who they are. Perhaps whenever we see the seal of Ignatius and the Jesuits, we can reflect on our own personal seals, symbols, images, our heroes, our profiles, and our avatars. Do we identify with Jesus as Ignatius did? Or do we identify with someone else, with something else?

And so, dear students, dear faculty and staff, in this feast of our founder, St. Ignatius, let us reflect on his legacy and his spirit, a legacy and spirit that remains alive today, almost five centuries after. His sword, his star, his seal. Our own swords, stars, and seals. His spirit and tradition. Alive and burning in our community here in Ateneo. Alive and burning in our hearts.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.

ATENEO HIGH SCHOOL

ST. IGNATIUS FEAST DAY MASS

29 July 2010

Novena Mass Reflection Day 3 :Ignatius at Monserrat

Months before I said “Yes” when I was asked to become the next APSA, I remember a conversation I had with my predecessor, Mr. Jun Balmaceda. He said something along these lines (which I have roughly translated): “The challenges of the APSA Office at times seem insurmountable, and it takes a little craziness to maintain sanity in dealing with them.”

I knew what I was getting into. I will need to look after over two thousand students. I will need to listen to the complaints of parents. I will immerse myself in their problems. I will need to take care of over two hundred faculty members. I will deal with issues spanning about three generations. There will be problems that I can anticipate and prepare for, and those that I won’t even see coming.

Then I figured that each and every one of us is faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges from time to time. And they do not have to be problems associated with work. They can come in the form of losing a loved one in a tragic event. Maybe you found out that your husband or your wife is having an affair and your family is falling apart. Maybe you made a wrong investment, and now you can’t pay for your children’s tuition fees. In any case, maybe Mr. Balmaceda’s advice has a lot of wisdom: taking these problems too seriously would make us go insane. People who really know me would say I have no problem with going a little crazy. There are times when it’s hard to distinguish if I am serious or not. But what I would like to share in this Mass is a weapon I have found more effective in facing these challenges than just a little craziness. That weapon, is a way of prayer.

Since last a retreat I attended last May, prayer for me has no longer been a monologue that I hope God would hear. I have discovered that it can be a dialogue where I can hear what God is telling me. But it is something that is not automatic for me, especially when I have a lot of things on my mind. So I began to study the conditions that allow this to happen. Here are the steps that I follow:

1. Pray for God’s grace. Use a formula prayer or read a Bible passage for the day. Pray that God will speak to you and that you will hear it.

2. Clear your mind from all your thoughts and worries. In this process you may be reminded that everything in this world is only temporary. Just be aware of your present environment. You can close your eyes and rely on your other senses. Be conscious of your breathing, and with each breath thank the Holy Spirit for giving you this life.

3. A reflection guide will always helpful. Write your thoughts and feelings in a notebook. It can be about the passage that you read. It can be about your answers to some guide questions. It can be about anything. You can even draw if you like.

4. Just wait for the grace to come. But when it happens, how do you know if it is God or something you just conjured from your unconscious? You will know when you hear something that did not come from you. You will be moved to tears. For some you will be moved through uncontrollable laughter, or maybe even music. There will be a surge of emotion that will creep in and take over. And then things will become clear. The seemingly insurmountable challenges before you will become the blueprint of God’s plan. You will feel energized, like a battery that could run forever. At that point, try to write everything as fast as you could. Not that you’re going to forget God’s word, but so you can go back to the experience from time to time.

5. Close the experience with a prayer. It can be a formula prayer. Or it can be something you just made up, like this:

Lord, I remember a homily given by our former chaplain, Fr. Rudy Fernandez. He said that when Mary responded with the magic word ‘Yes,’ God was set loose into the world. And the blind began to see, the deaf began to hear, the mute began to speak. When I said ‘Yes’ to this tremendous responsibility of becoming the APSA, I knew this wasn’t about me anymore. I am going to let you loose into this community. Use me as Your instrument, and let’s make some beautiful music.

Mr. Jon Bilog
APSA

Rich Young Men

by Joseph Patrick Echevarria

Good morning. In line with our theme for the week ­– “St. Ignatius the Pilgrim who sought the Glory of God” – it is perhaps apt to relate or juxtapose “St. Ignatius the Pilgrim” to a certain “rich young man” we find in the Gospel.

In Matthew’s Gospel, the “rich young man” desires to have a more meaningful life, and seeks out and approaches Jesus and inquires about what more he can do to live a better life – after all, he has already observed the ten commandments, which are difficult enough by themselves. Jesus sees his sincere desire and responds with an invitation to go further, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. We can probably imagine that Jesus, in his humanity, felt sad for the rich young man as well. He was a good young man, but he just couldn’t take that next step. Maybe he had something he couldn’t let go of, or he had responsibilities at home and his family expected much from him, it could be that he is to take over the family business, or perhaps he just wasn’t ready to surrender everything, to surrender himself. In any case, he turned away with his head bowed down.

In many ways, Ignatius too was a “rich young man”. He lived in a castle, he was brave, and an exemplary fighter and swordsman, admired by his peers and the ladies of the court, even his enemies greatly respected him. You could say he had it all. But he too was interested in a better life, not just of comfort and wealth and women and power, but a life of greater meaning and purpose. Like the “rich young man” in the Gospel, he went far and wide in search of meaning; he became a “pilgrim”. And in his travels, like the “rich young man”, he met Jesus, and the Lord, saw his sincerity, invited him to come and follow. But unlike the “rich young man”, Ignatius said “yes”. If we try to imagine that moment in Ignatius’ life, his “yes” might have been said with a little fear for he did not know where Jesus will take him and a little nostalgia at the once grand life he was abandoning. But surely, it was a “yes” filled with much trust and much faith and much love. And as we know, his “yes” to Jesus has made all the difference in his life and in the many lives he has touched then and even now, in the many Jesuits over the years and across nations, and, of course, his “yes” has made a big difference in the many people these Jesuits know, like the students, the teachers, the staff and professionals in the Ateneo High School.

And if we think and look carefully, we will see Ignatius’ “yes” repeated by many in our community, some more obvious than others, some also rich and also young and talented and accomplished and handsome – but have sought a better life, have sought a life of deeper meaning, have sought to follow the God who knows only to love and to give without measure.

To be sure, the world and its values will see these “rich young men” as crazy. But perhaps it will also make them ask, make us ask: “Who is this Jesus who can inspire these men to give up everything to come and follow him?”

As we ask, we pray: In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Father, You know us, You know our desires, You know our deepest desires. Grant us the wisdom that we may recognize it ourselves. And grant us the strength, the perseverance and the patience to pursue it with all that we have and all that we are. Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

A Man of Desire

When Ignatius was badly wounded from the battle of Pamplona, he hardly recovered. His health deteriorated. Worse, there were signs that death was near. His physician informed him that his days were already numbered, so he begged the Lord for him to recover the soonest. He desired for his life. Lord’s work, his recuperation was very fast that in five days he was already declared safe.

During his convalescence, he got to read the books: The Life of Christ and a book on the lives of the saints. While reading the books meditatively, he began to desire to follow the steps of the saints like Sts. Dominic and Francis. He used to say to himself, “Saint Dominic did this, so I have to do it too. Saint Francis did this, so I have to do it too.” This desire to imitate the saints lasted and brought him much consolation.

Having recovered from his infirmity, he wanted to go to Jerusalem. Every time his imagination brought him to Jerusalem, to the very places where Christ stayed and lived, his heart became restlessly yearning to fulfill this greatest desire. On February 1522, so determined, Ignatius commenced his pilgrimage and on August 31, 1523, he first set foot in the Holy land. His visits to the holy places gave birth to another desire; a desire to remain in Jerusalem and save souls. Sadly, he was not given permission to stay. Nevertheless, he was bringing with him his desire to save souls when he left Jerusalem.

His active pursuit to save souls brought him to more yearnings. He desired to preach. When faced with tribulations and inquisitions, he desired to study. He started studying Languages, earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, worked and passed his Licentiate, then took a Theological Course. While studying, he met Peter Faber, Francis Xavier and some other friends. Together they desired for partnership in saving souls and vowing to live in poverty and chastity, and go to Jerusalem to serve Christ there. When their quest to go to Jerusalem failed, Ignatius and the other companions desired to form an Order. The Society of Jesus was born.

Desire was evident in Ignatius’ love story with Jesus. He just desired for life then this desire progressed to a desire to imitate the saints to visit the holy land to save souls in the service for Jesus. Ignatius’ mastered the art of eliciting desires which got him to his authentic self and found Christ’s fundamental desire for him.

Let us pray…

Grace to Pray for:

Lord Jesus, I beg for a heart that recognizes my earnest desires so that I may be at home with them, realizing that these are wonderful reflections of Your own desires for me.

Suggested Scriptures:

a) Isaiah 65:17-25 (The World Renewed)
b) Roman’s 8:28-39 (God’s Indomitable Love in Christ)
c) Luke 19: 1-10 (Zacchaeus’ Desire to See Jesus)
d) 1 John 1: 1-4 (The Word of Life)

Points for Prayer and Reflection:

-Make a list of your desires in life. What will make me happy? Which desire/s give/s me lasting happiness?

-Pray over your desires. Dialogue with the Lord on each of them.

-Like St. Ignatius, Zacchaeus ardently desire to see Jesus. Pray over Luke 19:1-10. Feel what Zacchaeus feels when Jesus passes by and the people are like high walls blocking his view of Jesus.

- Jun-G Bargayo, SJ -
Visit jun-g.com for more reflections.

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA Soldier for Christ, Founder of the Society of Jesus

Military Mass
Ateneo de Manila High School
Covered Courts
30 July 2009

The first Jesuits actually arrived in the country almost 500 years ago, in 1541. While they were primarily missionaries, even then, as now, they were already deeply involved in the education of Filipinos.

It was the early Spanish Jesuits that set up Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio in 1581, the first university not only in the Philippines but in all of Asia.

However, in the eighteenth century, the Society of Jesus fell out of favor with colonial powers and Catholic royalties. They were expelled from their areas, including the Philippines, until finally, in 1773, the congregation was dissolved.

After decades of persecution and suppression, the Jesuit congregation was reinstated. On April 14, 1859, almost a hundred years after they were expelled from the country, ten Jesuits of the Aragon Province sailed to the frontier in the ship Luisita to Manila. They were supposed to do missionary work in Mindanao. Before proceeding to Mindanao, the Jesuits were petitioned by residents of Manila to set up a Jesuit school which eventually became Ateneo de Manila University.

This year, we celebrate the return of the Jesuits in the Philippines. We honor the legacy of the 150th long years Jesuit education, marked with excellence, commitment and leadership: strong characteristics of all Jesuit apostolates in the Philippines. Thus, in this new frontier of technology, post-modernism and globalization we are continuously called to engage the world through the great blessing that is our Jesuit education.

Reflecting on the words of Fr. Superior General Adolfo Nicolas, SJ, the 29th successor of Ignatius, we are challenged to sail towards the new frontiers in our modern times. We are all called to conquer the Frontier of Depth, which is best translated as the Ignatian Magis. We have been reminded that St. Ignatius has always been concerned with depth as expressed in non multa sed multum, not many but much. For St. Ignatius, it was not about the number of achievements, awards, and recognition, but the quality of learning, reflections and deeper understanding of the essentials in life.

Fr. Nicolas, SJ invites furthermore to move towards the Frontier of Universality. We have been reminded that St. Ignatius spoke of what is for the universal good. St. Ignatius has instructed his men to go where there is a greater need. Universality is recognizing that we are part of something bigger, of a greater vineyard where the Lord wants us to work in. And clearly, this It goes beyond the four walls of Ateneo. It is to synergize with other schools across the country even within Asia.

Let us then keep the frontiers of depth and universality in our minds and hearts as we build this nation through authentic piety, discipline and generosity.


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