‘St
Ignatius of Loyola - a person who taught the world, how to swim against the
currents of the time.’
Quite often when we hear the word, ‘Saint’, we put off our minds, thinking
these humans belong to some other realm of existence and their teachings are
other worldly. I believe this sort of thinking is far beyond reality atleast in
the saint I am going to speak about.
St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of
Jesus, his values, the way he led his life, is still meaningful and unique, even today.
St Ignatius of Loyola, a warrior saint came to the
rescue of the Catholic Church in the most troublesome times of reformation.
When the world joined Luther and his followers, in condemning the church,
Ignatius taught the world that, if there is a wound in a finger, we do not cut
off the hand rather treat it. His quiet yet stern work, helped to build and
strengthen the church amidst the troubled waters.
In this short write up, I am focusing on 3 important
factors/values that I am inspired from St Ignatius
1. Insight on Personality:
There are times in our
lives, when we are full of life and enthusiasm. There are also times when we
are lethargic and lifeless. The deep thinker St Ignatius, in his book, ‘The Spiritual Excercises’ – presents
us, with 3 types of personalities.
1.
Procrastinator – the one who always says
, ‘ TOMORROW’
2.
Compromiser – I will give up everything,
except this particular thing.
3.
One who surrenders: One who reflects and
makes up his mind about something and then lays down everything to achieve it.
This
insight of St Ignatius has affected my life much. This has kept my way of going
ever in check, to find whether I am moving ahead or stuck in this journey of
life, being a compromiser and a procrastinator.
2.
Decision Making:
A couple of
years ago, my family was in deep crisis and I was deeply troubled and terribly
confused whether to continue my life as a Jesuit or to quit. It was then , I sought the help of the golden tool that St
Ignatius presents.
a.
Never decide when you are too low or
high in spirits.
b.
Have a total knowledge of the decision
you are inclined to make.
c.
Have a look at the pros and cons of your
decision.
d.
Imagine yourself on the death bed and
know, if you are facing the similar situation, when I am about to die, what would you decide?
I took time in those moments of crisis and then was
sure that at the hour of my death, I would never make such a hasty decision to
quit this noble society.
3.
Magis:
For St Ignatius, there isn’t anything so called , ‘BEST’. He speaks in terms of Better than the best – MAGIS, a typical
Jesuit term. Whenever I am tired and down, when I am about to quit, when I
think, I have done sufficient, St Ignatius, pricks me with is favourite value,
- MAGIS-There is still room for
improvement.
Having
spoken about the three values, finally I would love to share one last thing.
The gospel verse that he often addressed to St Francis Xavier. “If you win the whole world and lose your
soul, what will you gain?
Whenever, I think of these lines, I get reminded of
the story of the dog, which used to run behind a truck everyday with rage.
After some time , it used to get tired and give up the chase and walk back.
Let’s imagine one fine day, this dog manages to catch hold of the truck, and
what can it do?
St Ignatius, in very subtle ways sends us the
message, that ‘Success in itself is not everything. The journey needs to be
enjoyed and made meaningful.
Let
this holy man inspire us all.
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