“The Jesuits were the keepers of a flame too long kept in a black  cloak.  The flame caught on fire with people wearing other- colored clothing.  Now they are on fire.  Ignatian spirituality  works for lay folk.  Ignatius was a layman when he developed the Spiritual Exercises.  This is a great thing.”

Fr. Walter Deye, past president

St. Xavier High School

They Made All the Difference

Loyola Press, 2007

To understand anything Ignatian, it is always good to begin with his Spiritual Exercises.  Michael Ivens, S.J., begins his treatment of the Ignatian “Rules for Discernment” found in the Exercises.  “Discernment is a function of the wisdom of the Spirit. It can be broadly defined as the wisdom which enables a person to distinguish by inner sense (as well as objective criteria) between the spiritually authentic and its opposite, between what is and is not of the Spirit.”

Ignatius believed that good and evil spirits try to influence our hearts and minds to choose what is beneficial or what is destructive to our life.  Employing Ignatius’ insights today, we realize that we all have divided hearts. Our hearts can be selfless or selfish. And we need to realize which part of our heart or which spirit is influencing our choices.

Ignatius instructs us in his first rules for discernment that “like spirits attract.” Thus, when we as people who usually try to love God and serve his people decide, for example, to care for an ailing relative, the good spirit will provide an interior joy, a sense of peace, of God’s presence. However, the evil spirit will try to weaken our resolve to help and make us doubt a good decision.

On the other hand, if we are selfish most of the time, the evil spirit will continue to provide a sense of peace and joy to encourage further our self- centered decisions, and the good spirit will prick our heart and mind with some remorse and discomfort with such choices. Good spirits are at home with choices that help us become more humane and loving and Christ-like, but evil spirits are only comfortable with choices that make us less humane, opposed to Christ and self-indulgent.

Basque-born Fr. Arrupe joined the Society of Jesus in 1927. Because of the order of expulsion by the Republican government of Spain at the time, all Jesuits were sent into exile. Accordingly he pursued his philosophical and theological studies in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Ordained a priest in 1936 and sent off for doctoral studies in medical ethics in the United States, he was unexpectedly sent as a missionary to Japan in 1939.

He was appointed Jesuit superior and the master of novices in Japan in 1942.  He was living in suburban Hiroshima when the atomic bomb fell in August of 1945. He described that event as “a permanent experience outside of history, engraved on my memory.” He utilized his medical skills in the service of the wounded and the dying, transforming the novitiate into a make-shift hospital for over 200 greviously scarred human remnants.  He eventually was appointed the provincial superior of the Jesuits in the Japanese province.

At the 31^st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus in 1965 he was elected to be the order’s 28^th Superior General.  He served in that position from 1965 to 1981.

Magis is an Ignatian term that is frequently misunderstood by both Jesuits and non-Jesuits. In Latin it means “more” and is equated with generosity, magnanimity and selflessness.

Our concept of the Magis is derived from the Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, and is concerned that we choose what will more contribute to our life of love and service.

Thus, we need to deliberate in payer and choose well, leading us to more of the original purpose for which we were created.

A person needs to ask “Given my responsibilities, my gifts and talents, my weaknesses, and limitations, how can I best embrace this desire to be a man or a woman for others?” Often to arrive at a good decision, we may be required to engage in careful thought and possibly converse with someone who knows us well and whom we can trust.

There will be times after our reflection on our life situation when we need to say “No, I cannot add one more task to my present commitments,” and this is operating from the Ignatian Magis. The goal of the Spiritual Exercises is to help us put order into our lives and to achieve a spiritual balance which enables us to be free to choose what is more conducive to our praise, reverence, and service of God.

-derived from “Magis” by Fran Daly, SJ