This Thursday marks the beginning of an Ignatian Year that will extend through July, 2022. May 20th is the 500th anniversary of the day when St. Ignatius of Loyola was seriously wounded in Pamplona, in a Spanish fortress that was under siege by French-backed Navarrese soldiers.
One of lgnatius’s legs was shattered by a cannonball. In the aftermath, he was escorted to the family castle in Loyola to convalesce following a brutal, primitive surgical attempt to heal his leg. It was during that extended convalescence that Ignatius experienced his famous conversion, largely catalyzed by his reading a life of Christ and the lives of the saints.
While we might not have such a dramatic upturning of our lives, Ignatius’s conversion can speak to our lives and experiences—especially throughout the coming year as we engage in the study of theology in preparation for ministry.
First, the notion of “conversion”: the biblical term, metanoia, refers to a change and transformation of the mind. I’d like to draw on this notion in reflecting on Ignatius and the relevance of his experience to ours.
Ignatius was a man of big dreams. He daydreamed about heroic military and chivalric exploits. Those dreams were transformed by his reading about Jesus and the lives of the saints, such as Dominic and Francis of Assisi. He rose from his bed, months later, determined to do great things for the Lord.
This year affords us the opportunity to reflect upon our plans, hopes, and dreams. Likely, yours are more laudable than Ignatius’s originally were. Still, what Ignatius teaches is that our plans, hopes, and dreams become more holy the more we place Jesus at the center of them. And that entails—as Ignatius did—getting to know Jesus more intimately by allowing him to continue to reveal himself to us. That, I propose, is a great way to contextualize our studies, which are done best when set in the life of prayer, both individual and communal.
I encourage all of us to follow Ignatius’s example of being inspired and set on fire with the love of Jesus. Doing so will make us disciples whose primary concern is the greater glory of God—ad maiorem Dei gloriam.