Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Commemoration of All the Departed of the Society of Jesus [Jesuit Churches]
St. Paul warns us about the enemies of the cross of Christ. “Their minds,” he says, “are occupied with earthly things” (Philippians 3:19). If we find ourselves always concerned with earthly things, then, well, we have a problem. “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:21). We must not imitate those whose “God is their stomach,” and whose “glory is in their shame” (Philippians 3:19). On the contrary, we must pry our hearts away from earthly things, at least sometimes, and to do that, we may need a prybar, a lever of some kind, such as Ignatian spirituality.
Ignatian spirituality is just a tool that can be used to free the mind from preoccupation with earthly things. Of course, there are many such tools: lectio divina, the rosary, sacred music, religious art, church architecture, and so forth. The principal lever of Ignatian spirituality is the retreat with a spiritual director to whom we describe the state of our spiritual life, and then we follow the guidance given. The dynamic of having a spiritual director is meant to focus the mind, to open up new possibilities, and to avoid the tyranny of self-will. Let it be God’s will that we are doing here on earth, even if we have to pry ourselves away from other preoccupations.