Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Divine revelation has nothing to do with what I think or say. God revealed what he wanted to reveal without consulting me, or any other Jesuit. God’s complete revelation is contained in sacred scripture and sacred tradition. There is a deposit of faith that has been entrusted to the magisterium of the Catholic Church, that is to say, to the bishops. If you want to know, objectively, what has been revealed, pick up a good, approved catechism.
If you want to know, subjectively, what has been revealed, try using Ignatian spirituality. Ignatian spirituality does not change any objectively revealed teaching in any way, but it only tries to help souls subjectively appreciate revelation at a deeper level. An atheist might read the bible and have a negative subjective response, even though the bible is, objectively, very good. A hurried, distracted Christian might read the bible and have no subjective response at all, other than to feel satisfied for having completed a task. A more focused Christian, while reading the same bible, might have a profound subjective response. All of these personal responses are irrelevant to the information that has been revealed, but they are very relevant to the persons who study them!
When Christ rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples and “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Ignatian spirituality is a set of resources designed to open the retreatant’s mind to deeper subjective appreciation of God’s objective revelation.