16th Sunday 2014
Robert VerEecke, S.J.
What kind of week has it been for you? Good, bad, special, ordinary? If you
think of the week that was, can you see how God’s Spirit was present and
active in your life? Does your experience of God’s spirit translate to your
everyday life or do you just think about how God may be acting on your
behalf just on Sunday from 5:30-6:30 (that’s if you stay until the end of
Mass)? The wisdom of St Ignatius of Loyola says that if you seek and
search, God is found “in all things”. Like St Paul who says that the spirit
within groans for us when we do not know how to pray, St. Ignatius says
that we can discern God’s Holy Spirit and what he calls the “evil” spirit.
(More about that in a moment.)
For me this past week was so grace-filled that I can hardly bear thinking
about it without a profound sigh from the depth of my being. I had the great
privilege of acting the role of St Ignatius in our performance of For the
Greater Glory of God. (Hopefully that explains to you the jet black hair,
beard and eyebrows.) Trying to look like Ignatius on the outside, I also was
given the gift of entering into the power of his Spiritual Exercises once
again. The wisdom of God that comes through the Spiritual Exercises is
breath-taking, mind-blowing, soul-shaking. From the starting point of the
Principle and Foundation when we are reminded that our ultimate purpose in
life is to “praise, reverence and serve God our Lord and by this means to
save or souls”, one enters into the awesome mystery of God’s unconditional
love for each person, enfleshed in his or her relationship with Jesus Christ.
Once you have come to accept yourself as a loved sinner, flawed and in need
of God’s mercy, you are called to follow Christ, to choose Christ, to walk
with Christ.
But the Wisdom of Ignatius knows that “following” Christ as leader and
Lord is not always easy. There are other “appeals”, other “standards” that
you might want to follow.
This is how Ignatius puts it:
Consider if you will, two standards, the standard of Christ our Leader and
Lord, and the standard of Satan, the enemy of all. Consider how Satan uses
all the attractions of this world to seduce people into his power, offering
each riches, honor and pride. And now consider if you will, Jesus of
Nazareth, who has nothing but himself to offer you. Will you choose to be
poor with Jesus poor? Jesus, who emptied himself becoming a slave out of
love for you. Will you choose to be ridiculed with Jesus ridiculed? Jesus,
who spoke no word of defense before his accusers. Will you choose to be
humble with Jesus humble? Jesus who accepted even death, death on a
cross.
In the world view of Ignatius, Satan, the power of evil, was personified.
There was in his world no doubt that there was a demonic being in whom all
the power of evil was invested. The Evil One was fighting against anything
that would bring about God’s kingdom. The enemy of human nature knew
well how to seduce people with the attractions of riches, honor and pride so
that they would not follow Jesus, poor, ridiculed and humble. In our own
day, the idea of a “ supremely evil being” called Satan may not have the
same caché that it did in Ignatius’ time, but surely none of us can deny that
evil is all around us. We only have to think of the horrific events of this past
week to realize that evil in all its forms is thriving like those weeds in the
garden. The missile attack that destroyed the innocent lives of 298 people
on Malaysian airlines. The ongoing violence in the Middle East, especially
in Israel and Palestine. The communities of Christians in Mosul who have
fallen victims of ISIS. The terrorism of Boko Haram in Nigeria. The exodus
of children from Central American countries fleeing drug cartels and gangs.
The litany of evil in our world could go on forever. But we hope, if we listen
to today’s gospel, that it will not be forever. Evil is a condition of our human
existence, whether the source of the Evil is Satan or humankind. But we live
in hope that Evil will not last or have the last word.
And where is God in the midst of this evil? Where is God? If we have ears to
hear today, we hear that God is within each of us, encouraging us to make
choices for good and not evil, do whatever is within our power to combat the
forces of evil and act for the common good. In Ignatius’ vision, we make a
choice to align ourselves more and more with Jesus Christ, who himself was
a victim of the evil of this world but who we believe ultimately has
conquered Satan and sin and death. Yes, that’s hard to see. It’s like the
mystery of the mustard seed or the leaven. You can’t see it happening but it
is. God is working in the hearts of human kind.