Saint Ignatius of Loyola

St. Ignatius was born Inigo De Loyola, in Northern Spain, in the year 1491.

He was raised in the house of Juan Velazquez De Cuellar, who worked as the treasurer of the Kingdom of Castile.  Since his guardian worked int he service ofKing Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, this not only afforded Ignatius an excellent education and a rich lifestyle, it also gave him many opportunities to socialize with those who were among the King's court.

We're told that Ignatius loved to socialize with the upper class, and he loved to indulge in the rich fads and fashions of the day. That is to say, he; loved to gamble, he loved to compete against the other men in sword-fighting, he wore only the finest clothes. Finally, he loved the company of only the finest ladies and he was known to do whatever was necessary to compete against the other men to impress these Noble-women... We're also told that much later, in his confessions, he was to say that he was a most indulgent and miserable sinner at this time in his life.

In 1517, when his guardian Velasquez died, Ignatius joined the Army. His dramatic conversion experience came 4 years later during his military career in 1521. He was an Officer defending the Fortress of the Town of Pamplona against theinvasion forces of the French. The Spanish forces were terribly outnumbered, they knew they couldn't win, but Ignatius ordered them to fight on anyway, for the honor of Spain. During this battle, a cannon-ball struck Ignatius, wounding one leg and breaking the other. When Ignatius fell on the Battle-field his army lost heart, they no longer had the courage to fight on and so, they surrendered. The French moved in and Ignatius was now taken as a prisoner of war. The French soldiers had so greatly admired his courage, however, that instead of putting him in prison, they carried Ignatius on a stretcher from Pamplona to Loyola, so that he could recuperate in his own home.

We're told that Ignatius very nearly died of his wounds. Eventually, however, he recovered and the broken leg healed. But his left leg was now shorter than the other and for the rest of his life he walked with a limp.

During the long weeks of his recuperation, Ignatius became extremely bored and he asked for some novels about chivalry; stories about knights on exciting missions and rescuing those beautiful damsels in distress. There were no such books to be found. So his friends brought him a book on the life of Christ and another book on the lives of the saints. Desperate, Ignatius began to read them. The more Ignatius read about the saints, the more he considered the exploits of the saints worth imitating. He found himself thinking thoughts like; "What if I were to prayer longer than this saint, fast longer than that saint, make more pilgrimages than any other saint?" He wanted to compete with them and out-do them. Just as he had competed with the other men of the King's Court and had competed with all other on the Battle-field.

Ignatius found that, having read these books, he was experiencing a profound change. He no longer wanted to attend the King's Court. Competing with the other men in sword-fighting, competing with them in style and fashion, competing with them for the attention of the Ladies, these were no longer satisfying past-times for him. These things no longer held his interest, instead they left him restless and bored. He only found peace and joy in the company of and in competition with the saints. he was only happy when he was imitating Christ Jesus.

When Ignatius had fully recovered and left Loyola, he had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do. He only knew that he wanted to do more than any other saint had done before him. This was certainly a man who dreamed BIG!

The first thing he did was to travel to the Benedictine Shrine at Montserrat and make confession there. When he had finished making his confession and devotions there, he left his knife and his sword at the altar. He went out into the street and gave his rich clothes to a poor man, then he put on a garment of sack-cloth that reached to his feet. He put on sandals and took up the staff of a pilgrim... He was no longer Ignatius the Nobleman, no longer Ignatius the military officer. He was now Ignatius the penitent, Ignatius the pilgrim and Ignatius Saint-in-the-making.

When Ignatius left the shrine at Montserrat, he traveled to the nearby town ofManresa. There, he found a cave
(conveniently next to a river) and although he had only intended to remain there for a few days, he ended up living there for the next 10 months. He spent most of his time in prayer, contemplation and performing different kinds of penance. He also worked in a hospice and lived on alms.

Two notable things happened to Ignatius during this time. The first is that, he had terrible attacks of guilt, sorrow for past sin and the need to be sure he was now performing even the smallest Christian duties right - to make up for all the wrong he had done. In other words, he was doing away with his old ways of thinking and behaving and "taking on the mind of Christ". Secondly, it was here in this cave and by the river that Ignatius received enlightenment. He was never able to precisely explain what this vision was, he could only say that he had learned more on this one occasion than he had during the entire rest of his life. What seems to have happened to Ignatius is that a veil was lifted from eyes, so that he was able to see all of creation as being infused with the Spirit of God. That he found all of creation to be caught up into Oneness, into an intimate communion with God. So that all of Nature and Time took on increased meaning and relevance, because as we live and move and interact with all of creation around us, we are living and moving and interacting with God. This is the enlightenment that Ignatius received, this is the enlightenment that enabled Ignatius to see God in all things, at all times. So that he felt no need, later, to impose the Daily Office, to institute specfic times or forms of prayer in his Rule for the Jesuits. Because, Ignatius felt that all our moments of life should be spent in mindfulness of God's Presence, our every breath and every move should be a prayer, even as it is interaction with the God who is closer to you than your very next breath.

After 10 months of living on alms and in contemplation, in this cave by the river, Ignatius felt the need to make a pilgrimage to the Holy land. He knew that the journey would be difficult and even dangerous, but he was excited, seeing it as a test of his willingness and ability to perform the most heroic forms of penance. More, he felt htat this type of journey and the penance it would bring, would provide the practical education he needed to conform himself perfectly to Christ's life.

Okay, so here we are, at the end of Ignatius's conversion and at the beginning of his life as a Christian and a Saint. And guess what? This is where I'm going to stop telling his story. Yes, he went on to do some incredible things and to create some enduring institutions, which have had an everlasting impact not only on Christianity, but on all of human history. But we're not going to look at those things. Instead, we're going to look more closely at just what Ignatius has done so far, because this alone is incredible and deserves another look.

What has he done? He's abandoned his castle, he's abandoned his money, his rich clothes and the charming company of royal people. Choosing, instead, to wear sack-cloth, live on alms and sleep in a cave? Why would anyone want to do this? It's just inconceivable, I mean, honestly, could you see Prince Charles or Prince William of Wales doing such a thing? Walking away from it all to become a nameless, faceless beggar? Why would anyone do that?

The easy answer is; it's symptomatic of post-traumatic-stress disorder, his cheese slid off his cracker, he has plumb lost his mind!

But it's not that easy. If we say that about Ignatius, then we have to say it about St. John the Baptist, Jesus himself, the 72 disciples Jesus sent out on the road without any money and even without an extra shirt. Then, we also have to say it about; St. Paul, St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi and a whole host of others, right up to and including Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Who, by the way, left the original convent she'd joined with only a quarter in her pocket and no-where to go, but determined to found her own religious order that would serve the poorest of the poor.

All of these people, at some point in their Christian practice can say, right along with Christ; "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head."... They can't all be crazy. And so, suddenly we are forced to open our eyes and acknowledge the fact that the path of Renunciation is not only a Hindu or Buddhist tradition, it has a rich and revered history in Christianity as well... Perhaps the first clue that should have tipped us off, is the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not lie, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill". There's an awful lot of renouncing going on there!

Except, Renunciation is a tradition that seems to have died out, here in the United States. I've heard both Hindu and Buddhist teachers complain that the subject is so unpopular here, they feel most uncomfortable even mentioning it, let alone teaching it...  And as for Christianity, I can attest to the fact that, when I was actively exploring various convents and almost desperately wanting to to take the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, some Recruiters tried to entice me to join their particular house by saying; "And our convent has an indoor pool!"... Clearly, our modern, American, Walmart of a culture has completely lost touch with this spiritual path. And so, in order for us to even begin to understand the great Renunciates like; John the Baptist, Jesus, St. James, St. Paul and Ignatius... I think it's important for us to begin with what Renunciation is not.

When the tool of Renunciation is used properly, it is not life-negating, it is not world-denying, nor does it restrict our freedoms. Indeed, one of the goals of Renunciation is to set us completely free!

The tool of Renunciation should not be mistaken for thos un-necessarily restrictive and even prejudiced spiritualities that are suspicious of anything even remotely sensual or enjoyable. You know the kind, they say; No Alcohol, No playing cards, No going to movies, NO

dancing, it's a sin to even drink a soda-pop, etc...

The true Renunciate recognizes that sensual pleasures are not bad or evil in themselves. The danger is in the misues and abuse of these pleasures. Misuse and abuse always brings suffering... The Renunciate, like Christ, is called be a loving healing presence and the tool of Renunciation brings that love and healing into the world.

Let's take food for an example of how renunciation works. We Americans love good food and the topic of food is always a popular one. Just check out tv ads, how many of them are for restaurants or food products? How many of the top 20 selling books are diet books? The food industry works overtime to develop mouth-watering food that we can gorge on, without gaining weight... But the misuse and abuse of food in North America has produced an epidemic of obesity, heart-disease, diabetes, high-blood pressure and other medical ailments. It has also produced a ruthless culture of factory-farming that has absolutely no regard for either human or animal welfare. Quite the opposite, it actually encourages animal cruelty, like horrific over-crowding of animals into incredibly small spaces, or burning the beaks off of chickens with anesthesia. This industry encourages animal cruelty, whenever it will increase their profits.

It is no secret, either, that many farmers hire illegal aliens to harvest their fields. These farmers pay well below minimum wage and there are absolutely no medical benefits. Worse still, some of these migrants have been sprayed with poisonous pesticide even as they worked in the fields. Others have performed the work, only to find that the farmer refuses to pay and how are they to complain to any authority, without revealing themselves and their illegal status?

Finally, our over-consumption in this part of the world contributes to very real starvation of human-beings in other parts of the world.

One of the Renunciate's answers to this dilemma might be to;

1) Simply say "no" to super-sized portions. Or,
2) to eat a vegetarian diet. Or,
3) to fast once or twice a week.

Any or all of these, in order to; promote health, to use a boycott to send a statement, or to at least refrain from contributing to the problems mentioned.

Ironically, the Renunciate will discover that in saying "No", we are actually saying "Yes".
Yes, I want to be a healthy weight.
Yes, I do care how my food is grown, harvested and handled.
Yes, I do care about animal welfare.
Yes, I do care about living conditions of people in other parts of the globe.

Even more, when I fast - I find that my suffering gives me just a small "taste" of what the starving refugees in Sudan must be experiencing, as they die at an appalling rate of 3,000 a day. Suddenly, my renunciation of food opens my heart in empathy for their suffering and I want to reach out in some practical and tangible way to relieve their suffering. This is the purpose of fasting, the purpose of saying "No" to food. It must cause us to identify with the suffering of others, bring us to a place of empathy and compassion - it must open the way for both reconciliation and right-relationship with others. Otherwise, it is a useless exercise because neither you nor God profit from hunger for its own sake.

Although it can be said that fasting does put us into relationship with Christ because we are demonstrating that we're willing to share in his sufferings, in order to make the Kingdom of God manifest.

Okay, let's get back to Ignatius. Let's take a look at everything he renounced; his books on chivalry, his knife and sword, his rich clothes, his money, his castle and his status within the royal court. Right? Yes and no.

These are just the outward signs. What Ignatius really renounced was; covetousness, greed, pride and ignorance. He renounced I-ness and Mine-ness. This really is something we can do from the comforts of our own homes, folks. Renouncing greed, pride, ignorance, I-ness and Mine-ness... Ignatius renounced all these things, he renounced "Ownership"... Because all of these things separate us from God and each other. When said "No" to these things, he was saying "Yes" to sharing everything with God, with all humankind and all creation. He was saying "Yes" to living life completely dedicated to bringing the love and healing of Christ everywhere he went...

A Hindu teacher has said it best; "...As the boundaries of self are weakened and dissolved through compassion and love, so too, are the boundaries that divide up the rest of the world. When this happens, rocks will no longer be simply rocks, but occasions for wonder and delight. Trees will no longer be merely trees, but signs and symbols marking the way home. People will no longer be just people, but each one will appear as an Ambassador of God, bearing sacred teachings of inestimable value". And this was what Ignatius experienced at the end of his 10 months, living in a cave by the river. When he suddenly opened his eyes and realized, we are ll inter-dependent, we are all One. The Heavens and the Earth declare the Glory of the Lord, the Holy Spirit is the Breath in every creature that breathes (even the smallest blade of grass), and the surprise of all surprises; "Christ is in you!" As St. Paul exclaims to the Colossians.

Therefore, let us renounce I-ness, Mine-ness and ownership that creates suffering and puts up separating boundaries between one another God. let us say "Yes" to right-relationhship, "Yes" to healing and love, "Yes" to God and one another; by saying "No" to materialism, self-indulgence, greed and self-centeredness... Yes, I am calling upon you all to walk at least some distance down the path of renunciation.

This doesn't mean that you're expected to leave your homes, your bank accounts or anything extremely drastic - most of us are not ready for that and most of us are not super-saints.

What you are being called to do is live simply, that others may simply live. Take an inventory of your life. What can you say "No" to, in order to say "Yes" to God and his creation? Can you renounce wasting money gambling and use that money to buy coats and shoes for the neediest kids of all? Can you renounce saying; "This is my home", by taking someone in who needs a place to live, at least for a little while?... There are a million ways to set foot on this path, a million ways to creatively use the tool of renunciation to bring yourself and others closer to God and all his creation. Take an inventory, think about it, then step up and make the commitment.

In preparing this sermon, I've had plenty of time to think about the commitment I want to make and therefore I'm prepared to declare to God and everybody; I wish to walk a little more perfectly on the path of non-violence, I want to use God's creation but not abuse it. To that end, as of today, I renounce drinking milk and I intent to fast from meat at least every other day, so that in effect, I will be a vegetarian 6 months of the year. And finally, in order to stop wasting time (time that could be devoted to family, friends and ministry) - I am renouncing all but one hour of tv per week.

Now, having said that, I must say this; do not confuse the Path of Renunciation with New Year's Resolutions.

Renunciation is not a matter of sheer will, it is an attitude, a way of approaching life and one that must be cultivated and practiced over a long period of time. Let me illustrate; say, for example, you have renounced steak. But you burn with cravings for a medium-well done steak. You think about slowly pouring A-1 sauce on a big juicy steak. Fantasize about cutting into it and taking that first, anticipated and mouth-watering bite. You're obsessed with driving past the steak-house on the main drag and smelling those wonderful prime-ribs and t-bones cook... Have you really and truly renounced steak? No. Your mind, heart and spirit have not let go. You are still enslaved to your desire. You are not free.

This is why I say, Renunciation is not a matter of will-power. It is an attitude, an approach to life that must be studied, meditated upon and practiced over a long period of time. So that when the time comes, then each act of Renunciation is virtually as simply and easy as growing up and leaving your toys behind.

So take your inventory, take your time, know for certain what you are ready to let go of. Then, make your declaration of commitment.

And; "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the Glory of God. Try to please everyone in everything you do... so many will be saved. Be imitators of the Great Renunciates, as they imitate Christ."

AMEN.