Good Morning. Welcome to our Parents’ Day Celebration of the Feast of St. Ignatius. What I will be doing this morning is something that has not yet been done at the Ateneo de Davao University, that is, to share with you, the parents of our students, something about the life of St. Ignatius, Ignatian Spirituality, and Jesuit Education. I am happy to see some of my Jesuit brethren and so many of our lay faculty here because we Jesuits realize our need to share our spirituality with you, our co-workers, since this is something so central to our lives, something that influences greatly our common apostolate and mission. My message is simple: there is an integral link between the life of St. Ignatius, Ignatian Spirituality, and Jesuit Education. Let me develop this message now.
I: The Life of St. Ignatius
Iñigo de Loyola was a Basque nobleman, a soldier given to the ways of the world. All this changed in 1521 when he was seriously wounded defending the tower of Pamplona against the French. Iñigo was brought to his home castle to recuperate and during his convalescence had a conversion experience while reading over and over again two books: one, a life of Christ; the other, the lives of the Saints.
When he recovered, he undertook a pilgrimage to the Benedictine Monastery at Monserrat where he placed his sword and dagger on the altar of our Lady and spent the whole night in prayer. From there be journeyed to Manresa where he begged for his basic needs and spent most of his time in prayer. At first, he experienced great consolation and joy, but gradually he was overcome by severe temptations, scruples, and great desolation that almost drove him to suicide.
He reflected in prayer on the experiences he was undergoing: on the “good and evil spirits” that influenced his decisions. Through a recognition of the interior movements of his heart, the exterior influence of the world around him and the ways he could respond to the voice of God revealed In them, he discovered the importance of true interior freedom in order to be a genuine disciple of Christ. He recognized God at work in himself and in the world, God revealing His personal love for him, and in characteristic Ignatian fashion, he longed to respond in love. He realized that this love had to be expressed in deeds. Thus, his growth in spiritual freedom led to a free decision of loving service and total dedication to the service of Christ the King. What he learned from this spiritual adventure, he wrote down in a book called the Spiritual Exercises, written to guide men and women through a similar experience of growth in interior freedom leading to greater fidelity in God’s service.
Leaving Manresa, Iñigo travelled to Jerusalem but was not able to remain there. So, he decided to study. At the age of thirty, he now began to study the rules of Latin grammar at Barcelona. From there, he went to the University of Alcala and Salamanca, where he encountered many difficulties in his studies. At the same time, he was sharing his Spiritual Exercises with others, but Church authorities would not permit someone not trained in theology to speak about spiritual things. So, gradually, he left Spain to study at the University of Paris in France.
At Paris, Iñigo changed his name to Ignatius. The University of Paris, unlike the Universities in Spain, had a systematic approach that helped him in his studies. He remained at the University of Paris for seven years, and during that time he gathered a group of companions around him and gave them the Spiritual Exercises. In 1534, Ignatius and his six companions vowed to live a life of poverty and chastity and to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land upon the completion of their studies. The third vow was conditional, depending upon the availability of passage to the Holy Land. Since no ship was available, they decided instead to go to Rome to offer their services to the Pope for whatever he might ask of them. In 1537, the six of them were ordained together with their three new companions. One of their group, Peter Faber, had already been ordained in 1534. So, now there were ten of them.
Since they were to put themselves at the service of the Holy Father, they faced the possibility that they would be sent to different parts of the world. So, they decided to form a more perfect bond which would unite them even when they were physically separated. They decided to take a vow of obedience to one of their members, Ignatius, and thus bound themselves together. The ten companions were received formally by the Holy Father, Paul III, and the group which was to be called the Society of Jesus was approved as a religious order in 1540. The early Jesuits, as they came to be known saw their mission as one of preaching, hearing confessions, and moving freely from place to place wherever the need was greatest. Ignatius spent the rest of his life as General of the Society of Jesus and dedicated most of his time to writing the Constitutions bf the newly approved Society of Jesus.
Gradually, the Jesuits became involved in the establishment of new educational institutions and the number of their schools increased rapidly. The philosophy of education that characterized these schools was called the Ratio Studiorum, a sort of common rule which produced an educational system whose strength lay not in the quality of a single school, but rather in a common spirit and common pedagogy based on experience, and refined and adopted through constant interchange between the schools. It assumed the experience of Ignatius and the Exercises into a program of Christian education. The spirit which inspired the first Jesuit schools was the “worldview of Ignatius.”
For Ignatius, education was a means to an end; an instrument to assist men and women achieve the purpose for which they were created. Education was an instrument of evangelization, bringing young people into contact with the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ in such a way as to evoke a response of service to God and man. It was cooperating with God in the formation of men and women who became truly “more human” because their capacities were more fully developed, and they were more in touch with the culture in which they lived.
II. Ignatian Spirituality
Ignatian Spirituality is based upon the experience of the Spiritual Exercises, the fruit of Ignatius’s prayer experiences at Manresa. The book of the Spiritual Exercises is not a book to be read; it is an experience to be undergone. There are four so-called “Weeks” in the Exercises, a thirty-day retreat. The First Week deals with one’s sinfulness and God’s love and mercy; the Second Week deals with
the life of Jesus Christ; the Third Week deals with the Passion and Death of Jesus, and the Fourth Week deals with His Resurrection. Basically, the First Week is a purgative experience during which one realizes one’s sinfulness and is to be liberated by the grace of Jesus Christ. If the First Week is done well, it is a lived experience of the Paschal Mystery: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection
of Jesus Christ, dying to self and rising to Christ. The Second, Third, and Fourth Weeks deal more with the unitive approach, growing in union with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through prayerful contemplation of the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of His life on earth. Aside from these basic four weeks, there are special meditations which are distinguished as peculiarly Ignatian.
A. Principle and Foundation. This is the first of the meditations in the Exercises. It really does set the foundation for the rest of the retreat. It centers on the themes of Creation, Call, and Freedom; and is based on the fundamental truth that the goal of our life is to live with God forever. God gave us life because He loves us, and our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit.
It is important to realize that God loves us, not only to know it in our head but to feel it in our hearts. We are called to respond to that call of love in freedom. We must be liberated from the many things in our lives that keep us from fully responding to God’s love. Thus, the retreat experience would be that of a liberating experience, leading to the growth in giving one’s self more fully to the God who has first loved us.
B. Christ the King and His Call. In this meditation made between the First and Second Weeks, the retreatant is asked to imagine an earthly leader inviting his people to follow him in a noble endeavor. It will demand great sacrifice, but the leader himself will be in he struggle with them, and he promises that after the difficult struggle they will share in the victorious triumph. What would any man do on receiving such an invitation? St. Ignatius asks, would he not gladly follow? The retreatant IS then told to imagine Christ, our Lord, calling him to join Him fostering and promoting the Kingdom of God. He says that the struggle will difficult hut He will he with him. He does not ask anything of him which He Himself did not endure. He assures him of the triumph. What should be his response? Would it not he to follow Him totally? If the retreatant accepts the invitation, he is ready for the Second Week.
C. The Two Standards. During the Second Week, there are many key meditations made while praying over the life of Christ. One key meditation is that of the Two Standards: the standard of Satan and the Standard of Christ. Which standard will he fight under? Satan goes around the world trying to attract men and women to his standard, enticing them through riches, honor, and pride.
Jesus Christ, on the other hand, invites men and women to follow Him in poverty, contempt, and humility. There is indeed a battle going on between the power of Satan and the power of Christ. The retreatant is asked to decide which standard he is really fighting under, to be aware of the subtleties of Satan in enticing men and women to follow him, and to be aware of the call of Jesus Christ to follow Him in poverty, contempt, and humility.
D. Three Types of Persons. This meditation is meant to help the retreatant to grow in freedom to respond more generously to God’s call. He is told to-consider three types of persons. All of these want to serve God, but they realize that to do so they are called to make certain decisions. What is their response? The first type is characterized as one which does “a lot of talk but no action.” He says that he will do it, but he never really does. The second type is characterized as one who is willing “to do everything but the one thing necessary. The third type is the one who says: ” to do your will is my desire.” Thus, whatever, the Lord asks of him, he will do. The retreatant is then asked to reflect on what kind of person is he. How does he respond to the call of Christ the King?
E. Third Degree of Humility. Next, we come to the most difficult of all the Ignatian challenges: to be a person of the third degree of humility. The first degree Is to avoid serious sin. The second does not want to turn away from God even in small ways. The third degree of humility Is to be so united with Christ as to love and desire actual poverty to be with the poor Christ, to love and desire insults in order to be close to Christ in his own rejection by His people, and to love and desire to be considered worthless and a fool for Christ who was ridiculed and mocked, rather than to be esteemed as wise and prudent according to the standards of the world.
This is a very difficult meditation to make. Only the basic motivation of a loving desire to identify with and to follow Jesus Christ totally can make it possible. Actually, life is such that we need not look for humiliations. They happen often enough in our lives. The question is rather how to respond to them. Is it possible that our lives are so centered in Christ that it makes no difference if we are honored or dishonored, rich or poor, as long as we are in Christ?
F. Contemplation For the Love of God. This final meditation sums up the experience of the Spiritual Exercises by deepening the retreatant’s realization of God’s loving presence in God’s gifts to him, God’s gift of Himself to him, God’s labor for him, and finally, God as giver and gift. It leads to two phrases characteristic of Jesuit spirituality: “Finding God in All Things,” and being a “Contemplative in Action.” In completing the retreat, one is so overwhelmed by God’s loving presence that one wants to return this gift to Him, responding with the famous Ignation prayer, ” Take and Receive:”
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty
my memory, my understanding, and my entire will –
All that I have and call my own.
You have given all to me
To you. Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
G. Discernment of Spirits. An important process within the retreat is the Discernment of Spirits. Consolation is defined as any movement towards God; desolation is any movement away from God. There is a difference in the rules of discernment for the First Week of the Exercises and for the rest of the Exercises. In the First Week, when we deal with our sinfulness, consolation would be the result of the good spirit causing movements of shame, guilt, and remorse for past sins; while desolation would be the result of the evil spirit making the retreatant feel good and happy in his sinfulness. In the Second Week and for the rest of the retreat, when the retreatant is intent upon following Christ and growing in union with Him, consolation would be what fosters this union and gives peace and joy while desolation would be the evil spirit causing anxiety, fear, sadness, remorse, and fear in those eager to follow Christ.
Thus, another important grace that the retreatant prays for is the gift of being able to discern how God is working in one’s life. This would involve the ability to use the different movements within and without one’s self: from the good spirit, from the evil spirit, and to employ that sensitivity to recognize God’s presence and discerning His will. I have shared with you some of the more Important characteristics of Ignatian Spirituality. Let us now turn our attention to the third part of our reflection: Jesuit Education.
III: Jesuit Education
When I began my address, I said that my message was simple: there is an integral link between the life of St. Ignatius, Ignatian Spirituality, and Jesuit Education. The document “Characteristics of Jesuit Education Today” mentions particular Ignatian values that should be present in Jesuit education: 1) finding God in all things, 2) personal growth in freedom, 3) integral human development, 4) a concrete response: love shown not only in words, but in deeds, 5) the fostering of the magis: what more can I do in service, 6) a personal encounter and response to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, 7) a love for and involvement with the Church, 8) a strong sense of community, 9) the ability to have a discerning attitude”: what is God asking of me?, and 10) an effective methodology that brings this about. My dear parents, I believe that these values are particularly brought about by two means: Jesuit presence and the promotion of integral evangelization.
Jesuit Presence
Jesuits are fully formed in the Ignatian vision and spirituality and are called to share this Ignatian vision and spirituality with their lay co-workers. It is simply not enough for the individual Jesuit to administer, teach, counsel, etc.; he must be present to and spend time with the lay faculty, staff, and students. Of course,, it depends on the personality and personal gifts of the individual Jesuit how much he is able to be present to the non-Jesuits on campus. Yet, granting such limitations, it is essential that Jesuits share their Ignatian spirituality with their co-workers and students. We call this the process of animation. Really, working with a group enables one to influence it. Thus, a Jesuit faculty member teaching, meeting, working with other faculty members has a wonderful opportunity to influence them if only he is open to them and makes the effort to share his Jesuit spirituality with them.
A further step in the process is the giving of the Spiritual Exercises to selected groups of faculty and students. Of course, this is done every year, (usually in a two-day retreat), but a more intense retreat experience could be made possible. One possibility is to encourage the making of a five-day or eight-day closed retreat, preached or directed. Another possibility is the making of the 19th annotation retreat, making the thirty-day retreat in the ordinary circumstances of one’s everyday life. This would take several months to make, praying an hour a day, and meeting with a group or with a spiritual director regularly for guidance and direction. There are efforts being made to actualize these retreat experiences. It will start slowly at first, but it will grow in impact. This apostolate of presence and animation is essential for a Jesuit school and a challenge for the Jesuit community here at the Ateneo de Davao to respond to.
B. Integral Evangelization
Integral Evangelization may be defined in several ways. It is the proclaiming of the Word’ of God bringing about internal conversion impelling one towards deeper involvement in the process of humanization of the world, that is, involvement in the process of social transformation. It can also be defined as the proclamation of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament as well as in the struggle for human development and liberation. It is really another way of expressing the central theme of the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus: “the service of faith and the promotion of justice.” I personally believe that the promotion of integral evangelization is key to the renewal of the Church and of the Church’s mission to the world. It should be the central vission of our Jesuit schools.
Integral Evangelization was developed fully in Pope Paul Vl’s Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Evangelization in the Modern World, published on December 8, 1975. Paul VI says that evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity, but this evangelization would not be complete if it did not take into account the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social. Thus, it is concerned with bringing the Good News into all strata of humanity and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new. To do this effectively there must be a witness of life and the need of explicit proclamation: the name, the teaching, the life, the promises, the Kingdom, the Mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man must be proclaimed.
Often in our Jesuit schools, evangelization is more implicit than explicit. Sometimes, there is such stress on academic excellence that other essential components of Jesuit education are not stressed. There are three essential components of education for integral evangelization: academic excellence, spiritual formation, and social involvement. All three must be fostered in our efforts to educate the total person integrally. The challenge is to do so effectively given the constraints of limited personnel and resources.
For the College of Arts and Sciences of the Ateneo de Davao University, it means the implementation of our Mission Statement, which is truly a vision of integral evangelization. A.previous issue of Tambara discussed “Reflections on the Mission Statement.” I wish to carry that discussion further. To implement integral evangelization effectively, there must be an integrating factor, unifying the different efforts to create a powerful impact. I propose that the integrating factor be theology, the Religious Studies Division, aligned with and influencing the total program in the College but especially the unique programs: the Interdisciplinary Forum, the Freshman Christian Formation Program, the Campus Ministry Program, and the Social Involvement Coordinating Office.
1. The Religious Studies Division. The promotion of integral evangelization needs theology as the integrating factor. In fact, I would rather change the name of the Religious Studies Division to the Theology Division. We teach to foster a faith commitment, not merely as an academic exercise.
Integral evangelization is the thrust of the Religious Studies Division. We try to teach all our courses with this vision. Most of our faculty have really integrated this vision into their ways of teaching. We try to contextualize our teaching, bringing in the socio-economic, political, cultural, and religious realities, especially of the Davao and Philippine situations. We try to give a more central place to Scripture in our teaching so that the Word of God may penetrate the hearts of the students bringing forth new life. We keep exploring the concept of integral evangelization and in doing so understand it better. In meetings with teachers of theology from other schools, even Jesuit schools, I am surprised how little known this concept and vision is. What we have learned we share with the other schools in the Davao region especially through the Davao Association of Colleges and Schools. We have also been sharing with the Ateneo de Davao faculty in other disciplines, and it has been fruitful for the school.
Obviously, the task of forming integrated Christians can not only be done by the Religious Studies Division but must be the effort of the entire school in all its programs, but theology has a distinct and unique role to play.
2. The Interdisciplinary Forum. For the past three years, the faculty have been meeting to discuss issues of current and general concern and to approach them in an interdisciplinary way. This has been a voluntary effort. For those faculty who have participated, it has been an enriching experience. All disciplines have been represented as issues of a socio-economic, political, cultural, and religious nature have been discussed. As the discussions progressed, there surfaced the need for the theological dimension, and this was a good time to propose the concept of integral evangelization.
Our presence in the Interdisciplinary Forum has led to integrating the theological dimension with other disciplines. I have been invited to team-teach courses in Philosophy and in History, bringing in the theological dimension. In turn, we hope to invite other disciplines to enrich our teaching in the Religious Studies Division.
3. The Freshman Christian Formation Program. Five of our Religious Studies Faculty are involved as facilitators in the FCF program which focuses on helping first year students develop in academic excellence, spiritual formation, and social awareness. Perhaps the greatest impact of the FCF Program has been on the faculty involved who meet weekly to discuss and plan the direction and orientations of the Program. It has been an excellent growth experience for them. Our Religious Studies faculty have been fostering the vision of integral evangelization in the FCF Program, sharing with the other facilitators the insights we have gained from our efforts in the R.S. Division. The biggest problem with the FCF Program is that it is only for Freshmen. There is no effective follow-up once students begin second year.
4. Campus Ministry. We have a very strong Campus Ministry Program at the Ateneo de Davao. It provides the necessary experiential dimension complementing the work of the Religious Studies Division. All classes from first year to fourth year have an opportunity to make a recollection (for the first three years) or a retreat (fourth year). Usually these recollections and retreats are scheduled through the Religious Studies classes. They enable the students to have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, to deepen in their ability to pray, to face their problems, to receive help and counseling, and to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. All our students are reached by this program This program would be more effective if it were better integrated with the Religious
Studies Program, thus facilitating a follow-up.
There is an active liturgical life on campus. Every day there is a Mass at 7 а.m. and 5 p.m. which many faculty, staff, and students attend. Once a month, there is a special University Mass on the occasion of a special Feast or special celebration.
There are many student organizations in the Campus Ministry Program which enable the students to grow as members of Christian communities in fellowship, to deepen in prayer and spiritual formation, and to get actively involved in service to the poor. This actual experience of working with and being with the poor can have a big impact on the students. Peer influence is very powerful, and to be with a group that prays and serves the poor as well as living simply can have a tremendous impact on the young students lite. The Student Spirituality Seminar is a week-end experience of prayer and community building enabling students to grow in relationship to Christ and personal integration, thus freeing them for greater service. In general, the Campus Ministry Program has had a much greater impact on the students than it has had on e Faculty and Staff. That influence on students has been most evident on those belonging to Campus Ministry Clubs, but all have been touched by it.
5. The Social Involvement Coordinating Office. This Office has been established to do precisely what its name suggests, but its effectiveness has been limited by its small staff and lack of sufficient funding. However, its program is good, facilitating a deeper social involvement for the students. One program, the Ateneo Student Exposure Program (ASEP) gives volunteer students the opportunity to experience first hand the living conditions and situation of the poor. They live with poor families in selected areas for about two weeks. Then, they meet to reflect on this experience: sociologically, economically, politically, and religiously. These programs are very good, but the big problem is that only a few students get involved in them.
There is a need for SICO to integrate more effectively with the practicum of the Religious Studies Program, with the exposure program of the FCF, and with the outreach activities of the Campus Ministry Program.
б. Integration and Coordination. The explicitation of these different programs shows how promising they are and how they can have a powerful impact upon the formation of our students. Yet, the lack of effective coordination limits the impact. Once this coordination is accomplished, the promotion of integral evangelization would be greatly fostered.
IV. Conclusion
Well, my dear parents of our Ateneo de Davao students, I hope that my talk has enabled you to understand what we are trying to do here at this Jesuit University. Today, we share with you our celebration of the Feast Day of our Founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. His spirituality is the core of our efforts in the education of your sons and daughters. We Jesuits struggle to do this more effectively, realizing that we do this together with our lay co-workers. Together, we attempt to form your sons and daughters in an integral way, helping them to become more fully human and realizing their call to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ in service and love.