Juntos en el camino: Palabras semanales del Arzobispo Hebda
Summer continues flying by: it’s hard to believe that we’re already at the end of July. My peers tell me that the sands of time seem to speed up the older we get. I ran into a number of our seminarians yesterday at the mass for the annual Steubenville Conference, however, and noted that they were already talking about the return to school and wondered where the summer had gone. No matter where we are on life’s journey, we never want time to be simply passing by or evaporating.
This week, we celebrate the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, also known as the Society of Jesus. I’m always grateful to him for sharing his amazing charism with the Church, especially through the men who continue to carry on his ministry as Jesuit priests and brothers. I was blessed throughout my time in major seminary with a Jesuit spiritual director, the late Fr. George Aschenbrenner. He was a great help when I was discerning my vocation…and in helping me get through two degrees (theology and canon law) at the Jesuit university in Rome, the Gregorian (the modern-day successor of the Collegio Romano that Ignatius founded). I was honored that he would eventually preach my first Mass.
Like Fr. Aschenbrenner, the Jesuits who taught me were giants. They lived in the most humble of quarters but really devoted themselves to developing their hearts and minds. We would sneak up to the floor of their residence at the Gregorian after lunch to watch a very curious post-prandial ritual: they would gather in groups of six, three on three, and engage in debate while they walked the corridor. When they came to the end of the corridor, they would switch languages and head back in the other direction. By the time that they had covered English, French, Italian, Spanish and Latin, they had earned a brief riposo before hitting the books again in the afternoon.
It should be no surprise that those sons of St. Ignatius were extraordinary. Their founder’s biography reads like an adventure thriller. Prior to his conversion, Ignatius, or Inigo, as called in his native Basque language, had always taken great pride in acts of chivalry and bravery, until the day he was injured in battle and nearly lost his leg. It was only then, as he spent months recovering in the hospital, that he was able to see past the outward quests to which he had been drawn and instead turn inward, to the even-more-noble movements of the heart.
I think of St. Ignatius today as we approach his feast and the two-thirds marker of this glorious Minnesota summer. In the midst of the vacation travels, sports and other activities that so often characterize this season, it can be hard to find the quiet that Ignatius so appreciated, and to take the time we need to reflect on how the Holy Spirit is moving in our hearts. That’s why – though it was developed nearly 500 years ago – St. Ignatius’ famed practice, the “daily examen,” is still such a valuable tool that equips us for discernment in 2025.
As explained on the Jesuits’ website, the Ignatian daily examen follows five simple steps:
- Place yourself in God’s presence. Give thanks for God’s great love for you.
- Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life.
- Review your day — recall specific moments and your feelings at the time.
- Reflect on what you did, said, or thought in those instances. Were you drawing closer to God, or further away?
- Look toward tomorrow — think of how you might collaborate more effectively with God’s plan. Be specific and conclude with the “Our Father.”
It couldn’t be any easier, but I can share with you that the fruits are great. It has really helped me to appreciate more profoundly the events that make up my day and to develop a greater sense of gratitude for experiences that could otherwise slip by unnoticed. Along with the daily morning offering, it’s always the first practice that I suggest to those desiring to draw closer to the Lord. If it’s not already in your spiritual repertoire, the feast day of St. Ignatius could be a good moment to start.
Please join me in thanking the Jesuits in our Archdiocese who continue to embody Ignatius’ charism in this local Church, whether it be in their retreat apostolate at DeMontreville, their work at their Cristo Rey high school in Minneapolis or their leadership at St. Thomas More and St. Peter Claver parishes. St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.
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