St Ignatius of Loyola - homeless

 

Image credit: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-56364339

On seeing that today, July 31st, is the feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola, I decided to read a bit about him. Like many people, my first resort is Google which led me to that source of all knowledge, Encyclopaedia Britannica which told me that Ignatius was born in Spain, one of 13 children in a noble, relatively wealthy family. He became a knight until a cannonball took him within a whisker of death, smashed his legs - and his dreams of fame on the battlefield.

After nearly dying... "In February 1522 Ignatius bade farewell to his family and went to Montserrat, a place of pilgrimage in northeastern Spain. He spent three days in confessing the sins of his whole life, hung his sword and dagger near the statue of the Virgin Mary as symbols of his abandoned ambitions, and, clothed in sackcloth, spent the night of March 24 in prayer."

Now here is where it became really interesting for me. Read on with Britannica...

"The next day he went to Manresa, a town 48 km from Barcelona, to pass the decisive months of his career, from March 25, 1522, to mid-February 1523. He lived as a beggar, ate and drank sparingly, scourged himself, and for a time neither combed nor trimmed his hair and did not cut his nails. Daily he attended mass and spent seven hours in prayer, often in a cave outside Manresa."

Think about how Ignatius would be labelled today if he tried being a homeless beggar who neither combed nor trimmed his hair, and did not cut his nails. Mental health and addiction stereotypes spring to my fertile imagination. Anyway, he went on to found the organization we know today as "The Society of Jesus" or simply, "The Jesuits". 

St Ignatius of Loyola was declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. He is also considered by some a patron of soldiers but, can he be more fittingly considered a patron of homeless people?

Who are the shepherds?

 

When I first heard the readings for mass this Sunday (16th Sunday: Jeremiah on selfish, lazy shepherds, Psalm 23, Jesus the Good Shepherd having compassion on the people in the Gospel,) my thoughts went immediately to judging and condemning the shepherds of today and the era we have inherited - spiritual shepherds such as bishops and priests who have brought scandal upon the Church, and political leaders who refuse to see beyond the next election and the need for economic growth as an end in itself regardless of the human, social and environmental cost.

Two women brought me back to myself: the first woman, my wife, read to me a reflection by Sister Mary McGlone (second woman) published in the National Catholic Reporter. Sr McGlone reminds us that we are all shepherds to the extent that we have a sphere of influence with other people; that being a shepherd is not just about the power and authority of those in charge, but also bringing others - any others -  nourishment (prepare a table, green pastures,) peaceful refreshment (still waters,) solidarity and encouragement in the dark valleys of fear and anxiety.

The Good Shepherd doesn't try to do this out of obligation, like the hired hand who will fail. The key is compassion.  Compassion will even induce us to alter our own plans for ourselves, as Jesus did in today's Gospel reading: Jesus wanted to take the apostles on a quiet retreat, but then "… he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them..."

Who are the people in need within our sphere of influence? Perhaps the Good Shepherd wants to reach them through the hands and voices of the likes of you and me. Meanwhile I thank God for the two lady shepherds who brought me this insight.