April 22, 2015

Mary and St. Ignatius

Today’s Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Society of Jesus, a feast proper to the liturgical calendar of the Society of Jesus, recognizes the special role of Mary, Mother of God, in the Society of Jesus and is a proclamation of the special devotion of the religious order named after Jesus to his Mother Mary.

Mary played a key role in the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola and in the beginnings of the Society of Jesus. After the recovery of Ignatius from his injuries in Pamplona and his “conversion,” he prayed in vigil at the shrine of our Lady of Aranzazu and offered his sword and dagger to Our Lady at the Benedictine monastery in Montserrat.
In his spiritual experiences at the River Cardoner and in the often-used triple colloquy at the end of key exercises in his Spiritual Exercises, the first colloquy was a special prayer for the intercession of Mary, the second to the Son and the third to the Father. The first contemplation of the fourth week of the Spiritual Exercises is on the risen Lord’s apparition to his mother: though not recorded in the Gospels, the risen Lord must have first appeared to his grieving mother.

The first seven companions who eventually were the founding core of the Society of Jesus made their first vows at Montmartre in Paris on the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, 15 August 1534. After Pope Paul III approved the Society of Jesus in 1540 the first Jesuits pronounced their religious vows as Jesuits before Mary’s image at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome. The first church in Rome given to the Society was that of Our Lady of the Wayside, Madonna della Strada.

Jesuits make their perpetual religious vows at the end of novitiate to the Divine Majesty “before the most sacred Virgin Mary and the whole court of heaven.” At the end of their training, Jesuits make their final vows in the Society of Jesus “in the sight of the Virgin Mary and the whole heavenly court.”

We join the Society of Jesus in its love for and confidence in Mary, Mother of the Society of Jesus: “Almighty and eternal God, you chose the Virgin Mary to be the Mother of your eternal Word. Give us strength to be servants of that Word in the Society of Jesus, which is consecrated to your glory in the presence of Mary, our Mother.”

One Bread, One Body

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Acts 8:1-8
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Psalm 66:1-7

John 6:35-40
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THE PEOPLE OF THE WORD

"The members of the church who had been dispersed went about preaching the word." —Acts 8:4

The Jewish people loved God's Word. God called them to meditate on it day and night (Jos 1:8; Ps 1:2). They considered it more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces (Ps 119:72).

However, Christians were even more devoted to God's Word than the Jews. After Jesus spent the day of His resurrection teaching the Bible for about seven miles in the afternoon (Lk 24:27) and for several hours in the evening (Lk 24:45), the early Christians got the message that God's Word was extremely important. From the moment the Church began at Pentecost, the members of the Church devoted themselves to learning, living, and teaching God's Word (Acts 2:42). The apostles concentrated on the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4) to the point that they were repeatedly thrown in jail for their uncompromised and unstoppable proclamation of God's Word (see Acts 5:42). Stephen proclaimed God's Word so boldly and courageously that he became the first martyr (Acts 7:2ff). Philip preached the Word even as he was escaping persecution (Acts 8:4-5). Moreover, the Spirit even told Philip to run up to a stranger from Ethiopia and teach God's Word (Acts 8:29ff). The first believers ever called "Christians" were only given that name after a year of intensive Bible study (Acts 11:26). The members of the church at Beroea welcomed the Word with great enthusiasm and studied God's Word each day (Acts 17:11). The spirit of the early Church is well expressed by St. Jerome: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" (Catechism, 133).

Prayer: Father, may our hearts burn as the risen Jesus interprets the Scriptures for us this Easter season (see Lk 24:32).

Promise: "No one who comes will I ever reject, because it is not to do My own will that I have come down from heaven, but to do the will of Him Who sent Me." —Jn 6:37-38

Praise: God healed Bob of injuries sustained when he accidentally touched a high-voltage electrical wire.