SacredSpace102fm - Ignatius 500 - 25 July 2021 (S11E36)

On this weeks programme, John and Shane are joined by Fr Gerry Clarke SJ who is the Irish coordinator of Ignatius 500 to talk to us about the year celebration to commemorate 500 years since the conversion of St Ignatius in 2021 and 400 years since the canonisation of St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier in 2022.

We have our regular notices, saints of the week and of course our reflections on this weeks Sunday gospel.

Five hundred years ago, St. Ignatius of Loyola experienced an event that would change the course of his life... and the world. As a young soldier in the Spanish army, Ignatius dreamed of fame and glory. But everything changed when he was suddenly and gravely injured by a cannonball while in battle at Pamplona. While in recovery, Ignatius experienced a spiritual conversion and immediately decided to make a change: he found a new sense of purpose and set out to establish the Society of Jesus.

In a letter written to Jesuits on the 7 September 2019 Fr. Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Jesuits, wrote: “In 1521, while Ignatius was convalescing at his family home in Loyola from the wound that damaged his leg at the battle of Pamplona, God brought about his conversion and put him on the road that led to Manresa. Together with our friends and the whole Church, the universal Society wants to remember that privileged moment when the Holy Spirit inspired Ignatius of Loyola in his decision to follow Christ and to deepen our understanding of this pilgrim way in order to ‘draw fruit’ from it.”

Fr Gerry takes us through St Ignatius life and the way that it can give us an example to reflect to identify those moments of:

- Destruction - like St Ignatius being injured at Pamplona are there events which cause us to stop in life, to pause? Moments which can seem like complete and utter destruction of plans and dreams that we have had?
- Recuperation - like St Ignatius at Loyla during his year long recuperation, do we need to make space and time to heal? Do we need space and like to listen and discern the spirits of consolation in our lives?
- Reorientation - Like St Ignatius at Manresa and his decision to respond to that call of God, do we allow ourselves to set out on a (re)new(ed) journey in life?

You can keep an eye on what the Irish Jesuits are doing for the year at Jesuits.ie and other resources available on many online Jesuit pages across the Jesuit provinces and online social media.