AMDG Ad majorem dei gloriam

A Misspent Youth

1 Corinthians 10:31 “31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

encourages us to ‘do all for the glory of God’.

Countless saints and ordinary people have wrestled with just how to do this;

few wrestled harder than St Ignatius Loyola.

As a young man he seems to have pursued pleasure and military glory above everything else.

A Misguided Spirituality?

In these pursuits, he always tried to excel,

to be better at them than anyone else.

After his conversion experience, he continued in the same way

trying to be better than anyone at

fasting, living as a beggar, being generous to the poor.

he was so determined to excel beyond anyone else that he

put his health, even his life at risk.

At the same time, he failed to find peace in himself.

A Better Way

With the help of his spiritual advisor he eventually realized

that it was still his pride,

his desire to excel over everybody, that drove him to these extremes.

Once that awareness struck him, he began to revise his Spiritual Exercises.

In place of external acts of penance and asceticism

He shifted his focus to maintaining his internal spiritual life in order

for the purpose of enabling and empowering the life of ministry

to which he felt increasingly drawn.

It was this shift that pointed him toward Paul’s exhortation to

do everything for the greater glory of God.

AMDG

Out of this awareness developed

the Examen,

the particular style of Ignatian meditation,

and the other exercises.

And out of this new approach grew the Ignatius, the Jesuit Order

that have been such force in the Catholic Church

in mission work

education

spiritual guidance.

A Prayer

Through the intercession of Saint Ignatius, may we be as zealous to follow God as he was, only without the extremes of his youth. And may we benefit from his mature example to follow God’s call, wherever it may lead us.