The radical change in Ignatius’s conversion story—his stark change from military man to extreme follower of Christ—intrigues young adults. I cannot count the number of times that a retreatant has approached me on a Charis retreat to find out more about this part of Ignatius’s story. As I share it with them, I often find us laughing at the length that Ignatius went to try to follow Christ and imitate St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic.

One of my favorite stories to share, because of the response young adults have to it, is the story of Ignatius on the donkey and the Moor, who “bad-mouthed” the Virgin Mary. It is in this story that we understand the depth of Ignatius’s pride and at times, what seems now, an almost foolish trust in God. Who would really allow a donkey to decide if a person should live or die?

While we may laugh at parts of Ignatius’s conversion story, there is much within his story to teach us about following Christ. Most often I find us savoring the reality that God called a layman of intense vanity and pride to be one of his followers. Ignatius, sinful like us, impacted people not only of his time, but continually impacts people today with his legacy of the Exercises and his profound relationship with Christ. Ignatius inspires confidence in me and young adults to follow Christ, despite our flaws.

How is Christ calling us today, as graced sinners, to follow him?

One of my greatest joys in life is journeying with those in their 20s and 30s in my work with Charis Ministries, and even more specifically, sharing with them the gifts and joys of Ignatian spirituality. At the beginning of every Charis retreat, we take the time to share St. Ignatius’s story. I am always amazed at how much his story speaks to the young adults and how much they find encouragement and inspiration in Ignatius’s story.

To begin with, Ignatius’s conversion happened when he was a young adult and a layman. Instantly, this opens up the reality that we are invited, as Ignatius was, into a relationship with God right now as we are in our 20s and 30s. His conversion story did not happen after years of theological training or years of religious education; rather, it happened in the prime of his military career. What does that say to young adults? God wants us now, and if Ignatius could make the radical change as a young adult to follow Christ, then we can also right now. Caitlin, a 22-year-old college student, captures this reality when she says:

What inspires me the most about Ignatius is the humanness of his story. The humanness and the humility that his conversion story ends with are inspiring. It seems that if he can overcome the life he was living to find Christ, our journey can’t be that far.

The question that Ignatius’s story invites all of us, not just young adults, to consider is, “Am I aware of the depth of God’s desire for a relationship with me right now?”

In 1534, Ignatius and his companions went to the church of Sainte Pierre in the village of Montmartre north of Paris, and  took vows to work together as a company.  It was an important moment because this band of brothers soon became the first Jesuits.  When my wife and I went to Paris a couple of weeks ago to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, I was eager to visit this spot.

On the day we visited, Sainte Pierre didn’t look much like the church in the painting by Maurice Utrillo above.  Trucks and cars were parked in front and the small courtyard was filled with booths for a street fair.  We were stunned when we walked inside.  An experimental video with some disturbing imagery was playing on a screen in front of the altar, accompanied by a loud and harsh sound track.  The video was part of an arts festival.  Either the pastor or a friend of his had created it; our French wasn’t good enough to fully understand the explanation from a somewhat chagrined church secretary.

This wasn’t what I was expecting.  I was disappointed and a little angry. But then Ignatius and his companions didn’t get what they were expecting either when they made their vows.  They thought that God would send them to serve in the Holy Land.  They implemented Plan B — putting themselves at the disposal of the pope — when travel to the Holy Land proved impossible.

Things change.  Montmartre was a quiet village on a hill overlooking Paris when the companions made their vows in 1534.  No doubt they wanted a quiet place to pray and reflect.  Today Montmartre is a lively, noisy place with throngs of Parisians and tourists enjoying the restaurants, cafes, and art galleries.  It’s a place well-suited to the Ignatian spirit.

We went back to Sainte Pierre a few days later when the arts festival was over.  The video was gone.  The church was quiet.  The light was soft. (At the left is stained glass window depicting St. Ignatius.)  It was a good time to thank God for what happened here in 1534.

A group of lay people and Jesuits have set up a new pilgrimage route in Spain that should appeal to walkers and cyclists with an Ignatian bent.  It’s called the Camino Ignaciano (the Ignatian “way” or “road”). It’s the route St. Ignatius walked in 1522 after his conversion.  It begins at his family’s home in Loyola and ends in the town of Manresa, where he began to put together the book that would become the Spiritual Exercises.

The route is about 340 miles long.  The pilgrimage team (which includes my friend Chris Lowney) has mapped the route, divided it into 27 daily walking segments, and cataloged hostels and services along the way. All this information can be found in five languages at the website caminoignaciano.org.

Anyone who walks the route for five consecutive days in the next two years will be enrolled as a “pioneer” pilgrim.

Ten years ago I traveled this route by bus when I made an Ignatian pilgrimage.  The countryside in this part of Spain is gorgeous and diverse–mountains, fertile land, rivers, even a desert.  2022 will be the 500th anniversary of Ignatius’s trek.  By then the team expects the Camino Ignaciano to be well-established.

Human life has meaning. We are not aimless beings, without a goal or purpose. We have been created by a God who loves us. We are called to build the Kingdom of God by knowing, loving and serving God and other people and thus entering life everlasting.

While some people view “the world”  as a religious desert, Ignatius was convinced that the world is filled with the Spirit of God,  and that the Risen One has conquered the world which was hostile to God.

God calls each and every one of us to share in a great enterprise. The lay person has a vocation, just as the religious and the priest has. The one thing that matters is to recognize our calling and respond to it faithfully. This is not something theoretical. It means rather that our lives should be centered on a person – the person of Christ.

Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ

Ignatius Loyola, writing to a friend who said that lies that are being circulated about him:

I am not at all surprised at this, not even if it were worse than it is.  For just as soon as you determined to bend every effort to secure the praise, honor, and service of God our Lord, you declared war against the world. You our Lord, you declared war against the world. . . .

If we wish absolutely to live in honor and to be he in esteem by our neighbors, we can never be solidly rooted in God our Lord, and it will be impossible for us to remain unscathed when we meet their affronts.

My prayer for you is that you accept these affronts with patience and constancy. Remember the insults that Christ our Lord suffered for us.

I would rather fix my attention on one fault that I had committed than on all the evil that might be said of me.

St. Ignatius, advising a young Jesuit about how to speak to others:

“In dealing with people of position or influence, if you are to win their affection for the greater glory of God our Lord, look first to their disposition and accommodate yourselves to them. If they are of a lively temper, quick and merry of speech, follow their lead in your dealings with them when you talk of good and holy things, and do not be too serious, glum, and reserved. If they are shy and retiring, slow to speak, serious and weighty in their talk, use the same manner with them, because such ways will be gratifying to them, “I have become all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:22).”

St. Ignatius, writing about the formation of young Jesuits:

They should practice the seeking of God’s presence in all things, in their conversations, their walks, in all that they see, taste, hear, understand, in all their actions, since His Divine Majesty is truly in all things by His presence, power, and essence. This kind of meditation which finds God our Lord in all things is easier than raising oneself to the consideration of divine truths which are more abstract and which demand something of an effort if we are to keep our attention on them. But this method is an excellent exercise to prepare us for great visitations of our Lord, in prayers that are rather short.

Words are exchanged. Tension’s in the air.  Do you bite your tongue or plunge ahead?  Carefully discern what will help other people, says Ignatius.  Sometimes we should act contrary to what we feel: speak when we want to be silent and silent when we want to speak.

We act thus because in this matter we should give more heed to the good of others than to our own desires. When the enemy thus tries to magnify or diminish the communication received, we must proceed for the purpose of helping others, like a man who is crossing a ford. If I find a good footing — that is, some way or hope of profiting the neighbor — I will pass right on. But if the ford is muddied or disturbed and there is danger that scandal may be taken from what I say, I will rein in and seek an occasion more favorable to what I have to say.

Ignatius told his Jesuits to “Go, set the world on fire and in flame” when they departed for foreign missions.  Did he mean anything special by this?  John O’Keefe thinks he did:

As followers of the Ignatian spiritual tradition we need to remember that this spirituality is, deep down, oriented toward mission. Spiritual practices like the examen are designed to bring our own desires into alignment with God’s desires for us and for the world. In a way, when those desires align, we are set on fire for service to the Gospel and to the world. This holy fire is the perfect and only answer to the destructive fires that currently consume our world in ways that are too numerous to count.