NAMASTE

FR VICTOR EMMANUEL, S.V J.

IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY

AMDG

The word 'magis', a Latin word meaning better and greater, is found throughout Ignatius' writings. 'Magis' meant for him the effort to open one's heart more, to turn from one's own preoccupations, and to be generous in one's interest and regard for others.

A greatness of heart

An old African proverb says: "God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed." 'Magis' means to turn away from mediocrity and to choose the path of love which is limitless, to give one's whole self, to love with 'all our hearts, our soul and our strength' (Luke10:27). Those who share in the Ignatian tradition know a restlessness always to be more open, to give, to question, and not simply to be content with the existing way of doing things.

It could make one crazy for power, driving one to cut-throat competition and corruption. All these result in ego-inflation, self-centredness. The “more” of the Ignatian Magis, on the other hand, is opposed to selfish attitudes and actions.

‘The Magis’, a noun, has elided from the original adjective ‘maiorem’ (greater) as found in AMDG: Ad Maiorem Deo Gloriam. MAGIS and AMDG are thus closely linked and complementary. It is this Ignatian combination of MAGIS-AMDG that gives a distinctive character to “more”.

For anyone impelled by the MAGIS-AMDG there is “more” to life than living! Maiorem – greater – means God’s glory always becomes more, not because of our achievement but because of who God is. “The Magis essentially is not ‘what we do for God’ but ‘what God does in us and with us’ when we are open and responsive to God’s presence and power in our lives. Our co-creativity opens us to a glory that is the whole of creation.”

“Magis is one of the keywords for Ignatian spirituality. It is about living in a more enhanced, deeper, loving and passionate way with Jesus Christ. Translating this as more can be mistaken in the sense that one thinks it is about working more or doing more programmes. But that is exactly what it is not about. It is rather a deeper understanding of a more profound fellowship with Christ.

In other words, Magis for Ignatius is a relationship word, a word having meaning in terms of personal relationships, in terms of love, reverential love. For Ignatius, God-given love is the only thing, the only giving, that gives proper meaning to “More!” – the love given freely, in generosity and always in reverence, just as God loves.

MR BISWAS –BAIGA TRIBES IN MP

MR AABID SURTI –SAVE WATER

MR ARUNACHALAM -SANITARY

MS ARUNIMA SINHA -AMPUTEE

BB TIWARI - KUMBHMELA

MR DASHRATH MANJHI

MR HARAKCHAND SAVLA

MR K PRADIPKUMAR - HIV

A P J ABDUL KALAM

DR AMBEDKAR

MS SUDHA CHANDRAN

MR D AMBANI

MR NARYANA MURTHY

MR RAJINI KANTH

MS MAYAWATHI

MR PARAMESWARAM AND CHOODAMANI

K MR KALYANA SUNDARAM

MS SUNITHA KRISHNAN-RAPE VICTIM

MS LAXMI GAUTAM-WIDOWS

MS SWAMINATHAN

MS NEELAM-HARYANA-BIRTH

MR P SANTHAKUMAR- BURY DEAD

MS PRITHI PATKAR –SEX WORKERS

MS KS SAROJA – CHILDREN -SILK

MS SUBASHINI MISTRY

MS SINDUTAI SAPTKAL-MP

TEN ELEMENTS OF IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY

Ignatian spirituality is one of the most influential and pervasive spiritual outlooks of our age. There’s a story behind it. And it has many attributes.

Ignatian spirituality is rooted in the experiences of Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), a Basque aristocrat whose conversion to a fervent Christian faith began while he was recovering from war wounds. Ignatius, who founded the Jesuits, gained many insights into the spiritual life in the course of a decades long spiritual journey during which he became expert at helping others deepen their relationship with God. Its basis in personal experience makes Ignatian spirituality an intensely practical spirituality, well suited to laymen and laywomen living active lives in the world.

1. It begins with a wounded soldier daydreaming on his sickbed.

2. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” �

This line from a poem by the Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins captures a central theme of Ignatian spirituality: its insistence that God is at work everywhere—in work, relationships, culture, the arts, the intellectual life, creation itself. As Ignatius put it, all the things in the world are presented to us “so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.” �Ignatian spirituality places great emphasis on discerning God’s presence in the everyday activities of ordinary life. It sees God as an active God, always at work, inviting us to an ever-deeper walk. 

3. IT’S ABOUT CALL AND RESPONSE—LIKE THE MUSIC OF A GOSPEL CHOIR.

An Ignatian spiritual life focuses on God at work now. It fosters an active attentiveness to God joined with a prompt responsiveness to God. God calls; we respond. This call-response rhythm of the inner life makes discernment and decision making especially important.  Ignatius’s rules for discernment and his astute approach to decision making are well-regarded for their psychological and spiritual wisdom. 

Ignatius Loyola’s conversion occurred as he became able to interpret the spiritual meaning of his emotional life. The spirituality he developed places great emphasis on the affective life: the use of imagination in prayer, discernment and interpretation of feelings, cultivation of great desires, and generous service. Ignatian spiritual renewal focuses more on the heart than the intellect. It holds that our choices and decisions are often beyond the merely rational or reasonable. Its goal is an eager, generous, wholehearted offer of oneself to God and to his work. 

4. “The heart has its reasons of which the mind knows nothing.” �

5. Free at last.Ignatian spirituality emphasizes interior freedom. To choose rightly, we should strive to be free of personal preferences, superfluous attachments, and preformed opinions. Ignatius counseled radical detachment: “We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.” Our one goal is the �freedom to make a wholehearted choice to follow God. 

The Ignatian mind-set is strongly inclined to reflection and self-scrutiny. The distinctive Ignatian prayer is the Daily Examen, a review of the day’s activities with an eye toward detecting and responding to the presence of God. Three challenging, reflective questions lie at the heart of the Spiritual Exercises, the book Ignatius wrote, to help others deepen their spiritual lives: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I to do for Christ?” �

6. “Sum up at night what thou hast done by day.” �

Ignatian spirituality is adaptable. It is an outlook, not a program; a set of attitudes and insights, not rules or a scheme. Ignatius’s first advice to spiritual directors was to adapt the Spiritual Exercises to the needs of the person entering the retreat. At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is a profound humanism. It respects people’s lived experience and honors the vast diversity of God’s work in the world. The Latin phrase cura personalis is often heard in Ignatian circles. It means “care of the person”—�attention to people’s individual needs and respect for their unique circumstances and concerns. 

7. A practical spirituality.

8. Don’t do it alone. Ignatian spirituality places great value on

collaboration and teamwork. Ignatian spirituality sees the link between God and man as a relationship—a bond of friendship that develops over time as a human relationship does. Collaboration is built into the very structure of the Spiritual Exercises; they are almost always guided by a spiritual director who helps the retreatant interpret the spiritual content of the retreat experience. Similarly, mission and service in the Ignatian mode is seen not as an individualistic enterprise, but as work done in collaboration with Christ and others. 

Those formed by Ignatian spirituality are often called “contemplatives in action.” �They are reflective people with a rich inner life who are deeply engaged in God’s work in the world. They unite themselves with God by joining God’s active labor to save and heal the world. It’s an active spiritual attitude—a way for everyone to seek and find God in their workplaces, homes, families, and communities. 

9. “Contemplatives in action

10. “Men and women for othersThe early Jesuits often described their work as

simply “helping souls.” The great Jesuit leader �Pedro Arrupe updated this idea in the twentieth century by calling those formed in Ignatian spirituality “men and women for others.” Both phrases �express a deep commitment to social justice and a radical giving of oneself to others. The heart of this service is the radical generosity that Ignatius asked for in his most famous prayer: 

PRAYER FOR GENEROSITYLord, teach me to be generous.Teach me to serve you as you deserve;to give and not to count the cost,to fight and not to heed the wounds,to toil and not to seek for rest,to labor and not to ask for reward,save that of knowing that I do your will. 

Magis-driven leadership inevitably leads to heroism. Heroism begins with each person considering, internalizing, and shaping his or her mission. Whether one works within a large organization or alone, no mission is motivating until it is personal. And it is sustainable only when one makes the search for magis a reflexive, daily habit

. A magis-driven leader is not content to go through the motions or settle for the status quo but is restlessly inclined to look for something more, something greater. Instead of wishing circumstances were different, magis-driven leaders either make them different or make the most of them. Instead of waiting for golden opportunities, they find the gold in the opportunities at hand.

Heroes lift themselves up and make themselves greater by pursuing something greater than their own self-interest. Our classic heroic role models often do so through extraordinary bravery at uniquely critical moments. But heroism is not limited to these rare and privileged opportunities. They are also heroes who demonstrate the courage, nobility, and greatness of heart to pursue a personal sense of magis, to keep themselves pointed toward goals that enhance them as people.

AMDG I am supposed to do everything in life for one reason: the

greater glory of God.Yet I spend most of my life unconcerned with this;I waste it on petty things.God, please grant me clear vision,The vision to work for the greater glory of your name.Please help me to wake up each morning with this in mind.Help me to clear my mind of minor details that only distract

me from my purpose.Keep away the indifference that fogs humankind.Point me where your people need helpSo that I may go to bed each night knowing the world is a

better place,And your vision has been fulfilled.

Ignatius’ principle of choice, “the ever greater glory of God” or the “Magis” can easily be misunderstood. Many believe that the Magis means finding ways and means of doing more for the God or seeking the more difficult and more challenging things in life. But the Magis is a reflection of what Ignatius teaches through the Principle and Foundation and the Contemplation to Attain Love in the Spiritual Exercises. God must be our end and only end in all things and the sole object of our love. The Magis, then, is not doing great things for God but deepening our relationship with the Divine and the Infinite.

DHANYAWAD

Fr Victor Emmanuel S J

FR VICTOR EMMANUEL, S.J.