We celebrate today the feast of our founder, St Ignatius of Loyola. We celebrate our community, our togetherness, ang samahan natin, ang pagkakaibigan natin. Thanks to St Ignatius, Jesuits and friends, communities, institutions, partners in mission, collaborators in ministry, gather together to do as we have done each year, to thank God for the life, legacy, and spirit of St Ignatius, a spirit so alive in our works, in our communities, in our prayer, in our action, in our friendship. Indeed, forever we will sing of the goodness of the Lord!
…Our feast today moves us toward reflection and renewal. How can we make more alive the spirit of Ignatius in our world today? What challenges do we face? Are we headed in the right direction? Saan tayo patungo?
First, where are we? How are we doing? Nasaan at kamusta na tayo? Ignatius has always taught us perspective. In the Spiritual Exercises, the Trinity contemplates the world and all that is happening in it. In response the Trinity sends God the Son to enter the world and teach people how to love.
This perspective we glimpsed last April, when Artemis II astronauts became the first humans to view the Earth from deep space in over 50 years. Suspended in deep darkness, they saw the Earth as a lifeboat, small, fragile, powerless in the vast and empty space. They also saw the Earth as an oasis, as a crew, a team, that needs to work together, to keep the Earth beautiful and strong.
This perspective calls us again and again to discern the signs of the times on this very Earth we live in. Kapag titignan natin ang mundo at ang Pilipinas, ano masasabi natin? Magulo? Walang kapayapaan? Maraming naghihirap? Mukhang wala nang pag-asa? Kaya pa ba?
The world continues to be fragile and suffering. Global wars created by self-centered, unstable leaders. Climate change and destruction of the environment causing more disasters and calamities. Wicked problems persist: grinding poverty, inequality, rampant corruption, bad-and-brazen patronage politics, defiant to the rule of law; disinformation and lies manipulating our people: natural na ang magsinungaling, wala nang konsyensya. Our people divided and polarized, dictatorships on the rise, our future being sold to foreign powers, democracy collapsing. Our mental health, body, and spirit – suffering as well, amid the noise, chaos, crisis, uncertainty; a world surrounded by darkness. This is our first reflection.
The second reflection is to see light in this darkness. St Ignatius also lived in a time of darkness and complexity. As the Superior General, he sent Jesuits to different parts of the world, on mission. And at night, from a balcony of the Jesuit house in Rome, Ignatius would gaze up at the stars. Silently, contemplatively, often with tears: how small indeed we are on earth amid the greatness of God’s creation, the vastness of the universe of galaxies and stars. How humble indeed are our works of mission, for God and His people. Amid the overwhelming darkness of the skies, stars give light.
Pope Leo XIV shares this perspective. For Pope Leo, this light comes from within, in our interiority, the light of truth, beauty, peace, wisdom, conscience – the light within us, in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls. My light within, and your light, form what Pope Leo calls a constellation of hope that the world needs. Perhaps Ignatius also had this in mind, when he commanded his Jesuits to go set the world on fire! On fire with the light of God! On fire with the love of God!
Our readings today speak about this interiority and light. In the First Reading, we are called to trust in the Lord with all our heart, to rely not on our own understanding, to be mindful on God. In our interiority, we find God. In the Second Reading, St Paul expresses his joy about his partnership with the Philippians, a partnership for the Gospel, a partnership in grace. This partnership increases love. It deepens discernment. It glorifies God. This is the partnership, that forms the constellation of hope that Pope Leo refers to, like our partnership, we Jesuits, much fewer now than before, and you, our dear lay partners in mission.
More concretely, how does this look like? This brings us to my third and last point. In October last year, Pope Leo met with Jesuit superiors in Rome, and his message was simple yet profound: “The Church needs you at the frontiers – geographical, cultural, intellectual or spiritual frontiers.” Ang sabi ni Pope sa atin, reach out, abutin natin ang mga tao at mga gawain na mahirap abutin, mahirap harapin, ngunit lubos na nangangailangan ng ating pagmamahal at paglilingkod.
Last Tuesday, Fr Provincial announced that our Father General in Rome had approved our Province Apostolic Plan, our thrusts and commitments for the next five years. This Plan is the fruit of a year of prayer, discernment and conversation across the whole Philippine Province. It focuses on four directions.
First, to labor with and for the poor and vulnerable. Patuloy ang pakikiisa at pagtulong sa mga naghihirap sa ating lipunan, tulad ng mga ministry natin sa Muntinlupa Bilibid Prisons, sa Philippine General Hospital, sa mga IPs o indigenous peoples sa Bukidnon at sa Culion, at sa napakarami pang komunidad na pinaglilingkuran ng mga Jesuit schools, parishes, and centers, maging sa mga pamilya ng mga EJK victims at mga IPs na pinapalayas sa kanilang isla sa Bugsuk, Palawan, at mga nasasalanta ng mga bagyo, baha at iba pang disasters at calamities.
Second, to accompany the youth and cultivate vocations. Ang mga kabataan ng ating lipunan, mas lalo pa nating dapat unawain, pakinggan, gabayan sa kanilang edukasyon at proseso ng pagtubo, pagpili ng bokasyon sa buhay, at sa pagiging mga pinuno o lider na magbabago ng lipunan.
Third, strengthen our prophetic role, to speak and act more courageously for truth, human dignity, good governance, and care for the environment. Maging mala-propeta, sa pakikibaka, sa pagkilos, sa advocacy, para sa pagtataguyod ng isang mas demokratiko at makatarungang lipunan, ng isang pulitikang naglilingkod sa mamamayan, laging kasama ang ating Simbahan at civil society.
And fourth, to live out the call of the Church toward synodality: matuto tayong makinig at makipag usap ng mas malalim, mag-discern ng sabay-sabay at pantay-pantay, maging mga leaders na sensitibo sa proseso ng accompaniment at spiritual conversation.
Like all plans, our Province Apostolic Plan is not perfect, certainly not enough. It is our guide for continuing discernment of our mission: non multa, sed multum, as we say, not many, but much, more in depth, intention, and meaning. We make mistakes, and we hope we learn. We learn our lessons together. We achieve and also, we fail. We fall and we rise again.
Our plan shall help facilitate our process of conversion, with all our strengths and weaknesses; to know, to love, and to follow Jesus more closely, to be better servants of His mission, poor, obedient, faithful, and humble. Sa pamamagitan nito, tayo ay sabay-sabay sa pagkilos, pag-discern, pagdarasal, pagbabago ng mundo at lipunan, at pagbabagong buhay.
This is our humble contribution to the constellation of light and hope in our country and the world. We shall together, as partners and friends, rely and depend on God. As we heard in our Second Reading, God who began the good work in us, shall Himself bring it to completion. It is God’s work, and we are His co-workers, His disciples.
Finally, as His disciples, in the Gospel, our Lord asks each of us: do you love me? And each one of us, like Peter, shall renew, with strength, our response to Jesus: yes, Jesus, we love you, yes, Jesus, we follow you, and yes again, Jesus, continue to send us on mission; mission, whether old and new, big or small, near or far, to the Philippines, to Myanmar, to the frontiers of our world, send us!
In our Fiesta today, we renew ourselves, we commit again to God’s mission, ever to love, ever to serve, ever to be sent, in omnibus amare et servire, omnia ad majorem Dei gloriam, all for the greater glory of God. San Ignacio de Loyola, pray for us! Amen.
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Preached on 26 July at the Ateneo de Manila High School Covered Courts, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.