Trust is very much a central feature of Ignatian spirituality, just as it was for Luther. Trust became a focal point for Luther out of his reading of St. Paul. It became a focus for Ignatius out of his reading of Gospel stories, for there he encountered a Jesus who had nowhere to lay his head.
Jesus’ poverty is central for Ignatius’s Christology; it is at the heart of his being “Eternal King” and “Lord of all the world.” In the meditation on the “two Standards,” riches are the allurement of “the enemy.” One stands with Jesus by one’s willingness to share his poverty. Recall here from his memoirs how determined Inigo was to live by begging while on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, going so far as to leave behind his few remaining coins before boarding ship. On a later leg of his journey as well, he trusted God would provide and “brought no more for his maintenance than his hope in God. . . .”
He was talking about trust, which was indispensable both for the literal kind of pilgrimage he made to Jerusalem and the spiritual one he invited people to make in the Spiritual Exercises. Call it faith or hope, it took trust to risk either pilgrimage.
Ron Modras
Ignatian Humanism
Jim Manney
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Trust. Oy veh — that is hard, hard, HARD. And in this present economy, it is very hard (for me). No amount of talk about being a citizen of the richest country on earth, or how wealthy I may be in comparison to someone in ___ (fill in the blank) is helpful.
In times like these, which have come to me often, the phrase “the Lord will provide” is very real. Lord Jesus, son of David, have mercy….