Homily delivered by Fr. Ari Dy, SJ (XS '89) during the High School Mass celebrating the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola last July 30, 2004

        "Intelligence is not a privilege, but a gift to be used to help others."

Do you know who said that?  (Dr. Otto Octavius in Spider Man 2) 

       Today we are gathered here to celebrate the life of St. Ignatius of  Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, a group of men that is more than four hundred years old, a community to which Fr. Go, myself, and all the Jesuits here, belong.  Our community has been around for more than four hundred years because in all that time, there have been men and women inspired to use their intelligence to serve God because of the example of St. Ignatius. 

        St. Ignatius was an intelligent man, but he did not grow up with a lot of education.  He was raised as a soldier,  and did not think much about God and service until after his conversion.  You know his story well.  Before I became a priest I came here several times to talk to different classes about St. Ignatius.  I didn't have to say much because you know his life already. 

      You know about the cannonball that struck his leg in the battle of Pamplona and how he was so brave in having the operation without anesthesia to repair his leg.  You know how he sacrificed his comfortable life as a member of the nobility in order to serve God, how he offered his sword to Our Lady in Montserrat, and how he went around taking care of the sick and doing whatever was necessary to serve God and His Church.  You know how he read the lives of the saints and then went back to school so he could serve God as a priest.

         But that was more than four hundred years ago.  Why is St. Ignatius still a model for us today?  Why is he a good example for all of us? There can be many answers to that question, but I would like to focus on one: St. Ignatius is an example to us of intelligence used to help others. 

         The Ignatian motto is Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam , all for the greater glory of God.  For St. Ignatius, the world is a good place, everything in it is good and can be a pathway to God.  And so he found Christ in the world.  He found Christ in the Holy Land; he found Christ in the classroom when he had to study alongside little boys; he found Christ in caring for prostitutes and sick people; he found Christ in organizing the Society of Jesus.   For him, everything was service for the greater glory of God.  He made use of his God-given intelligence and all the resources at his disposal to serve God and neighbor in a better way.

         When I look back at my high school years in Xavier, the happiest years of my life, I always remember the many opportunities we were given to use our God-given talents to help others.

        When I was in first year around 1986, there was a shortage of food in Negros.  We found out about this and wanted to do something for the starving Filipinos in Negros.  The seniors designed a nice shirt with the words, "Nagugutom si Pedro" printed on it.  We sold the shirt as a fundraising activity and sent the money to Negros to help the people there.

        Throughout my high school years there would be strong typhoons hitting the country and the school would always organize a relief drive to collect money, food, and clothing for the poor whose houses were destroyed by the strong winds and heavy rain.   I remember joining the volunteers going to the evacuation centers and distributing our donations there.  I also remember an innovative project designed to solicit groceries from the shoppers at Unimart.  After yet another destructive typhoon, we launched a project called "Share a Can."  Teachers and students stationed ourselves at the exits of Unimart, and asked the shoppers to donate one canned good from their groceries.  The project was very successful, and most shoppers gave more than just one can.  Many shoppers were touched that teachers and students would donate their time to solicit relief goods for the poor.

         Another project I remember is that every Christmas, each class in the high school would sponsor a poor family in Tondo and collect Christmas goodies for them.  Then we would personally go to Tondo to meet the family, interact with them, and present our gifts.

        These are all simple examples of using intelligence, time, talents, and our contacts, to help others, esp. the poor.  St. Ignatius is the spirit behind it all.  He taught us that no one is so poor that he has nothing to give, that we always have the choice to go beyond ourselves and think of others.  We always have resources, whether human or material, that can be put at the disposal of those in need.  I think this is the point of our education at Xavier.  We are developing our talents so that we can help others. 

        In Spider Man 2, Aunt May says that "there's a hero in all of us, that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady, and give up the thing we want the most.  Even our dreams." 

        In high school there are many things we want to have and want to be.  St. Ignatius, and Aunt May, remind us that being a hero is not about saving the world, but just doing the right thing, developing and using our God-given talents to help others, even if it costs us.  This is the tradition to which we belong as spiritual descendants of St. Ignatius, and it is good to remember it when we become too petty or when we waste our talents and resources on dangerous games.

         My friends, in the spirit of St. Ignatius, let us ask for the grace to offer ourselves totally to God.  This is the spirit that I imbibed at Xavier, a spirit that inspired me to listen to the call of God to serve Him as a priest, so that I joined the Jesuits after college and just last April, was ordained to the priesthood.  We are all called to live lives of service.  Let us pray today that we may be given a generous share in the spirit of St. Ignatius, a spirit of serving and loving God in all things.

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