This was the homily delivered by Fr. Cesar Marin, SJ during the High School Mass celebrating the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola last July 29, 2005.

      Last month, I traveled by bus from Davao to Cagayan de Oro City. On the way, the film “Spiderman II” was shown. I was struck with the conversation between Aunt May and her nephew, Peter Parker when she said, “There is a hero in all of us.”

      It was a simple insight, but it is very relevant, timely and consoling during these trying times. It reminds us of the reality that no matter how depressing or discouraging life is because of personal, as well as other reasons, we are not to be blinded in seeing the good that is within us and happens around us. There lies hope in that the suffering and evil around us cannot totally eradicate the goodness around us. In this sense, the challenge is to be able to see the heroism in our midst. What are images or thoughts or feelings that come to our minds when we hear the word hero? Leaders? Greatness? Extraordinary? Selflessness? Idol?

      I would like to believe that St. Ignatius, whose feast we celebrate this morning, would qualify as being a hero. There is no denying that Ignatius is an idol, someone that many people look up to. We are all familiar with the story and conversion of Ignatius who spearheaded the eventual establishment of one of the more known orders of priests and brothers in the world, the Society of Jesus. What was great and heroic in St. Ignatius that made him stand out among his contemporaries? What did he do that inspired many people? I believe it is essentially his goodness and selflessness that inspired him to share his gifts as well as his blessings to others.

      His selflessness, his capacity to share was seen in providing ways by which we are was able to touch the deepest longing of every human being, that is, to be in touch with the Holy, to relate with the Transcendent, to be friends with Jesus. He accomplished this primarily with God’s graciousness in allowing him to experience God in a very profound manner which he, in turn, conceptualized and captured in his motto in life as well as in an organized methodology in facilitating the encounter between God and us.

      Clearly, any Ignatian fan will never forget the famous AMDG – for the greater glory of God. Ignatius was practically obsessed with this motto in life that anything he did was toward realizing this desire. All his efforts were expended and directed in ensuring that glory and praise will redound to God. For him, this attitude in doing everything for God’s greater glory underscores that we can always do better, and give ourselves more. In short, there is no room for mediocrity. We are to give our best knowing fully well that we can continue to do better.

      What are the other legacies of St. Ignatius for us in this 21st century? What was his unique contribution that made him great and capable of influencing people to become closer to God? There is no doubt that it is the Spiritual Exercises, which was his way of putting together his many experiences of God. Part of the Spiritual Exercises is an articulation of a clear goal in life as seen in the Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises: The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God. This is the basic reality of our being creatures who are made in God’s image and likeness. To achieve this purpose in life, all other things are desired in so fat as these assist us realize this end.

      In this regard, one practical way that Ignatius formulated in order to achieve our end is the EXAMEN which all of you are quite familiar. It is done twice a day one during midday and the second prior to our sleep in the night. There are a number of steps (awareness, gratitude, asking for the Holy Spirit) to follow, but its essence lies in that of seeing and discerning how God has truly been present as one looks and recalls the events of the day. There is that challenge to look with the eyes of faith how God keeps promises that God is always with us particularly in our capacity to recognize God in the people we talked with and engaged in conversation and anything that would remind us of God. It may also pertain to how God’s presence inspires us to do good things without fanfare and to the humility that allows us to go beyond ourselves like greeting someone whom we do not really like. In doing so, we feel happy and grateful and we gradually become familiar with God whom we desire to love and serve.

     We, then try to check on the times that we have somehow neglected to respond to God’s invitation to become better and loving people. In this regard, we seek God’s forgiveness. It is only in this latter aspect that the EXAMEN resonates with what people are more familiar with, that is, the Examination of Conscience which tends to focus more on our wrongdoings. It centers on how we have been negligent with our responsibilities and have resulted into occasions of sin thereby needing reconciliation with God. Through years of regular EXAMEN, Ignatius became very familiar with God thereby paving the way for a deeper relationship. This then leads us to an equally related legacy of Ignatius.

      St. Ignatius is the original CIA which you might mistake as representing the secret agents of the Central Intelligence Agency. There was nothing secret as far as Ignatius was concerned. In fact, it was his fervent desire to share all his discoveries about God. He was CIA in that he was a Contemplative In Action – a seemingly contradictory phrase in that we usually consider contemplatives as those simply and totally confined in convents. Instead, Ignatius was someone who was totally immersed in the world. He desired to find God in all things.

      His heroism lies then in his selflessness and sharing his legacy, that is, how to become close to our God who equally desires to be intimate with us. He showed us the way by which we can make ourselves intimate with God. AMDG, the Principle and Foundation in Life which is to praise, reverence, and serve God, as well as the EXAMEN in order to be more attuned to God’s inscrutable ways and to see God in all things – have we imbibed these gifts generously shared to us by Ignatius? How do these legacies of St. Ignatius apply in our daily lives as students, faculty, staff, and administrators? There is that challenge to tap the heroism, goodness, or selflessness within us that would hopefully be shared and inspire others to do the same. It is good to remember that heroism is not only for a selected few. On this feast of St. Ignatius, may we be inspired to share the heroism, goodness, and selflessness within us in a world full of trials and violence.

      We end with Ignatius prayer that captures this sense of heroism and selflessness: Prayer of Generosity (together)

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as I should

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 ask not for reward

Save that of Knowing

That I do Your most Holy Will.

Amen.

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