31 July 2024 - Wednesday of the 17th week of Ordinary Time - feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola - Psalm 59

St Ignatius, the saint we celebrate today, had turned his back on God for many years of his life, even though he was raised as a Catholic. Ignatius was born in late 15th century in 1491, the year before Columbus sailed for America. Ignatius had an older brother who sailed with Columbus on that famous voyage in 1492. Ignatius was the youngest of 11 children from a family in the Basque country in northern Spain. His mom died when he was young, so he was raised by members of his extended family. He was trained to be a member of the royal court and to be a solider, but while fighting at the siege of the battle of Pamplona in 1621, he suffered a broken leg that had to be re-broken after it was not set properly. He was carried him more than a hundred miles back from the battlefield to his family’s ancestral home in Loyola. Ignatius was confined to his bed for a long period of time during his recuperation from his injuries, where he learned about saints such as Dominic and Francis of Assisi and where he read stories about Christ and his proclamation of God’s kingdom. This brought about a profound conversion of faith in Ignatius. After spending time as a hermit in a cave and time wandering as a pilgrim, where he was able to reflect and ponder, Ignatius enrolled in the university of Paris at the age of 30 to become a priest, a very advanced age to be in formation for the priesthood. He studied Latin in classes with young boys in order to get ready for his study of theology. Even though Ignatius had turned his back on God for most of his early life, he had opened his life to God through his time of conversion. From the humble beginnings of his conversion, to the way he wrote his spiritual exercises while trying to discern God’s will for him in his life, Ignatius of Loyola went on to found the religious order of the Society of Jesus – the Jesuits -  an order of priests that still has great influence in Catholicism today. 

Our psalm states today: God is my refuge on the day of distress. Ignatius took refuge in God in the reality of his life.  He tried to see God in all things: it the joys and the accomplishments, in the struggles and the strife.  St Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.