31 July 2025 - homily for Thursday of the 17th week in Ordinary Time - St Ignatius of Loyola - Matthew 13:47-53

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to make different pilgrimages during my time as a priest. In 2019, I asked Bishop Kopacz if I could take some extra time off in order to pray the 30 day retreat of the spiritual exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Even though that retreat is offered in different places in the United States and Canada, I decided to travel to the town of Loyola in the Basque Country of Spain to pray these spiritual exercises at the ancestral castle of St Ignatius. That was an amazing, intense experience, of more than a month of silence and prayer. To this day, I treasure that experience and am grateful to Bishop Kopacz for that opportunity. 

Born in 1491 in the Basque Country of Spain, Ignatius as a youth served in the court of a duke and other nobles. He emulated a lifestyle that valued the chivalry and honor of the medieval knights. After he was badly injured by a cannonball at the Battle of Pamplona, he underwent a long arduous religious conversion and pilgrimage that led him to study for the priesthood at the University of Paris. With a group of friends that he met there, which included Francis Xavier and Peter Faber, they founded the Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, taking a special loyalty oath to the pope as a part of their vows in their religious order. The Jesuits were approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. Ignatius became the first superior general of the order in 1541. The spiritual exercises, which Ignatius himself used to discern God’s will during his time of conversion and pilgrimage, has become a classic of spiritual direction and Ignatian spirituality. Ignatius died in 1556 at the age of 64. He was canonized in 1622. He was named the patron saint of spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI in 1922. He is also the patron saints of the Jesuits and of the Basque provinces of Spain. Ignatius and his spiritual tradition have left a profound mark in the fields of education, missionary work, and spiritual direction. 

In the Gospel, we hear the kingdom of God being compared to a big haul of fish in a net, in which the good fish are separated from the bad. I think of Ignatian spirituality which draws people in from all different backgrounds. We are all called to God in different ways. May we be grateful for the diversity of gifts and the diversity of contributions to our faith.