Ignatius of Loyola is perhaps the greatest religious outlier of the modern era. He was a valiant soldier who dreamed of worldly glory, but his leg was shattered by a cannonball, a career-ending injury, which, in turn, shattered his heart. While convalescing in the hospital, he came across the story of another outlier, the brown-clad founder of a group of little brothers a few centuries earlier, whose humble life and missionary zeal captured the wounded warrior’s imagination. Ignatius thus traded his royal status and privilege for beggar’s garb and literally walked to Jerusalem to lead a hidden life of service and worship in imitation of his spiritual mentor. Having been turned away by the ecclesiastical authorities there, however, he made the journey back home, where he eventually became a priest and founded what has become the largest male religious community in the world today. When we hear about Ignatian “spiritual exercises” or Jesuit “discernment,” we should not get too excited about the fancy language or mystical undertones of such practices. We should instead remember that it was only through failure that Ignatius was able to uncover the truth of his life. May we be so bold as to also risk failure for the greater glory of God. Ave Crux, Spes Unica.
