Ignatius 500
The Conversion of St Ignatius: 500th anniversary It is 500 years since St Ignatius’s life was transformed by his participation in the Battle of Pamplona. We reflect on the capacity of unwanted things to change our lives, sometimes for the better. Before the Cannon Strike This Ignatian Year marks the 500th anniversary of the conversion of St Ignatius of Loyola – 500 years since the cannonball struck the soldier, Iñigo Loyola, shattering his legs and confining him to a bed for months of recovery. If it hadn’t been for that painful, life-altering wound, Iñigo never would have encountered Christ and the saints, never would have read their stories during his recovery, never would have re-evaluated his life, never would have penned the Spiritual Exercises or founded the Society of Jesus. That cannonball moment led Ignatius to see all things new in Christ – and the 500 years that followed have enabled us to do the same. Lessons from Ignatius Ignatius thought he knew how his life would go, the kind of person he would become, but the future he saw for him-
self was an imperfect one; God saw so much more. It took a cannonball to the legs to shatter that imperfect future, to begin the work of discovering one more perfect and to reveal the person God was inviting Ignatius to become. An unwanted illness, disappointment or bereavement may over time change a life. We all have had experiences in life we would not have asked for. Looking back, we can often find good coming from within that experience. Look back, allow yourself to feel both the pain and the freedom and gratitude. Maybe make this prayer of St Ignatius. Take and receive, Lord, all my liberty, all my memory, all my understanding, and my entire will; whatever I have or hold, I have received from your hand. I return it all to you; do with it what you will. Pour into me your love and grace. That alone is enough for me. 27