A FLOOD OF RECOGNITION
Suddenly it was clear to them. Up
to then they were full of questions, sometimes in a daze, sometimes thinking of
quitting. But now they understood. The coming of the Holy Spirit opened their
minds and they could begin to understand why he had come and walked among them,
why he had to die and rise again. It lifted them to a new sense of being. They
progress through the Acts of the Apostles with a confidence that was
extraordinary seeing that they were ‘uneducated people’ (Acts 4:13).
On 20 May, this past week,
Jesuits worldwide remembered that it was precisely five hundred years to the
day since Ignatius of Loyola was hit by a bullet – a cannon ball - in the leg
and began a long journey towards a similar recognition. His ambitions of
military success, which would lead to high office in the service of the king,
were dashed and he was carried home to Loyola where he submitted to a surgery
that was torture and months of convalescence.
His reading and reflection opened
his eyes a little to a new reality. Now it was a kind of spiritual torture as
he spent months in prayer and fasting waiting for some kind of clarity about
where all this was leading. Eventually the clarity came. As he sat by the river
Cardoner, ‘the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; though he did not
see any vision he understood and knew many things, both spiritual things and
matters of faith and of learning and this was with so great an enlightenment
that everything seemed new to him.’
This happened in 1521. It would
be another nineteen years of searching, preparation and gathering companions
before he founded the Society of Jesus but he never doubted from that moment
that God was leading him on.
One way or another we are all invited to walk this
journey. The details may be hugely different but the basics are the same. We
grow up influenced by our family, our culture and the expectations the world
lays on us. But we have questions. We can listen to those questions and
vigorously seek answers – or we can avoid them. When we do listen, answers do
not normally come all at once. They come in unexpected ways. We may have a
‘cannon ball’ moment when our world is thrown upside down by unemployment,
sickness or war. Immensely painful moments can also be gateways to new
horizons.
The feast of Pentecost is a
reminder that God has given us his Spirit to make all things clear to us. This
clarity is sure though it may not break on us immediately. We too, like the
disciples of Jesus and – much later – Ignatius, may have to spend time in
searching. But the one who searches will always find.
23 May 2021 Pentecost Acts
2:1-11 1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13 John 20: 19-23
