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IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY FOR THE LAITY
Ignatian Spirituality Conference
"Companions in the Mission of Christ"
Saint Louis, MO
July 29 - August 1, 1999
Monika K. Hellwig, LL.B., Ph.D.
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Washington, DC
What Father Padberg's paper clarified for me is that wonderful vision of Ignatius at the beginning when he was still a layman himself. It was a vision of bringing the laity alive in the faith. The ideal of active and lively Christian laity was largely s
wamped by an overly hierarchic concept of Church. And that is a concept we have labored with for many centuries. But this has been changing. Vatican II presented us with a radical challenge to rethink what we are as Church, because it directed us back to
the New Testament. That is what Ignatius was trying to do in his own time-direct people's attention back to Jesus as presented in the Gospels.
Vatican II also directed us to think of Church in relation to the Reign of God. There was a renewed realization that the church does not exist for its own sake but for the sake of the quest to welcome the reign of God in human society and radically reori
enting all creation to its creator. Ignatius was also concerned about that from the beginning. Father Padberg's story of the Casa Santa Marta belongs in that context. Though they would never have expressed themselves that way, Ignatius and his companio
ns were looking at the social structures that were pushing those women into their dreadful fate. And they were asking themselves where were the points for possible intervention. It was a matter of reorienting some societal relationships in harmony with
God's reign in human society.
What is clear from the history that we just heard is how radical is the rethinking that we must do. In the Ignatian spirit the way to do that rethinking is to reflect on two things-our own experience and the light shed upon it by the gospel. We have to
trust our own experience, plumb it to its depths, but even as we do so we have to shine the light of the gospel into all those hidden depths. In this presentation I want to talk about that in three parts: a short reflection on the aptness of Ignatian spi
rituality for our times, a longer look with you at what I see as the key elements of that spirituality, and finally a consideration of the question we are asking in this conference, namely what manner of formation is there for people to live that kind of
dedication and experience.
At this point you may ask what are my qualifications for talking to you about these points. They are probably the same as yours. I say that because of the criteria that gathered us here, namely that at some stage in our lives, perhaps several times, we
made the Spiritual Exercises in such a way that it made a radical difference in our lives.
Looking back on it, we not only appreciated the experience but wanted to share it. And that I think is the basic qualification; we who have been privileged with that experience tend to reflect on what has been helpful in assimilating it and in pursuing i
t in an extended way in our subsequent lives, inviting others to participate in it.
Apt for the Laity
My first point is the particular aptness of Ignatian spirituality for lay lives in our own time. On this I have four observations. In the first place, Ignatian spirituality has come alive in a new way in the post-Vatican II era because our contemporary w
orld shares so many of the characteristics of the Reformation era world. This is especially true of the utter confusion of voices that we hear, even inside the Church - voices quarreling within the believing community about what the faith means and how i
t should be lived.
Secondly, one of the things that troubled Ignatius was the dire lack of doctrinal knowledge among the laity of his time. This troubles me in our time. Ignorance of doctrine leaves people prey to all manner of distortions and superstitions. It is diffic
ult to build a coherent spirituality on poorly understood beliefs. Many contemporary layfolk struggle with that. Since Vatican II we have done wonderfully well in reintroducing Catholics to the Scriptures, but sometimes we have forgotten what the Church
knew in earlier ages, namely that one needs some guidance from the tradition in reading the Scriptures for oneself. As in Ignatius' time, we have a laity impoverished in doctrine.
A third element we have in common with Reformation times is that for us as for them everything is in flux. As with colonial expansion in their time, space exploration and technological advances in our time leave many people feeling they cannot cope. The
re is a sense that life has become too complicated in its many technical and organizational aspects. There are many aspects of our society for which we often feel that we cannot accept human responsibility. In our time as in Ignatius' time we are surrou
nded by massive indifference to social injustices, deliberate cruelties, and other kinds of suffering that simply do not call forth the compassion, energy and action that are needed.
A fourth aspect is that Ignatian spirituality emerges in our times as in his as most appropriately spirituality for the laity because it is based on clarity of focus and on the practice of discernment. It is spirituality for people who by definition do n
ot have superiors to tell them what to do, for people who by definition are doing their own discerning and shaping their own communities.
The Principal Elements
Because I have set this out elsewhere in the conventional way, I would like to speak here about the elements of an Ignatian spirituality as I have experienced them, have wanted to share them with others, and have found it fruitful to do so in guiding a Ch
ristian Life Community at Georgetown University. The first and foundational element for me is the sense of giftedness, the awareness of the total gratuity of our lives, our very existence, our relationships, our world. There is an attitude, a way of con
sciousness that arises from that. You could call it gratitude. You could describe it as deeply grounded contentment. I rather like to describe it as enjoyment of life under whatever circumstances arise- enjoyment or a deep sense of appreciation.
The second element that I see as significant is that it is very explicit. It makes a great many things explicit, and that is another way of saying it demands constant attention and brings it to a sharp focus. Basically this is attention to the divine pr
esence, to the divine magnanimity and benevolence that is at the same time divine exigence in our lives. It is attention to that divine presence in creation, in our own consciousness and conscience, in relationships, in particular situations, in challeng
es and problems. But particularly there is attention to the divine presence in that Trinitarian mode of which Ignatius speaks in his account of the illumination by the river Cardoner.
As I interpret what he is saying about that moment of realization, it resonates with something that I have come to experience in my own life. Ignatius said the Trinity is like a chord, and he evidently meant a musical chord. I think we all have that expe
rience sometimes in our quieter moments, and perhaps after a time of struggle-an experience of a harmony that is self-validating. It happens when the testimony from one's experience of creation, of one's own life and consciousness, comes into harmony wit
h the Jesus of the Gospels and with call of the Spirit as mediated through a prophetic person, a strong longing, or an opportunity that opens up. It is a Trinitarian moment that validates itself by the harmony of the three, of the Creator God, of Jesus r
ooted in history and of the Spirit that is always calling into the future. Of course, we do not know God in the divine essence, so to speak, but in our experience of our relatedness to the divine. The Trinitarian moment, the discovery that we can become
attentive to the divine in those three dimensions and can listen, as it were, for the harmony of the chord, is an exhilarating, energizing realization. It creates the possibility of real discernment and of true community among us.
A third element that seems to me important and most opportune for lay Christians in our time is the cultivation of critical evaluation. In other words, what we are encouraged to cultivate is not only a general awareness of the presence of God working in
ourselves and in the world, but a quite specific awareness of where something is the work of God, where human collaboration is needed, and where human distortion has changed the picture. This last, of course, is what we talk about in doctrine as original
sin. We are called to discern what is of God's good creating, what are the distortions that are cumulatively misshaping our world and society, and where are the redemptive initiatives, the fresh beginnings. Such development of critical thinking is of t
he essence of any Christian spirituality. What is characteristically Ignatian is the explicit presentation of the tools to awaken and develop that kind of continual critical thinking.
A fourth element that I see as essential is developing a readiness to act in a way that properly balances docility and creativity. In an ordinary lay life, where we are shaping our own families, careers, associations, and civic participation, we are cons
tantly called to balance docility and creativity. By docility I mean conforming to established expectations. This is not necessarily a matter of an established authority, whether civil or religious. There are many voices, expectations, relationships in
our society that say: conform, conform, conform; this is what we expect of you; this is how to be successful and accepted in our society. In today's lay life there is a veritable cacophony of such voices - in the media, in advertising, among our friends
, in the way business is done, in the way people are treated, in the decisions that are made for our society by our various leaders. There are too many of these voices, they talk too fast, and they are too frequent.
There are, of course, situations where we should indeed conform, like traffic lights and taxes, and respecting others' property and so forth. But with the increasing complexity of our society and its economy and technology, it becomes increasingly diffic
ult to know where docility is not appropriate, to know where to stand out and act contrary to society's expectations and assumptions. It is difficult even to recognize what is not of God in attitudes and patterns of behavior that are so interwoven in the
texture of our society that they are simply taken for granted like the air we breathe and the ground on which we walk. It is even more difficult to recognize what is discordant when it is taken for granted by the Christian community as part of a Christi
an life. And even when it becomes clear what is out of harmony with God, one needs not only courage but insight and creativity to act differently.
One of the aspects of the Ignatian tradition that I find encouraging and practically helpful is that it brings us to a well founded conviction that it is sometimes right to step out of line and do things differently, and that the occasions for this may be
more frequent than we are inclined to think. In fact, it is sometimes right to step out of line even within the expectations of the Christian community, even within the context of the Church. At the same time, it requires a persistent effort to act wi
th both intellectual and operative humility, realizing that one may not know all that there is to be known in the situation, realizing that one may well be wrong. It may turn out that others are in a better position to make decisions, and it may be neces
sary to step back and follow their lead.
There may indeed be times when compromise is appropriate. Yet it is better to do this in the full realization that it is not always the most godly thing to fit in and not "make waves," that it is not always better to conform. To balance docility and cre
ativity takes persistent effort in prayer, in developing discernment, in listening to others, in engaging with a spiritual director or a serious support group that sustains an ongoing spiritual conversation.
A final element of Ignatian spirituality for lay people on which I want to focus is the spiritual companionship I just mentioned. I understand that at a critical point of the earliest developments among the first companions of Ignatius, a crucial questio
n was raised. Having gone through a period of formation together, should they now go their separate ways to follow wherever the Spirit would call them, or should they form a permanent company for mutual support. They prayed over this as a vital matter f
or discernment, and came to the conclusion that they should form a permanent company. The history of the Church from the counter-Reformation to the present would have been very different had they decided differently.
The lay experience of our time, as I have experienced it, seems to offer a similar testimony. Groups of lay Christians who pursue the vision of Jesus with others in ongoing spiritual conversation, mutual support and shared apostolic responsibility, have
a strength, focus and impact that would be very difficult for isolated lay persons to sustain. Our parishes are too large to offer such support. Moreover, they are communities spanning many degrees and varieties of commitment, not to say widely divergen
t understandings of what is involved in a Christian life. Besides that, our parishes are still on the whole inclined to function on the pattern of largely passive laity being served by an almost exclusively sacramental ministry. The vision of a world to
be transformed appears all too often as peripheral to Christian life.
Lay Formation
My third point has to do with the question that brings us together here, namely the formation question. What I mean here is not some program of initiation at the beginning, but rather the question of continuing and life-long formation. The question is h
ow we pursue this life-long formation for ourselves and how we help other people, model the approach for them, discuss it, and so forth.
I believe that the first principle to follow is a good insight from adult education. In the education of adults, one puts the means within their reach, puts oneself at their service as a resource, and lets them be the agents of their own formation. What
Father Padberg pointed out about retreats is relevant here. Most of us at this meeting probably share my experience that in the earlier part of our lives retreats were occasions in which we were preached at. The theory of adult education suggests that
this is not a good way to do it. Rather one should give people some basic ideas and some resources and then coax and encourage them along.
This is exactly what has happened in the revival of directed retreats. And this is what has to happen also with groups in their spiritual and apostolic formation. One puts the means at their disposal whether by text or other means, one puts oneself at t
heir disposal as a resource, and then one lets the group get on with it. This is not only because it is psychologically most effective, but also because it models what church and lay life are called to be -active, creative, searching, taking initiatives.
But this is so contrary to the way most of us have experienced our life in the Church that it is difficult to turn around. Even in Ignatian groups like Christian Life Communities the temptation is to organize it all beforehand, make rules and structures
, and create elaborate organizations. But this is not the point. The point is to release the Spirit in the church, and that means to release Spirit guided creativity, prophetic insight and action, new initiatives, adaptation to new
needs. The point is to see ourselves as church in relation to the Reign of God which is always ahead and always surprising and always making new demands.
That is my first conviction about ongoing formation for lay people in Ignatian spirituality. My second conviction is that the Spiritual Exercises need to be experienced not only once, nor even repeatedly at intervals, but continuously. What I mean is th
at the ongoing formation process has to keep alive the reflection on those themes and aspects of
Christian life that are set out in the Spiritual Exercises. The continuous reflection has to be in relation to present reality, present context, the experience of daily life as it is going on in the present for these people in these circumstances. And a
s their experiences and circumstances change constantly, there should be growth in understanding what companionship with Jesus in his redemptive mission means in practice.
It is necessary to keep the themes of the Exercises alive not because they are in the Exercises, but because they touch all the basic points of the Christian understanding of the human situation in its relationship to God. For a solid Christian formation
, the themes of the Exercises need to be studied in their doctrinal character as well as meditated in their spiritual implications. A good spiritual formation depends among other things on a coherent and correct understanding of Christian doctrine. Obvi
ously, it is not necessary for every committed lay Christian to be a professional theologian, but it is necessary that our grasp of the teachings of the faith be on a par with our general human and intellectual maturity and sophistication. For the most p
art, this is not true of Catholics today, therefore a critical component of ongoing spiritual formation is continuous learning in Scripture and doctrine.
My third conviction about lay formation in Ignatian spirituality is that lay people of our time need help in shaping a life of prayer. Most have had little or no help with personal prayer; they have been left on their own. Of course, since the Second Va
tican Council, our liturgy has come to life, and that in itself is a formation in prayer because Catholics now hear more echoes from the Scripture that is read and the hymnody that is sung. Also, they have been encouraged to read the Scriptures for thems
elves. On the other hand they have not been taught the formula prayers that used to be part of the experience of all Catholics from childhood.
It is very helpful, I think, to introduce lay people to the classic traditions of prayer, the "Ladder of Monks," the chanting of psalms and canticles, some of the stylized patterns of meditation, "centering prayer" and so forth. It may be helpful to invi
te those in the group to try these kinds of prayer in turn for a while, and discuss what they found helpful, what they found difficult. One assumes that some of this will have happened while they were making the Spiritual Exercises initially, but it is a
lso true that people grow, and they can become bored, and they can have new needs. Of course, to initiate this kind of conversation in a group requires a high level of trust in the group, and that cannot be forced. However, it is my experience that thos
e who join Christian Life Communities come with a great hunger for this kind of conversation as a support and challenge to their personal prayer.
My fourth conviction about formation is that faith sharing is both at the heart of the enterprise and also the most delicate to achieve. In English speaking cultures there is a certain shyness because of which faith sharing can degenerate into a recyclin
g of what has happened with little reflection on the spiritual meaning of it, or into casual friendly conversation that has no depth. When I worked at the Mondo Migliore retreat center in the castelli outside Rome, I found that with the Mediterranean peop
le it was a different problem; they would discuss their spiritual lives eloquently and poetically, but it might not correspond to the way they were actually living their lives.
In English speaking cultures people need to break a kind of sound barrier in order to begin talking about their prayer, their ideals, their personal conversion. But for continuing formation in Ignatian groups it is important to coax people into breaking
that sound barrier. It is difficult to be continuously attentive and engaged in the spiritual life of Christian discipleship if there is no conversation about it. We are, after all, essentially relational beings. Some lay people have spiritual director
s who are very competent to guide them and talk with them, but it is in fact rare. Most have to find support by cultivating spiritual conversation with one another. The question arises, of course, as to how to do that. I think there are basically two t
hings to do: begin with easy questions, and having posed the question offer one's own personal testimony. I am thinking of questions like "What is your best time of day to pray? Have you reflected on why that is so? My own experience is…" or "Do you l
ike to pray out of doors? Have you thought why that might be? What I find myself is…"
A fifth conviction, and by no means the least important, has to do with apostolate. There cannot be an Ignatian formation for anyone, whether lay or clerical or religious, that does not come to fruition in apostolic outreach. There cannot be companionsh
ip with Jesus that is not companionship in his mission. The two important formation questions here are: what is apostolate, and how to discern the particular apostolate to which an individual or group is called. Clearly, the base line, so to speak, is a
realistic understanding of one's own situation, individual and communal, because the call to reach out is always in terms of where we are and what our obligations and possibilities are. The greatest temptation seems to be to think that apostolic action
is always something added on to our lives and perhaps something of a dramatic nature.
The best lay formation for apostolate seems to be by way of examining in the light of the gospel what we are doing in our own context, and what are the human needs that intersect with our ability to meet them. Continuing formation should be a matter of b
oth gradually expanding horizons and gradually sharpening focus. The Jociste movement initiated the formula: every other week a "gospel inquiry", and in the alternate weeks a "social inquiry." The idea behind this is that frequent reflection on the Gosp
els alternating with frequent critical analysis of various issues that crop up in one's secular life and environment is bound gradually to bring the two together and suggest appropriate stances to take, action to pursue and so forth.
In short, formation in Ignatian spirituality for the laity consists essentially of constant tuning in to our own reality in the light of the gospel, so that the issues become clearer and further possibilities unfold before us. However, some ways of worki
ng towards this may be more effective than others.
Talks '02: Duckro | Cowan | Fleming
'99: Cowan | Hellwig | Padberg
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