LCAS – Faculty Orientation: 18Jul2022
Ignatius 500 – Engage, Enable, Empower
Inigo500: Welcome to the new academic year 2022-2023. As we begin the new academic year 2022-2023, we also remember Ignatius-500, that is, 500 years after his enlightenment or conversion in 1521 and also we remember the Catholic Church declaring him a saint 400 years ago in 1622. The finale of Ignatian Year makes us take one more step in our academic journey to form our students who would be the agents of social change. Today my predominant feelings for you are: ‘thanks’ and ‘all the best’ – Thanks for your commendable contribution to the growth of Loyola in the past academic year (including NIRF ranking) and all the best for the forthcoming academic year. Loyola stands tall since you are there with Loyola as joyful co-pilgrims in the academic journey.
St Ignatius was engaged in a military operation and a cannonball enabled him to review and renew his engagement – The result was his resolution to empower others. And this year we look at our mission of education from the perspectives of our engagement, our enabling ourselves with new skills and strategies in the pedagogy, in order to empower our students as leaders of social change.
Cannonball Moment: On 20May1521, Ignatius was defending the fort of Pamplona in Spain against the surging French troops. He was standing with courage and confidence even when others recommended a retreat. A cannonball shattered his knees and he fell down on the side of his enemies. Now, what happened on the day after? The French were benevolent – They took care of him and even arranged for medical aid for him. This cannonball moment and its after effect have changed the world, especially education was made affordable even for the unaffordable people, when it was accessible only to the families of royal and feudal lords. We are still walking this road of excellence, giving the best to the least so that each one of our students would become a cannonball to shatter any form of violence, discrimination, inequality, and suppression on the face of the world that needs a lot of leveling for fairness and justice.
In the days after the cannonball moment, Ignatius grew in determination: When anesthesia was not available, Ignatius boldly underwent three surgeries to set his deformed knee bones, but with no success. (Anesthesia was first used in Oct1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston). This gave him the power of endurance. His sickbed in Loyola castle enlightened him to do great things like Dominic or Francis of Assisi. His paradigm shifted, with determination but with openness to be led by God, as he left his house never to return back. His pilgrim road took him to Montserrat where he surrendered his soldier’s profession, and to Manresa where he composed The Spiritual Exercises, which is now the most printed book in the world, after the Bible. He found himself going to Jerusalem to pitch his tent, but God brought him to Rome and from there his Company of Jesus today is active all over the world.
What do we learn from St Ignatius?:
- Discernment: The Spiritual Exercises is basically an instrument to take decision in life, discerning the movements of good as well as not-good spirits within us. The individual discernment has now become discernment in common. This is engaging oneself to know oneself ever better.
- Seeing Everything New: On the banks of the river Cardoner, he had a transforming experience to see everything new – Then onwards, he sought everything in God and he saw everything in God. He realized that God was at work for him in the Creation. He had the experience of how a donkey helped him decide whether to take revenge on a Moor who insulted the Virgin Mary – The donkey led him on another route. He used to look at the starry sky and shed tears. He felt, in the poetic words of Gerard Manley Hopkins that “The world is charged with the grandeur of God”. And he could, in the words of William Blake, “see a world in a Grain of Sand.” This is enabling ourselves with new perspectives.
- Spiritual Conversation: This is an art of listening to others. It is not finding fault or loopholes in others’ sharing but discovering resonating elements within us. This is listening in depth that brings in consensus for a decision. This empowering ourselves in meaningful and resonating conversation.
- Administration: The Constitutions of the Jesuit Order is prescribed as a text book in Schools of Management. It portrays a leader as an understanding and accompanying companion with gentleness blended with clarity and vision. This again is engaging our team in a mission.
- Vision and Mission: With regard to his vision and mission, he was a restless man with one leg firmly rooted in the present mission, while he had one leg lifted to explore and exploit avenues unexplored and roads less travelled daring to, in the words of Alexander Pope, ‘where angels feared to tread’ in order to do the best to the least. He was capable of seeing the invisible and he had the confidence to accomplish the impossible. This again is enabling all the stakeholders to have the best.
- Surrender: At the end of the day, he could tell God: ‘Take and Receive’. He tells God: ‘Lord, take all I have as you have given me everything.’ Now, what if God does not take everything and leaves out something! Then, Ignatius hastens to add: The rest ‘receive’ as I freely offer them up to you. In other words, as Paul would say: In God, Ignatius lived, moved, and had his being (Act 17:28). This is our empowering God to take over us and lead us on.
Today, we enter a new academic year: We too had our cannonball moment in the form of pandemic and we have recovered as a moment of grace. This experience has given us more confidence to handle crisis. At the beginning of the academic year, we feel the need for continuous discernment, especially through listening to each of our students for their dreams, longings, aspirations, disappointments, difficulties, challenges etc. And after striving our best, we finally lay everything, our successes and failures, at the feet of the Lord, who would transform everything and everyone in His own time but not without our cooperation and efforts. What brings in disappointment in life is not people or event but our expectation. Our disappointment is proportional to expectation. Do not expect apple from a mango tree. Often we do not differentiate ‘love’ from ‘attachment’: Love brings out service and in return brings in satisfaction; but attachment is based on expectation resulting in disappointment.
Characteristics of Ignatius: Determination, Direction, and Distinction
Ignatius was a man of determination, direction, and distinction.
- We see his determination in subjecting himself thrice for awful and painful surgery of the knee; we find him as a man singularity of mind to travel to Jerusalem without a penny in hand; and we find his resolution to educate others by educating himself at the age of 30.
- His direction is towards Rome. The beginning was to the center of power but from there he would send his men to the centers of the powerless. The needy and the marginalized would be empowered, dignified, and deified.
- He was a man of distinction. As a man of magis, everything one does should be excellent and most useful, lasting, and meaningful.
On the finale of Ignatius-500, let us become men and women of determination, direction, and distinction. Ignatian determination engages is in our mission; his direction enables us to do our best; and his spirit of distinction inspires us to empower all in the game.
Prayer and Wish:
Today my prayer and wish for you all is: resilience and insight. Each one of us could think of one area to excel in teaching pedagogy this academic year: preparation, articulation, clarification, communication, accompaniment, mentoring, teamwork etc. Let us resolve to pick up more skills, soft skills and expertise in research. Above all, let us build up meaningful and lasting relationships that would give effectiveness for our mission and a reason to live happily all through life. What is important, the journey or the destination? Neither, it is the company. Let us move forward as a formidable team in the formation of our students. Let us see a great personality in each one of our students and shape him/her accordingly. The greatest challenge in life is to discover who you are; and the second greatest thing is to be happy with what you find.
On this day and every day to come, let us ask ourselves often the Ignatian triple question: What have I done to my students in the past? What am I doing for them in the present? And what ought I to do for them in the future? We could also add another set of triple question: In order to ensure the success of our mission of forming students entrusted to us: Do I have the convincing determination? – Do I have a clear direction? – And can I ensure distinction par excellence as a teacher and mentor? Let these questions dynamically guide us and let our excellence in service be the answer. Wish you all to be the inspiring models to our students in their formation and may you accompany them with compassion. Let us march together asking ourselves: What could we still do more and better? All the best in the academic year 2022-2023.
* LCAS: Faculty Orientation – Inaugural Address (18Jul2022)
Francis P Xavier SJ
18Jul2022