This is a must-read for all Jesuits and of us who work with and love them, and even for those who do not like them. One can understand better these companions of Christ, reading these reflections of Pope Francis of the experience of the Jesuits when they were suppressed, focusing particularly on the acts and words of its Father General at that time Lorenzo Ricci SJ (who eventually died in prison). But the words of Pope Francis, as always, speaks to each of us today as we discern about our own suffering, sinfulness, and mission: In times of trial and tribulation, dust clouds of doubt and suffering are always raised and it is not easy to move forward, to continue the journey. Many temptations come, especially in difficult times and in crises: to stop to discuss ideas, to allow oneself to be carried away by the desolation, to focus on the fact of being persecuted, and not to see the other. Reading the letters of Fr Ricci, one thing struck me: his ability to avoid being harnessed by these temptations and to propose to the Jesuits, in a time of trouble, a vision of the things that rooted them even more in the spirituality of the Society. Father General Ricci, who wrote to the Jesuits at the time, watching the clouds thickening on the horizon, strengthened them in their membership in the body of the Society and its mission. Here it is: in a time of confusion and turmoil he discerned. He did not waste time discussing ideas and complaining, but he took on the charge of the vocation of the Society. And this attitude led the Jesuits to experience the death and resurrection of the Lord. Faced with the loss of everything, even of their public identity, they did not resist the will of God, they did not resist the conflict, trying to save themselves. The Society – and this is beautiful – lived the conflict to the end, without minimizing it. It lived humiliation along with the humiliated Christ; it obeyed. You never save yourself from conflict with cunning and with strategies of resistance. In the confusion and humiliation, the Society preferred to live the discernment of Gods will, without seeking a way out of the conflict in a seemingly quiet manner. It is never apparent tranquility that satisfies our hearts, but true peace that is a gift from God. One should never seek the easy compromise nor practice facile “irenicism.” Only discernment saves us from real uprooting, from true suppression of the heart, which is selfishness, worldliness, the loss of our horizon. Our hope, is Jesus; it is only Jesus. Thus Fr Ricci and the Society during the suppression privileged history rather than a gray “little tale”, knowing that love judges history and that hope - even in darkness - is greater than our expectations. Discernment must be done with right intention, with a simple eye. For this reason, Fr Ricci comes, precisely in this time of confusion and bewilderment, to speak about the sins of the Jesuits. He does not defend himself, feeling like a victim of history, but he recognizes himself as a sinner. Looking at oneself and recognizing oneself as a sinner avoids being in a position of considering oneself a victim before an executioner. Recognizing oneself as a sinner, really recognizing oneself as a sinner, means putting oneself in the correct attitude to receive consolation. zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-homily-at-vespers-with-jesuits
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 05:07:05 +0000
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