Reflecting on the Qualities of a Person in an Ignatian
Community
© Michael Stoney sj, 2008.
In 2001 Br Ian Cribb sj composed for the first edition
of the book Key Readings For Busy People a list of
qualities of a person in an Ignatian community. He
considered these to be qualities that best fit our
spirituality in the workplace. This is not intended to be
a definitive list that all people need to possess or
develop, as one might in developing a skill necessary
for one’s work, rather, they point to those habits of
heart, thought and action that make it easier for our
particular way of having and developing
relationships.
GOD CENTRED
Scripture:
Then Jesus replied: ‘Be off, Satan!’
For scripture says :“You must
worship the Lord your God, and
serve him alone.” Then the devil left
him. (Matthew, 4:10-11)
In 2006 Michael Stoney sj, at the request of the
Ignatian Volunteers Australia, developed a reflective
process using scripture, commentary and questions
to explore these qualities. The intention is to provide
a simple means by which individuals or groups might
come together to converse, pray and share their lives
arising out of their current experiences of life.
Reflection:
People imbued with the Ignatian
spirit are called to be achievers who
give their absolute best in whatever
they undertake. No human goal,
however, should ever become an
idol, worshipped for its own sake.
Instead, every area of our activity is
a potential signpost pointing towards
the living God. Our whole world is, in
fact, God’s kingdom. We are
challenged to be ruthlessly clearsighted, therefore, in resisting the
seductive attractions of the many
potential idols around us and to try
our hardest to promote God’s peace,
God’s justice and God’s compassion
in our society.
We are created to praise, reverence and serve God.
[Spiritual Exercises, 23]
A suggested way of using this resource would be to
gather like minded people or work teams to eflection
these qualities in one and one half hour time periods.
The process might follow a pattern outlined below:
A process for use
After a current work experience say three weeks or
four weeks of work. One quality is designated for
reflection a week before the time to meet.
Questions:
1. Team/group gathers
2. Time for stilling and readiness for reflection.
(ten minutes)
3. Scripture is read aloud followed by a period of
quite reflection.
(ten minutes)
4. The passage is read again this time followed by
small group or open group discussion. This sharing
time is one which engages one’s experience, the
scripture, the commentary and how one feels and
thinks about these in terms of their life.
(thirty–forty minutes)
5. Time for qualification of comments or
observations.
(ten minutes)
6. Quiet time followed by prayer arising from the time
together.
(ten minutes)
7 Cup of tea or refreshments.
(fifteen minutes)
1)
What current relationships,
possessions or life goals are
potential idols for me?
2)
How might I turn each of
them instead into a signpost
pointing towards my God?
3)
What does it mean in
practice for me to ‘worship
the Lord my God and serve
him alone’?
SPIRITUAL
GENEROUS
Recognise that the initiative for all that happens in us
is from God.
Generosity was one of the most important
dispositions Ignatius looked for in individuals.
Scripture:
Scripture:
Jesus said to the disciples: ‘Let us go
to Judaea.’ The disciples said:
‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews
wanted to stone you; are you going
back again?’ Then Thomas – known
as the Twin – said to the other
disciples: ‘Let us go too, and die with
him.’ (John, 11:7-8, 16)
Reflection:
The Blessed Trinity is a community
of Persons, each of whose entire
being is simply an unimaginable love
for the other two Persons. God is, in
fact, a community of Relationships.
Such a generosity explodes in the
origins of our vast and complex
universe in which we women and
men have a quite special place. The
invitation and challenge, then, for the
Ignatian person is to try to use each
moment to touch every being we
encounter with the consuming
generosity of God. In particular, we
have a special responsibility to
cherish our human brothers and
sisters with a generosity that is selfforgetful; beyond the rational; and
modeled of course, on the
selflessness of Jesus who died and
rose for us.
And God’s spirit hovered over the
water … And God saw all he had
made, and indeed it was very good.
(Genesis, 1:2, 31)
Glory be to him whose power,
working in us, can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine, glory be
to him from generation to generation
in the Church and in Christ Jesus for
ever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians, 3:20-21)
Reflection:
The Ignatian person is called to look
beyond the surface appearance of
reality. He or she is challenged to
look for the traces of God, contained
in every human situation (often, of
course, hidden at some depth). To
put it another way, God’s capacity for
love goes infinitely beyond what we
can imagine; every moment,
therefore, is pregnant with God’s
compassionate goodness. The
catch, however, is that each situation
is also a challenge: how do I
cooperate with the ever-present
divine initiative to make that
compassionate kindness more real in
the lives of the people with whom I
have contact?
Questions:
Questions:
1)
How easily do I detect God’s
love in the daily realities of
my life?
2)
Do I operate more often from
human common-sense or
from a conviction that I am
an interpreter of God’s own
wisdom?
3)
Am I an agent of Christian
hope in my contacts with
others?
1)
What is my image of God:
generous Creator or
demanding Judge?
2)
What does ‘generosity
beyond the rational’ mean in
the practical
realities of
my daily life?
3)
Does ‘self-forgetful
generosity’ really work?
COMPASSIONATE
RESPONSIBLE
Be compassionate as your heavenly father is
compassionate.
Seeking excellence in self and ready to encourage
others.
[Matthew 5:48]
Scripture:
Your Father in heaven causes his
sun to rise on bad people as well as
good, and his rain to fall on honest
and dishonest people alike …. You,
therefore, must be compassionate
just as your heavenly Father is
compassionate. (Matthew, 5:45, 48)
Scripture:
That is why I am reminding you now
to fan into a flame the gift that God
gave you when I laid my hands on
you. God’s gift was not a spirit of
timidity, but the Spirit of power and
love and self-control.
(2 Timothy, 1:6-7)
Reflection:
A compassionate Ignatian person is
not merely someone who helps his
or her fellow women and men in their
time of need, even if this is done with
notable generosity. A compassionate
Ignatian person goes further and
tries to share the pain and suffering
of people of our world. He or she
does their best to understand the
hurts and joys, the sadness and
hopes of the wounded members of
the human family. To some extent,
then, a compassionate Ignatian
person learns to suffer with those
who are marginalized and despised.
A massive challenge indeed as it
should be, because a
compassionate Ignatian person is
living God’s own life!
Reflection:
The Ignatian person is gradually
consumed more and more by God’s
love. He or she wants to respond to
our generous God by giving their
absolute best in every area of life.
Second or third rate offerings are
simply unignatian. The Ignatian
person is called, therefore, to use his
or her talents adventurously and
creatively, even when this involves
costly demands on personal comfort
or attitudes. Moreover, such a
person wants to work for God’s
kingdom within an Ignatian
community and is committed,
inescapably, to the effort to be an
encouraging, patient and
collaborative team member.
Questions:
Questions:
1)
1)
How do I respond when God
calls me to move beyond my
comfort zone?
2)
Do I find it easier to operate
as an individualist or as a
team player?
3)
How do I handle the
discouragement that is at
times inevitable in my life as
an Ignatian person?
Is the concept of living the
life of the compassionate
God just pious rhetoric or a
real possibility for me?
2)
How can I suffer with
someone if I don’t share the
conditions which cause their
suffering?
3)
Do I ever suffer from
‘compassion fatigue’ as is
sometimes alleged about
Australians more generally?
JUST
GRATEFUL
To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with
your God.
We give thanks to God for God’s indescribable gift to
us. [2 Cor. 9:15]
[Micah 6:8]
Scripture:
Scripture:
Reflection:
This is what Yahweh asks of you:
only this, to act justly; to love
tenderly; and to walk humbly with
your God. (Micah, 6:8)
Micha’s oft-quoted comment
strangely stresses that God asks us
to do only one thing. Then he lists
three separate duties! For the
Ignatian person, however, the
prophet’s demand is a single,
indivisible requirement. ‘Acting justly’
easily becomes a cold meeting of
legal responsibilities unless a person
also knows how to ‘love tenderly’.
Again, such a programme, if applied
as radically as Micah seems to
intend, is barely possible without the
help of the God with whom one is
invited to ‘walk humbly’. Micah
challenges the Ignatian person to
show God’s justice to everyone
whether he or she finds them
congenial or quite unlikeable.
As Jesus entered one of the villages,
ten lepers came to meet him. They
called to him: ‘Jesus! Master! Take
pity on us.’ … Now, as they were
going away, they were cleansed. …
One of them turned back, praising
God at the top of his voice, and
threw himself at the feet of Jesus
and thanked him. The man was a
Samaritan. This made Jesus say:‘
Were not all ten made clean? The
other nine, where are they? It seems
that no one has come back to give
praise to God, except this foreigner.’
(Luke, 17:12-18)
Reflection:
Questions:
1)
How feasible is Micah’s
prophetic insight in my world
today?
2)
How, in practice, can I be a
more just person in my life at
present?
3)
With gratitude in your hearts sing
psalms and hymns and inspired
songs to God; and never say or do
anything except in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him. (Colossians,
3:6-17)
The Ignatian person tries never to
take anyone for granted, least of all
the God whose exuberant generosity
gives life itself to everyone. Ignatian
people grow in gratitude as they
learn to recognise more skillfully the
traces of God’s utter generosity in
the varied circumstances of their
lives A thankful attitude is shown
more and more frequently in prayer
as the Ignatian person matures
spiritually but is demonstrated too in
his or her passionate commitment to
the cause dear to God’s heart: a
world of greater peace, justice and
reconciliation.
Questions:
1)
Am I learning to notice God’s
goodness more and more in
my daily life?
2)
Do I acknowledge
courteously God’s loving
action in my life, when
shown through other
people?
3)
Is my apostolic activity
motivated more by my
increasing sense of gratitude
and less by my own natural
energy?
Why should I walk humbly
with [my] God?
RESPECTFUL
COMMITTED
Seeking and finding God in all.
To search for the truths in relationship with others.
[Spiritual Exercises, 237]
Scripture:
His mother said to Jesus: ‘My child,
why have you done this to us? See
how worried your father and I have
been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were
you looking for me?’, Jesus replied.
‘Did you not know that I must be
busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But
they did not understand what he
meant. (Luke, 2:48-50)
Reflection:
The Ignatian person has already
been challenged to be God-centred
in his or her commitment and,
consequently, spiritually alert to the
divine traces in our world. Ignatian
people are reminded to respect our
loving God who is ceaselessly, yet
gently, active in each life situation.
The natural world of plants, animals
and insects, for example, is God’s
gift to us. It demands respect, not
selfish exploitation. People are even
more important since they reflect
God’s own nature to us, whatever
their ethnic, religious, political, social
or economic background. Reverence
rather than brutality, rudeness or
indifference is the only acceptable
Ignatian response.
Questions:
Scripture:
To the Jews who believed in him
Jesus said: ‘If you make my word
your home, you will indeed be my
disciples. You will learn the truth and
the truth will make you free.’ (John,
8:31-32)
Reflection:
Ignatian people are called to be a
persistent and sincere searchers for
truth in every situation of their lives.
They must witness to truth in its
broadest sense: not simply in
avoiding lies or deception but much
more in trying to understand our
world in the full context of God’s
loving plan for it. They must,
therefore, be prayerful people open
to the Spirit’s guidance and
convinced that God’s truth, however
uncomfortably it may enter one’s life
on occasions, in nonetheless the
authentic pathway to true freedom.
Questions:
1)
Do I feel a Christian
commitment to the grateful
and respectful use of our
natural environment? What
practical consequences
follow such a commitment?
2)
Am I courteous and unselfish
in my relationships with
others or at least
persevering in my efforts to
achieve such respect? How
successful am I in building
relationships with those
whom I find less congenial?
3)
What opportunities have I to
be a creative and
courageous advocate in the
public arena in the interests
of a more integrated
approach to people and the
environment?
1)
Am I committed to looking at
my world truthfully, i.e. in the
context of God’s vision?
2)
Has the process of
searching for truth been at
times a painful or a hurtful
one for me?
3)
Do I give time regularly to
prayerful reflection to get
God’s help in finding God’s
truth?
HELPFUL
LOVING
Ignatius Loyola wanted us to help souls.
Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than
words.
[Spiritual Exercises, 230]
Scripture:
Reflection:
Jesus instructed his disciples as
follows: ‘As you go, proclaim that the
kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, cast out devils. You
received without charge, give without
charge. (Matthew, 10:5, 7-8)
The Ignatian person is essentially
about other people. He or she finds
spiritual growth in trying to bring
others closer to God. The Ignatian
person is invited to take very
nd
seriously the 32 Jesuit General
Congregation’s commitment to a
‘faith that does justice’. For, clearly,
the spiritual health of those we serve
is closely linked with their emotional,
intellectual and physical wellbeing.
The Ignatian person is called to
develop the ability first of all to
recognise people’s varied areas of
need and then to make his or her
own unique contribution to their
growth as whole persons.
Questions:
Scripture:
Jesus replies: ‘This is my
commandment: Love one another as
I have loved you. A person can have
no greater love than to lay down his
life for his friends.’ (John, 15:12-13)
Reflection:
The Ignatian person is called to try to
love other people at a very profound
level. Indeed, the quality of Ignatian
love for others is to be measured
against the Father’s love for Jesus
Himself and Jesus’ own love for each
one of us. In the community
associated with the Gospel of John,
Jesus’ selfless death for us, his
friend’s, is given as the example of
the extent to which our love for other
people might be stretched. In
practice, of course, we are usually
called not to die for others but to
embrace the similarly challenging
task of living with them and serving
them.
Questions:
1)
Do I take a holistic approach
to my service of others?
2)
What opportunities do I have
to help other people see
God’s face in times of
difficulty?
3)
Do I try to help or to control
those who I find myself
helping?
1)
Is the standard set by Jesus
a realistic goal for my efforts
at serving other people?
2)
Who are the people whom I
find it most difficult to love
and serve?
3)
Would I be ready ‘to lay
down my life’ for a person
who is a ‘friend’ in Jesus’
sense if not always in mine?
CULTIVATOR OF VIRTUE
REFLECTIVE
In self and others- Faith, Hope and Charity.
Engages in the Ignatian practice of reflection on
experience leading to action
so that
one is transformed into a truly integrated person
engaged in the world.
Scripture:
Reflection:
This is what Jesus taught them: …
‘You are the salt of the earth. But if
salt becomes tasteless, what can
make it salty again? … You are the
light of the world. … In the same
way, your light must shine in the
sight of people, so that, seeing your
good works, they may give the
praise to your Father in heaven.’
(Matthew, 5:13-14, 16)
The Ignatian person’s life, like any
other Christian life, is much more
than following a moral code. It is
about being in love with Jesus Christ
and then, as a natural consequence,
wanting passionately to be the kind
of person Jesus wishes him or her to
be. The Ignatian person, therefore,
ought to be growing constantly in the
central virtues of Faith, Hope and
Love as well as in the other
traditional characteristics of Christian
life. The Ignatian person will then, of
course, have a salt-like effect which
gives a Christlike flavour to those
with whom he or she has contact.
The ‘light of the world’ is another
image used by Jesus to challenge us
to be beacons guiding others
towards his Father.
Questions:
Scripture:
Jesus replied: ‘In the evening you
say: “It will be fine; there is a red
sky”, and in the morning: “Stormy
weather today; the sky is red and
overcast!” You know how to read the
face of the sky, but you cannot read
the signs of the times.’ (Matthew,
16:2-3)
Reflection:
The Ignatian person is called to
review his or her life on a regular and
systematic basis. A variety of
influences are at work in our daily
activities, our moods and our
reactions. Any of these situations,
therefore, is capable of drawing us
towards more generous service of
God and God’s people or away from
them into a self-absorbed pattern of
life. Ignatian people are invited to
serve God and God’s people with
notable generosity, but they must be
sensitive to the often subtle damage
caused by personal selfishness or by
seductive currents in the world
around us. A proven remedy?
Regular use of the typically Ignatian
reflective process called the
Consciousness Examen.
Questions:
1)
What is the link, in my view,
between loving Jesus and
living as a Christian?
2)
Love often appeals to nonbelivers more obviously than
Faith or Hope. How relevant
are these three virtues in our
modern world?
3)
Am I comfortable with the
public profile which Jesus’
images (‘salt of the earth’
and ‘light of the world’) seem
to expect of the Christian?
1)
Do I find it easy to get in
touch with my deeper moods
and emotions?
2)
If I have used the
Consciousness Examen,
have I found it helpful to my
life as an Ignatian person?
3)
Can I live peacefully with my
personal negative feelings
(e.g. anger, frustration,
sadness)?
TEAM MEMBER
We belong to a community of faith with a single aim
to be on Mission with Christ.
Qualities of a person on an Ignatian community
GOD CENTRED
We are created to praise, reverence and serve God.
[Spiritual Exercises, 23]
Scripture:
SPIRITUAL
Recognise that the initiative for all that happens in us
is from God.
Reflection:
Jesus summoned his twelve
disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits with power to
cast them out and to cure all kinds of
diseases and sickness. … He
instructed them: ‘And, as you go,
proclaim that the kingdom of heaven
is close at hand.’ (Matthew 10:1-8)
Jesus calls each Ignatian person as
a unique individual within an
apostolic community. He or she is
obviously valued and loved by Jesus
as someone possessing both unique
apostolic gifts and distinct individual
flaws. Thus it was, of course, with
that first group of twelve disciples.
They were commissioned to perform
two basic tasks: firstly, preaching the
closeness of God’s kingdom, the
continual, loving intervention of God
in our human story; secondly,
healing the varied physical,
emotional and spiritual illnesses
which Jesus’ contemporaries saw as
signs of the rule of evil. For Jesus,
the latter rule impeded the growth of
his Father’s rule and demanded his
implacable opposition. The Ignatian
person is invited to share with other
Ignatian women and men that same
mission.
Questions:
1)
Am I comfortable being part
of an apostolic community in
the same tradition as Jesus’
apostles?
2)
How, in practice, can I best
preach the kingdom and heal
the sick?
3)
What fears do I have about
responding to Jesus’ call?
GENEROUS
Generosity was one of the most important
dispositions Ignatius looked for in individuals.
COMPASSIONATE
Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is
compassionate.
[Matthew 5:48]
RESPONSIBLE
Seeking excellence in self and ready to encourage
others.
JUST
To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with
your God.
[Micah 6:8]
GRATEFUL
We give thanks to God for God’s indescribable gift to
us.
[2 Cor. 9:15]
RESPECTFUL
Seeking and finding God in all.
[Spiritual Exercises, 237]
COMMITTED
To search for the truths in relationship with others.
HELPFUL
Ignatius Loyola wanted us to help souls.
LOVING
Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than
words.
[Spiritual Exercises, 230]
CULTIVATOR OF VIRTUE
In self and others- Faith, Hope and Charity.
REFLECTIVE
Engages in the Ignatian practice of reflection on
experience leading to action
so that
one is transformed into a truly integrated person
engaged in the world.
TEAM MEMBER
We belong to a community of faith with a single aim
to be on Mission with Christ.