Jesuit Spirituality and Education

Josh Laws, a senior here at Loyola College, made his Catholic Studies Summer Research Grant Lecture last week. The focus of his research project was Jesuit spirituality and Jesuit education, two themes that greatly tie into our class. His speech was very interesting, giving us an in depth view of what Jesuit education is and how it started.

Jesuit education is focused on moral, Christian living centered on faith, hope, and love. It is aimed at brining people together to make a faith community. There are many arguments on college campuses these days about whether or not their particular campus is following these guidelines.

Before we dive into what Jesuit education entails we should look at what makes an ideal Jesuit. An ideal Jesuit has the desire to serve as a soldier of God underneath the banner of the cross. They perform many works of charity especially regarding the education of children. Jesuits know how to discern and live lives of faith, generosity, service, and love. Above all, Jesuits are very close to God, they have the freedom to serve a God we know, love and want to follow. They can do so by St. Ignatius Loyola’s spiritual exercises.

The spiritual exercises are generally done in a 30 day time period. During these 30 days Jesuits discern temptations and focus all actions and thoughts to God. They devote their presence to God and are ready to follow the Holy Spirit wherever God wants them to go. Within the 30 days it is broken up into four weeks. Each week focusing on a certain grace. The first week they move toward a profound awareness of sin. They desire to serve God with great gratitude. The second week they feel the ultimate presence of God and respond to his call to follow him in their daily lives. The third week the Jesuits learn how to suffer with Jesus. They feel humility and compassion and grow towards a deep connection with Jesus and his suffering. The final week they form a union with the risen Christ and learn how to live a loving life in Christ. The exercises are very important but are nothing compared to what the Jesuits do after this process.

Jesuits are called to spread the light and love that they experience. Many times they share this in a college community. They call the college community to use the spiritual exercises and graces they have learned. They form a community of men and women for others working for the greater glory of God. This is one of the main focuses we have here at Loyola.

The Jesuits starting teaching lay students in the 16th century. This was the main focus of St. Ignatius before his death. He desired to create schools for the salvation of souls. This included taking the very best education processes of the time and made them Christian. Ignatius made all Jesuits great teachers. Ignatius believed the students should learn a little bit of everything. No subject was more important than another. He believed the more a student knows about the world, they better they will be at helping. Students should be in school to learn how to serve a higher good, not just to become a smart person.

There were several guidelines that Ignatius came up with for his students. Above all they must be obedient to their teachers. They must also go to confession once a month and mass every Sunday. These actions were not mandatory but strongly suggested. He believed that education should be free to the youth, so more and more children could go to school.

Today Jesuit Universities have become secular and the main goals forgotten. We should continue to push ourselves and ask what more we can do. We can start by reflecting on the graces of the institutions. It is not enough to simply construct statures and religious monuments to remind us of the Jesuit ideals, we must learn to live them out and teach others how to live them out as well. We should be sculpting great saints out of the students, not just statues of great saints. Students should be asking what they have done today for the greater glory of God.

We can serve our faith by bringing gifts of Christ to our world. Each student can lay down their lives for one another, on campus, in the community, and in the world. We can bring the Ignatian spirit everywhere. Students can do this by giving of themselves entirely. Ignatius taught the justice of the gospel and the self-less way of living. Jesus promoted this justice by companionship, giving, and learning of all around him. Ignatius invites us to join people, not just help them. By this we are bringing Christ to our world.

Real life contact is the greatest way to accomplish bringing Christ to our world. Having students jump into the reality of our world is the greatest way to impact their and so many others lives. Here at Loyola and at every other Jesuit institution we must remember that Jesuit schools should be active communities. We can become a unified group working towards the betterment of the lives of the people around us. We must always remember that more work can always be done.