Feast of St.

Ignatius of Loyola

It was May of 1521, French troops composed of 12,000 foot soldiers, 600 horsemen and several
more warriors in charge of the 29 canons, marched towards Pamplona, the capital of the province of
Navarre in Spain. The French seemed to have the upper hand because Pamplona did not appear to
have a strong defense. Sure, they had a fortress, they had food and other provisions like pikes,
cannons and gun powder. But there was a serious problem: they only had around a thousand men.
The Spanish defense clearly paled in comparison to the attacking French forces.
Realizing this, the town leaders wanted to immediately surrender. But in vain, Iñigo de Loyola, a
young proud knight who served the provincial governor of Navarre, refused to surrender and begged
the elders to take more decisive action and exert stronger resistance. But the elders stood their
ground; they refused to listen to Iñigo and instead sent an offer of peace to the attacking French
army. But the proud Iñigo, rather than give up, gave it a fight, despite the clear power imbalance.
The attack lasted for about six hours with the French bombarding the Spanish fortress with all
their might. In his Autobiography (written in the third person), Ignatius narrates the last few
moments of the battle: “After the assault had been going on for some time, a cannon ball struck him
in the leg, crushing its bones, and because it passed between his legs, it also seriously wounded the
other.” Ignatius fell, and so did the Spanish fortress. And as the cliché goes, the rest is history.
Indeed, the rest is history for today we celebrate the 500th year anniversary of this key event that
led to the conversion of the vain and proud courtier to a humble pilgrim in the loving service of God.
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In today’s gospel, Jesus says: “What king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit
down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against
him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation
and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give
up all your possessions.”
Christ’s point here is that we should not hold back on our commitment to Him. We should be
able to sacrifice everything to be able to be His true follower. Iñigo was willing to give up everything
if only to win the battle but the town leaders were afraid to take more decisive action and exert
greater resistance. And yet, despite his desire to do everything to defend the fortress, it eventually
fell into the hands of the enemy, and along with the fall of the fortress, Iñigo himself not only fell
from his pedestal, but also literally fell to the ground with one leg shattered and the other seriously
hurt by a cannonball.
Where did Ignatius go wrong? We may be quick to say that his fault was that he did not sit down
to take stock of what was needed to win the battle. He should have seen that he needed more men.
But maybe he did. Remember, he was said to have asked the elders to take decisive action and exert
greater resistance.
Perhaps his downfall was due to two fatal faults of his: first, he did everything by himself and
second, he did everything for himself.
His first mistake is that he did everything by himself. Ignatius had too much faith in himself
that he thought he could rely solely on his own knowledge, talents and skills, without any help from
God. But we must remember that the Lord does not merely want to do things with us. More
importantly, He also wants to deepen the bond of friendship with him as we go about our mission
together with him. And the Lord will insist in this bond of friendship. Out of his great love for us and
out of his goodness, he will do to us what he has done to the prophet Jeremiah who says: “O Lord,
you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.” In the
words of the young of today: I was shookt and now you have power over me. Without you I am
nothing.
 The Lord will insist in a friendship with you; he will not stop at anything. He will call you, attract
you, woo you into a friendship, and all this, for only one reason: he deeply loves us. And this brings
us to Ignatius' other fault.
His second mistake is that he did everything for himself. Ignatius was so proud of himself. And
why shouldn’t he when he is able to get all the women he wants and win every quarrel he gets into.
And every woman conquered and every fight won added to his personal glory. But Paul reminds us
in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Why?
Years after his cannonball experience, Ignatius realized how deeply he was loved by the Lord. He
knew beyond doubt the depth and breadth of God’s love for him for having accepted and befriended
a terrible and self-centered sinner like him. And in gratitude, Ignatius wanted to give his all to a God
who gave him His all, even his very life.
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“To give and not to count the cost.” This is what we pray in our Prayer for Generosity. But today,
Jesus tells us: count the cost and make sure you give your all! Counting the cost is also important
in our commitment to Christ. He made this clear in today’s gospel, when He talked about what it
takes to be His disciple—loving Him more than family relationships, our possessions, or even our
own life.
Even Ignatius asks us to count the cost when we asks us to constantly reflect on these questions:
What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What more can I do for Christ?
And because he has done everything to befriend us, because he has given up everything
(including his very life) to make that friendship possible, he desires that our hearts will be generous
enough to do the same: give up everything for the sake of our love for the Lord: “None of you can
become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
You shall not have no other love—no relationship, no object, no dream, no desire, no nothing
must be the center of your life but me. We just have to be Christ-centered.
Sure you may have friends, but Jesus must be your best friend.
Sure you may have hopes and dreams for the future but being with Jesus forever must be your
greatest hope and dream.
Sure you may work for honors but only because you want to be of better service to Jesus.
Sure you can possess valuables like phones and gadgets but Jesus must be your most valuable
possession.
How many of us are ready for that? Am I ready? What are the things I cling to? What are the
things I cannot let go of? And why?
Do I want to be a disciple / friend of Jesus? To what extent? Am I ready to pay the price he asks?”
“None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Perhaps many
of us find it difficult to respond to Jesus’ call. And so we pray for a generous heart. We pray
Ignatius’ Prayer for Generosity:
Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labor and not to ask for reward,
except to know that I am doing your Most Holy Will. Amen.