Living Today
Using Insights from the Life of
St. Ignatius of Loyola
The Simple Life
“Sell what you have and give to
the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
Fr. John W. O’Malley, S.J. writes in
The First
Jesuits, that St. Ignatius’ personal experience
fairly early in his conversion journey persuaded him
that too severe of an understanding of “actual
poverty” hindered his attempts “to help souls.”
Later, he and his companions in the Society saw even
more clearly the impracticality of such an
understanding to sell all material possessions as
they began to establish their institutions. It was a
different poverty than that of St. Francis of
Assisi, but genuine nevertheless. The poverty of the
Jesuits focused more on spiritual detachment or
poverty in spirit, enabling them to found, own, fund
and run institutions, such as universities.
St. Ignatius’ approach to a simple life has been
helpful to us in the 21st century, as it simply
invites us to “live simply.” It is a sensible
simplicity; a moderate asceticism; a healthy
poverty. In the second week of the
Spiritual
Exercises (called the “Two Standards”), St. Ignatius
asks us to imagine Christ calling people to his
side: to a simple life, denouncing the desire for
honors and desiring a life of humility. Christ is
inviting us to enjoy a life free from attachments.
HOW DO YOU
LIVE SIMPLY?
While those with a vocation to live in a
religious community and share all things in common
are called to give up all individual ownership of
material possessions, the faithful Catholic in our
community is probably not called to give up
everything. However, as a faithful Catholic, can you
simplify your life and respond to the invitation to
live with less stuff coming between you and God?
We have three steps to assist you in this effort
(each step progresses with increasing difficulty),
then we offer a challenge. In all these things,
place your trust in God to help you along this path,
because it is a path to a freedom from attachments,
which God desires for you.
1) Get rid of whatever you don’t need.
It’s
the obvious first step to simplifying. What should you
do with all that stuff? As stated in the Gospel, the
extra coat you’re not using doesn’t belong to you: it
belongs to the poor. Connect with such places as
Catholic Charities, or Hope Community Center or a
shelter (Coalition for the Homeless) or a clothing
distribution center (Christian Sharing Center or
Goodwill) to offer your clothing to the poor and needy.
How do you know you don’t need it? One trick
that organizers teach us is to go to your closet
and hang all your clothes with the hanger in the
reverse direction. (It takes extra effort to
remove the clothing). When you wear the item and
return it to the closet, hang it in the correct
direction. Then after six months, check which
items are still hanging in the reverse
direction. This should be an indication to you
that you haven’t needed this item and would be a
candidate for the clothing distribution center.
A word of friendly advice: don’t give your junky stuff
to the poor – toss it out. Ask yourself, would you wear
it in its current condition? If you wouldn’t, then toss
it out. The poor deserve decent clothes, just like you
do. Keep in mind the biblical principal of “First
Fruits”. The idea was the opposite
of merely giving your left overs. It is not sacrificial
to merely give what you don’t want or need. Christ gave
us his very life, his substance, so that we might live
as a result of his sacrifice. It is good to follow his
example of how to live and love.
2)
Distinguish between wants and needs.
Is it “nice to have” or “need to have?” Do you “need” a
bigger television or the latest SMART phone or the
newest computer? Or is it something you want because
your friends just bought one or because you’ve seen it
advertised? It’s difficult to resist the desire to have
what your friends have and what Madison Avenue says you
need, but again, turning these things down leads to
freedom.
Think of it like a diet. Hard as it is, you feel better
if you avoid unnecessary calories. You’ll also feel
better if you avoid unnecessary purchases – lighter,
healthier, freer. Go on a “buying
diet.”
3) Get rid of
things you think you need, but can actually live
without.
This goes beyond things you know
you don’t need into things you believe you need, but
can, in a pinch, forego. Bishop Robert Morneau of the
Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, offers this valuable
suggestion on giving away our personal items. “Try
to give away one thing a day. If
someone admires something you have, offer to give it to
them.” This practice will help you to become
detached to the many possessions in our life and
experience the joy of giving.
4) THE
CHALLENGE: Get to know the poor.
This may be very difficult for some
of us. Find opportunities to volunteer at a soup kitchen
or homeless shelter (each week a different ministry at
St. Mary Magdalen Parish volunteers to serve dinner at
either the Coalition for the Homeless or Pathways to
Care. Call the parish office to be connected to these
ministries). Doing so on a regular basis will help you
to know them not as the “poor” but as individuals with
their own stories. They will have often suffered much,
and it may, initially, be hard to be around them. But
they can also teach you a great deal about gratitude,
about perseverance and about being close to God.
Resources on St. Ignatius Loyola
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