• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe

4 favorite lessons from St. Ignatius of Loyola

July 30, 2019
By Rita Buettner
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Blog, Open Window, Saints

As we celebrate his feast day, here are some of my favorite lessons from St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus:

  1. Be open to change—and embrace it. Ignatius wasn’t planning for his order to focus on education. He didn’t initially see that as his calling. But though he may have opened his first school with reluctance, he embraced his vocation wholeheartedly. So many times in life I have ended up on a path I didn’t choose—or didn’t choose until another path led nowhere. I learned recently that statues of St. Ignatius often show him with one foot ahead of the other because Jesuits always have to be ready to step forward, away from where they are. I love how St. Ignatius was willing to be open to the possibilities of a different course of action.
  2. People can change, even if that change doesn’t come easily. Ignatius was born to a wealthy family. He became a soldier and was badly injured in battle. He didn’t develop a strong relationship with Jesus until later—and it didn’t always come easily. He struggled between darkness and light. But he found his way to God. And he helped lead others to Him, too.
  3. Seek God in all things. It can be easy to get bogged down in the hectic busyness of a day. It can be very difficult, in fact, to see a flat tire or spilled milk as anything other than a hassle. St. Ignatius would encourage us to see God in the person who helps us with the tire or in the child who was giggling too hard to hold a cup of milk properly. Many people speak of finding God in all things, but one of my Jesuit friends says that can feel daunting. He encouraged me to think instead of “seeking” rather than “finding” God in all things. Although that may not always be natural or comfortable, it is always rewarding. And it helps me feel connected to God and to those around me.
  4. Live with gratitude and optimism for the future. Ignatius encouraged his companions to pray the examen, looking back on the day with gratitude and thinking of what they could do better tomorrow. In our fast-paced world, it can be hard to pause and reflect before launching into the next day. But I love that approach—and wish I turned to the examen more regularly myself.

~Prayer of St. Ignatius~

Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding,

my whole will, all that I have and all that I possess.

You gave it all to me, Lord; I give it all back to you.

Do with it as you will, according to your good pleasure.

Give me your love and your grace; for with this I have all that I need.

Amen.

Copyright © 2019 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Rita Buettner

Rita Buettner is a wife, working mother and author of the Catholic Review's Open Window blog. She and her husband adopted their two sons from China, and Rita often writes about topics concerning adoption, family and faith.

Rita also writes The Domestic Church, a featured column in the Catholic Review. Her writing has been honored by the Catholic Press Association, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Associated Church Press.

View all posts from this author

| Recent Commentary |

Question Corner: Does insufficient faith keep us from being healed?

Archbishop Wenski: ‘Change the narrative about migration’

Reasons why St. Francis is a model of synodality

Cardinal Dolan: Are Sunday Masses just too long?

A taste of a child’s birthday joy

| Recent Local News |

Radio Interview: Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore awarded $2 million VA grant

‘The Following of Christ’: The ‘hidden’ book that helped make Mother Seton a saint

St. Maria Goretti High School faces uncertain future after difficult decision by archdiocese

Compensating all claims of abuse: Archdiocese considers Chapter 11 reorganization

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Question Corner: Does insufficient faith keep us from being healed?
  • U.S. Border Patrol records sharp increase in arrests; situation of migrants in Mexico deteriorates
  • English police apologize to woman arrested for silently praying outside abortion facility
  • Papal commission incorporates global feedback in safeguarding guidelines
  • U.S. bishops, advocacy groups caution against government shutdown
  • Para compensar todos los reclamos de abuso: la Arquidiócesis considera reorganización
  • Radio Interview: Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage
  • God has the same love for all, pope says at Angelus
  • Take leap of faith and dare to love your family, those in need, pope says

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED