Weekend Reflection for 10/30/15
At Loyola castle, Statue of Ignatius after his cannonball wound.
I write this on a plane, over the Atlantic. I am returning from an Ignatian Pilgrimage to Spain and Rome. During the last two weeks, I visited Loyola castle where St Ignatius was born. I hiked the hills of Francis Xavier's hometown. And I prayed in the ancient chapel in Rome where these men first took their vows as Jesuits.
Sunday is the feast of All Saints. The saints lived in the past. But they are alive with Christ now, in the present. And we pray that we may join them, with Christ, in the future. Ignatius and Xavier really lived. As young men, they asked the same questions that young people ask today: What should I do with my life? Who is Jesus? Where is He calling me?
The saints inspire us. The Church has marked certain men and women as enduring examples of true love and holiness. Jesus calls us to love God and others. The saints did this with heroic virtue and generosity.
In the first reading at Mass on Sunday, we will hear of St John's vision of 144,000 and a great multitude of saints from every tribe and nation. The saints help us. They are alive. Their prayers are powerful. Thousands of saints are waiting to help me follow Jesus if I just ask them.
God is still making saints. He wants me to be a saint. St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier want to help me; they want me to join them in heaven.
--Fr Joe Laramie, SJ
Loyola Basilica in the afternoon. It is in a small town with sheep and farms nearby.