Ignatian Spirituality - Charles J. Jackson, S.J. - [1]

Spirituality

Spirituality is a word that lacks a concise definition. Although it includes prayer, piety and the so-called interior life, it is ultimately a way of living and acting. For the Christian, spirituality can be defined as life in accord with the Spirit of God, a life that ‘makes us sons and daughters of God’ (Rom. 8:9,14).

This is not to say, however, that there is but one Christian spirituality. There are, in fact, many. By way of example, each of the four Gospels in the New Testament can be said to reflect a distinct spirituality, each faithful to the gospel Jesus preached yet viewed through the prism of its writer. As Christianity developed, however, so too did other spiritualities, each rooted in a particular historical and cultural setting and in some manner expressing its ideals and aspirations. Each was grounded in a specific understanding about God, about God’s relationship with the world and about the human person in that world. And it was from this understanding that the spirituality – a way of living and acting – developed and grew.

A word of caution, however, is in order: a spirituality is not simply a collection of spiritual ideals and practices, a smorgasbord – as it were – from which one can pick and choose. It possesses an internal cohesion. Its elements, in fact, display a remarkable interrelatedness in which each flows from and gives expression to the worldview from which the spirituality sprang.

Each spirituality is identified by the specific historical, cultural or religious tradition from which it sprang – 17thcentury French, Pauline, Carmelite, Celtic and Methodist spiritualities, to name but a few. This brochure will focus on Ignatian spirituality, the spirituality of the 16th-century Basque, St. Ignatius Loyola. It will single out some of the more important traits of this spirituality, describe each, underscore their interrelatedness and attempt to show how each flows from and gives expression to Ignatius’ integral worldview. In order to do this, however, it seems best to begin not with the spirituality of St. Ignatius but with the man himself.