homily: HMV 2010
Few Ignatian ideas are as grand and elusive as magis. This Latin word magis, literally means “More!” or “Greater!” or “hơn.” It is commonly understood as doing the more, the greater, for God. As James Martin SJ writes, “When you work, give your all. When you make plans, plan boldly. And when you dream, dream big.”
Thus, living the magis spirit generally means trying to do the more, the greater, the better for God and for God's people.
However, it can easily be misunderstood as the “more” dictated by our competitive, consumerist popular culture.
Let me point out two common misunderstandings (that you & I often hold):
The first sự hiểu lầm: Magis is about “doing more.” Towards the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius asks retreatants to consider three questions: “What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? and What ought I do for Christ?”
Influenced by the popular culture that prizes productivity and bigger is better, we interpret the magis spirit as doing more for God. However, when posing those questions, St Ignatius asks us to look at the Cross in order to deepen awareness of how much God in Jesus loves us and is willing to sacrificing everything for us, even when we refuse such love. From this deep awareness of being loved and saved, comes a greater response, the magis. Fr Nicolas, Superior General of the Jesuits suggests that “more” is not a good translation of magis, but rather “depth.” The magis is more about DEPTH than about DOING. It’s more about DEPTH of presence than about the AMOUNT of deeds.
Tình thần magis nhắm về chiều sâu hơn về việc làm; về phẩm chất hơn là số lượng.
The second misconception / sự hiểu lầm: Magis is about “more effectiveness.” In business and a popular culture, the more effective, the better. Better production, better results. However good effectiveness may be in our society, when applied to the spiritual life, it often clouds our judgment. For example, a European priest with me in the Philippines complained when he sees how inefficient the Filipino work force is: like in Việt-Nam, there are so many employees at the cashier counters, sweeping the streets, often talking and seemingly doing nothing. Using his European mindset, the priest criticized how inefficient Filipinos worked. In Europe and America, where everything is automated, time is less wasted and things are more efficient, like Fast-Track lanes, like blowers sweeping the streets faster. However, the priest slowly realized that in the Filipino context, the inefficient system is more humane, because more people have meaningful work which gave them greater dignity.
Another example that’s closer to home. Seeing how Caritas retreats have helped young adults, many people advised me to “go big” with Caritas. Formularize Caritas, form teams, write thorough manuals. There is nothing bad about improving and expanding Caritas. But is this necessary giving God the Greater Glory? I think so, but have I really asked God? And truly listen?
We tend to run ahead of grace. Because we want something, we assume that God must want it, and in the same way we think best. This tendency often leads us into programmatic mode, to replicate something good that we've doing, for example, a kind of retreat or way of praying. Naturally, we would think that if we can mass produce this method or way, everyone would benefit. So we go into high gear strategizing and planning how we can go about reproducing this good thing. But we may have missed the basic point in the spiritual life: God leads, we follow. Just because we think it is good, it may not be God's way, or God's timing. Have we assumed what we intend will give greater glory to God before really asking God? And truly listening? Without knowing it, our desire to take ownership of this good thing may seduce us into thinking that own it. We may forget that it is God’s gift, that we are stewards, we are workers, not master architects not owners. We may forget that the initiative belongs to God, we respond ... out of love and gratitude. When we say “my family, my ministry” or “our family, our ministry,” let us be aware of where our focus lies, on God and not on us.
So the magis is not necessary what is more effective or even what is more generous. For our generosity may be misguided. It is God who invites; it is God who calls; it is God who sends. The initiative does not come from us, not from our human perspective. Thus, magis is about a response to God's grace. God leads, we follow.
So if the magis is less about “doing more” or being “more effective,” than what is is? In a nutshell, the magis is about a deeper response to God … in gratitude, in love, in service, in surrender because we realize much much more how Christ loves, forgives, and saves us. We are moved by God's grace to respond more fully.
I have talked about what magis is; let me talk about how to live the magis spirit. I will turn to the Spiritual Exercises as well as my own experience this past year to highlight three dimensions of living the magis / ba chiều kích sống tinh thần magis.
First dimension: listening deeper. Lắng nghe sâu xa hơn. One of the most difficult yet blessed experiences of my life was living among poor families in the inner city. This is a picture of five families with whom I lived for one month, in Navotas, a very depressed area of Manila.
Most families in Navotas live on top of a landfill, piled from trash …
In my second family, I lived with 28 people living in a space that is half of my parents’ 2,400 square feet home in San Diego … here are some people …
... The mother is twice a widow, a seamstress, like my mother. One third of the house was blown away by the recent typhoons. Now blue tarps and tin sheets cover the holes. Plastic cans are hung on the ceiling to catch water leaks. There are three cats to catch the rats running around. I slept next to 8 other people, in a space as big as a small bedroom. They gave me the only mattress and a mosquito net. The other net is for a baby. There is no running water in the house. Whenever I needed fresh water, a boy would buy a bucket and bring it so I can wash my face, brush my teeth, or take a quick bath. I did not take pictures because this would be disrespectful. They are very poor, but gave me their best, like God!
At first, I had a very hard time here. I could do little for my host family. Instead, I was told to receive their kindness. This is not my first time living among God’s poor. Yet, I felt so helpless. I could not help very much, given my poor Filipino. Were I to speak fluent Tagalog, I would not be able to do much more. The socio-economic situation was beyond me. All 8 of my brother Jesuit Tertain companions felt the same powerlessness. Men with advanced degrees, much training, many connections. Yet, we could do little, except celebrated Mass, watched TV, played with kids. Slowly, I learned to listen. Just listen, be present, sit through the boredom, ordinary, difficult moments and listen. Gradually, I experienced God present with the people in a much deeper way. But it’s hard for me to describe it. It’s like having a powerful yet gentle guest coming to stay with you, just be present with you, and somehow you have enough food to eat and strength to get through hardships. Listening deeper uncovers Christ’s presence in the midst of suffering – a God who is willing to enter our pain and darkness, to share our misery, and bring meaning and purpose out of suffering. Listening attentively deepened trust in God. Whatever little I did, I was more present, and I learned to trust more.
It was difficult, but I was happy there, because I felt God very near and close. A God in poverty. A God who is in love with us, embracing our limitations and helplessness. A God who’s first love is the poor!
I don’t mean to romanticize the poor. Poverty in itself has no value. But it can be a very helpful pathway to God. In the beginning of the Exercises, Saint Ignatius, in the “Principle and Foundation,” calls us to imagine God's love revealing through all things such that they become gift – means of drawing us closer to God. Because God has first loved us, we strive to respond in generosity. We desire and choose that which leads us “more” to the end for which we are created (SpEx #23). The more we learn to listen, the deeper we can see God, and the greater our response may be. I am living in East LA, in the “hood” as some would say, because I long to deepen the grace of the past year. To experience more deeply God’s first love. In a not so self-less way, I desire to become more like Jesus, poor and humble – God’s Beloved.
Second dimension: discern what spirit is moving us. When we listen, we allow greater space in our mind, heart, and soul. We allow God room to work in us and through us, even though we may not know how, as I shared in my story.
To paraphrase St Ignatius, “life-giving and meaningful things happen if we allow or create the space for them to happen.” Deeper things do not happen if we don’t create space for the Holy Spirit to work. Space to differentiate (phân biệt) the inner forces that drives us, to understand better why we do what we do, and what makes us stuck and not growing.
We in CLC throw the term “discernment” or “discerning” around a lot. Yet, not many of us are really attentive to the various spirits that influence our deeper motivations, which is key.
I use myself as an example. I am a perfectionist. I am one of those overachievers who strive for the best, if not the perfect in all that I do. But often the best is what I envision it to be. And so I misunderstand the magis as the “more effective” or “the more perfect,” so I often run ahead of grace, as I mentioned earlier: I launch into a plan or activity before asking God and discerning my motivations. In my mind, I think I have asked God, but I don’t make space to test the spirits, for God to challenge my assumptions, biases, mental blocks, negative group-think. I forget that the perfect is often the enemy of the good. That God often calls me to the better, not the best. The more, not the most. Because I may pursue the best – best in my eyes – but in doing so, I have not grown in God, towards God, or in loving acceptance of others.
In the middle of the Exercises, the Meditation on the Two Standards grounds discernment. Despite our best intentions, we may be duped by the evil spirit (the enemy of our human nature) and find ourselves being seduced by riches, leading to honor, then to pride. St Ignatius cautions us to test the spirit that motivates our deeds for God.
I am approaching the magis when I am willing to ask with honesty and openness the kind these kinds of questions: “Is what I am intending to do for God really guided by the Spirit of God, or by some other spirit(s) – such as my perfectionism or selfishness? When I serve or plan, am I acting out of a deeper place of love? of gratitude? Am I responding from a deeper place or am I reacting as in a knee-jerk reaction? We in CLC are generous and have good intentions, but our generosity and intention can be misguided, especially when our pride is wounded (chạm tự ái) due to conflict and misunderstandings.
The key question to ask is: “When I serve or lead, am I drawing attention to myself (or my project) more or God (helping others grow towards God)? Expanding to community: “When we lead or serve, are we drawing more attention to ourselves (or our projects) or to God (helping others grow towards God)?”
Another way of discerning is to regular examen ourselves: Am I, are we, moving towards an attitude of open hands ready to receive or tending toward clenched fists, closed, defending, thu? I am learning that when my mind or heart is hard (gồng), clinging (nắm giữ), or impatient (hấp tấp), chances are I am moving towards the posture of clenched fists. Then I know it's time to be real and honest with myself and God. And say I'm sorry, it did it again. I need help. I need your love and your grace.
The Jesuit motto: A.M.D.G. – Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam – is about “the Greater Glory of God” (Để Tôn Vinh Thiên Chúa Hơn). It is not about advancing our plans or what we think best – but creating space for God’s glory to glow, which paradoxically shine brightest through our human limitations and powerlessness.
When I ask honest questions, able to laugh at myself, still work hard yet let go of results, and am willing to be lead by God, I am closer to the magis. I or we may do less, but we become more whole, more integrated, more healthy, more trusting, more free within.
Saint Ignatius teaches us that greater interior freedom (or detachment – bình tâm) helps us to discern better. He encourages us to be “poised like a scale at equilibrium,” balanced to consider all strategic possibilities. Two similar images appear. First, the image a swimmer poised at the starting line, muscles flexed, ready to plunge at the signal of the whistle. Second, the picture a runner body coiled like a spring, ready to vault into action at the sound of the gun. Likewise, when we are free within, we still have plans and preferences; yet we are available to respond, however and whenever God’s Spirit leads.
Third dimension: self-sacrifice out of love. A genuine self-sacrifice involves a willingness to give in surrender and forgive in letting go. Sẵn sàng hy sinh vì thương yêu: quên mình khi phó thác và bỏ đi vết thương khi tha thứ.
At the end of the Exercises, the Contemplation to Attain Love places us in deeper awareness of God’s personal and boundless love. We are invited to experience how God labors to love us and longs to give us God’s very Self in all things the world and in our collective and personal histories. This deep, heart-felt knowing moves us to pray the Suscipé. We become more willing to surrender ourselves in love and gratitude. We are moved to offer our will, memory, freedom, understanding, gifts, talents, and efforts to God. This surrender creates space in us and in our lives, making us willing to be lead wherever or whatever God chooses to work through us.
Thus less can mean more - a greater surrender to God's love and will. It is rare that we can genuinely pray, give me your love and your grace, that is enough for me. Yet, when we allow God’s love to take a hold us at a greater depth, we can truly say more whole-heartedly say: "Take Lord…” What we do, more or little, is secondary to the surrender of ourselves to grace, the action of God in our lives.
Experiencing in a deeper way God’s acceptance of my pride, perfectionism, and fears through my 30-day retreat last October has allowed me to let go more fully my mistakes. It also enables me to forgive others and embrace their fragilities more gently and patiently. Realizing how Christ continually calls me out on my unfaithfulness yet still calls me friend, beloved, and disciple humbles me profoundly. And inspires me to seek and love him people around me, especially my difficult Jesuit brothers.
I understand a bit of what St Ignatius means when he writes: “Few persons understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to God and if they were to allow God’s grace to mold them accordingly.”
The magis is a deeper response to God, in gratitude, in service, in love (biết đáp trả sâu sắc từ tấm lòng yêu thương, phục vụ và tri ân). We grow in living out the magis by learning to listen, to discern, and to self-sacrifice in order to be more united with God and magnify God’s glory. Sống tinh thần magis là học lắng nghe, nhận định, hy sinh để kết hợp với Chúa hơn và làm vinh danh Chúa hơn.
To echo Rita Dowd, the magis is about embracing our weaknesses, yet trusting in God as we take our gifts and talents to serve the world, doing what we do well, and noticing the places where we are invited to do better, to make greater space for God.
We in CLC are truly graced. Let us be rooted and grounded in grace. And respond in grace.
Questions for Reflection:
1. What does magis mean to me? Tôi hiểu magis như thế nào?
2. Do I relate to God, myself, and others more out of honest love? Or out of other motivations? If so, what might they be? Động lực nào ảnh hưởng cách tôi liên hệ với Thiên Chúa, người khác, và chính mình? Tình thương trung thực hay động lực nào khác?
3. How might I be concretely invited to live out the magis this weekend? Thiên Chúa mời tôi sống tinh thần magis cụ thể như thế nào trong cuối tuần này?
* * *
Some additional questions for self-reflection:
- Am I helping others who serve with me listening to where the Lord is inviting us, to a deeper trust?
- Am I taking a healthy distance in what I do?
- When I find myself in conflict with others while I work and serve, do I find myself reacting with us-vs-them mindset or more with a willingness to sacrifice and listen to what the Lord might be leading me, especially through difficult or tense situations?
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