[B.] St. IGNATIUS of LOYOLA Presentation: The ... - St. Gaspar Bertoni

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|1| There is some surprise for
commentators when they note Ignatius’ pre-ordination of his freedom, with respect to the three
potencies of the soul: memory, understanding, will. This oblation is the reflection of the double
reciprocal movement which defines love. The Lord, Who has made of me the object of His
election, now seeks to receive me in the intimacy of His life.
|2| This is a matter of handing over
that objective dominion upon which my freedom holds sway and the union of this with God - And
when everything is subjected to him, then the Son Himself will be the subject in His turn to the
One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all [cf. 1 Co 15:28]. St. Ignatius
does this not so much out of any duty, but simply out of love. The Lord has given him all, and thus
he returns it with a reciprocity which includes all, that God is all in all.
|3| This prayer of the Suscipe is
that expression of St. Ignatius’ life: this is his “existential theology”, the root, the synthesis of all
the rest that he tried to do. He hands over his memory. his understanding, and his entire will. This
image of the Trinity is to respond to the very life of God Father, son and Holy Spirit: intellect, will,
memory. On the soul is taken over with such love of self-giving it is raised up by the spirit of God
and by His grace and placed into contact, according to the three potencies of the soul with the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
|4| St. Gaspar Bertoni, on May
24, 1810 7 presents in his Spiritual Diary, a prayer apparently of the deMontfort spirit, in honor of
Mary, but close, as well, to this spirit of St. Ignatius:
“I greet you, o my Mother, give me your blessing, bless me and all who are dear to me.
Please offer to God all have to do and suffer today, in union with your merits, as well as
those of your Blessed son. I offer you and consecrate to your service, all my being, and
whatever belongs to me placing everything under your protection. Obtain for me, my dear
Lady, purity of soul and body and grant that I may not do anything today displeasing to
God. I entreat you through your Immaculate Conception and your perfect Virginity.”
|b| Love consists in communication on
various levels; a likeness in nature, and a wishing the other well. Reciprocity is the indication of
the quality of the human sentiments and the measure of love. If appreciation is the bond that
brings together those of unequal status, the Love, in exchange, that proceeding from God, brings
the parties to some level of equality in order to reach out to one another in giving and receiving,
in all its plenitude. In this we know that we remain in Him and that He remains in us, because He
has given us His Spirit [cf. 1 Jn 4:13]. The love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the
Holy Spirit Who has been given to us [cf. Rm 5:5]. In this way, all graces return with interest to
the source of their Origin, from whence they flowed out in the mutual exchange of love. The Spirit
impresses within the believer, by means of the Indwelling of the Most Blessed Trinity, that divine
likeness in Whose image we have been formed.
|c| However, the formal motive in this case,
is based always in the divine initiative which previously communicates a share in God’s own
nature, coupled with the receptivity in the human heart, experiencing this enormous love for itself.
In this sense, the Divine Indwelling is a “real” presence, to which the fervent believer responds
“psychologically”, in prayer, in the keeping of the commandments, in commitment to the
Apostolic Mission. The human response, then, is translated in the generous handing over of
oneself which incorporates all one’s freedom in the service of the One Who loves us. The ‘core’ of
love is to respond in a ’disinterested’ manner, that is, unselfishly, in this plan of equality, being
raised up from the Image and Likeness of God at creation, to the communication of the New
Creation, in receiving the from of Christ. And thus, to hold oneself back, even just a little from this
divine Totality, would be equivalent to evaluating that human attachment to other than God even
more than the love of mutual communion, or would alienate us somewhat from God. On the
7 cf. CS, IV, pp. 170-172