The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything - James Martin [87]
After experiencing some success, I began to notice within myself a creeping sense of entitlement. Why do I need to sign up to celebrate Mass in our community? I’m busy! Why should I have to empty the house dishwasher? I have important things to do!
Though I never acted on these feelings, I was saddened to discover them within me, especially after knowing the Exercises. My spiritual director smiled and said, “Riches to honors to pride!” Even though I’ve been a Jesuit for over twenty years, I’m still subject to the same temptations that everyone else is.
It was a potent reminder not only of my own humanity, and the need to be vigilant, but also of Ignatius’s keen insights into the love of “riches” of all kinds, as well as into the “good spirit,” the “enemy,” and plain old human nature.
A Major Concern
Ignatius knew that ecclesial honors could lead Jesuits to become proud. An appointment as bishop or cardinal brought great riches and honors to the person and to his family, and so one was eagerly sought, particularly in Ignatius’s day. This is one reason that there are so many restrictions in the Constitutions on Jesuits’ becoming bishops and cardinals. Here is an amusing anecdote about an early Jesuit, Francis Borgia (yes, of that Borgia family) and the efforts, in 1552, to make him a cardinal. It is from the journals of Juan de Polanco, an early Jesuit, and uses the term “Ours” to refer to Jesuits. The last line is my favorite.
Ours were freed from a major concern . . . for a rumor had made its way throughout the city [Valencia, Spain] regarding Father Francis Borgia and the cardinalatial dignity; the word was that he had been forced to accept it under pain of mortal sin. But when they received letters from Rome informing them that Father Ignatius had forestalled this business, their concern was changed to consolation. This was the reaction of Ours everywhere, though some of the blood relatives of Father Francis received the news with different emotions.
BRING ON POVERTY?
The most popular joke about Jesuit poverty is this: A first-year novice is visiting a large Jesuit community during a big celebration of the feast day of St. Ignatius Loyola, on July 31, usually an occasion for grand dinners. The novice spies the immense dining room, the tastefully appointed tables, the flower vases, and the filet mignon ready on the table and announces, “If this is poverty, bring on chastity!”
No one laughs harder at that joke than Jesuits. Jesuit poverty is meant to be a true poverty that helps us to identify with the “poor Christ.” It’s also meant to be “apostolic,” something that frees us for work. The early Jesuits were diligent in their following of poverty, preferring the worst lodgings, the worst food, and the worst dress in order to more closely followJesus.
But contemporary Jesuit living arrangements can sometimes be quite comfortable, at least in the United States. In Jesuit communities in some colleges and high schools, for example, as many as fifty Jesuits might live under the same roof. This means certain practical arrangements are unavoidable: large living rooms and dining rooms (to accommodate so many men), a cook and a kitchen staff (especially in houses with elderly Jesuits), several washing machines (try juggling one washing machine among fifty men), and sufficient amounts of food.
To the outside eye this institutional life can look lavish. Some Jesuits ruefully call these “full-service” communities. To the inside eye as well. Every Jesuit community tries to live simply, but in the midst of plenty, sometimes it’s hard to feel that you’re doing so. In other words, Jesuits are often in the same boat as everyone else when it comes to a simple lifestyle: they must strive to live simply—some-times in a culture of plenty.
“You take a vow of poverty,” said an unemployed friend. “But I live it!” It’s a fair critique. With everything owned in common, our most basic needs