It’s a funny thing to say, but let’s all be thankful for that cannonball.
Hi, my name is Brian Strassburger, and I’m with The Jesuit Post.
Growing up in the courts of Spain, St. Ignatius of Loyola underwent a profound conversion after he was, of all things, struck by a cannonball in battle. Saying goodbye to courtly life, Ignatius chose a different path, eventually founding the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits.
The center of Ignatius’s spirituality is the Spiritual Exercises, a retreat designed to help people grow in their personal relationship with God. Ignatius guides retreatants to reflect on their own sinfulness, but in light of God’s infinite love and mercy. We are sinners, loved by God.
And Ignatius taught us how to respond to God’s generous self-gift. Gratitude. As we contemplate all the ways that God is at work in our lives, we are moved to gratitude.
Let’s give thanks to God. Let’s give thanks to St. Ignatius. And let’s give thanks to that cannonball. God was even able to work through that.
So, St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.