JULY 31, 2026 FATHER BERNARD CARROLL
In this homily, I want to share a story with you. For 67 years, I have been a Jesuit, a member of the Socety of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
Like my two younger brothers, I attended Loyola Highschool in Montreal. In those days it was common for highschool graduates to decide what career they wanted to pursue in life. I was so impressed with the dedication, open-mindededness and enthusiasm of my Jesuit teachers, that I wanted to be like them. So, after much prayer, spiritual direction and consideration of other alternatives, I applied to be a Jesuit.
Since then, I have often wondered, how come I became a Jesuit, but my brothers did not? Then, one day about 15 years ago, while I was director of the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Midland, Ontario, I happened to be alone for supper, so I decided to turn on the TV while I ate. What appeared on the screen was Pope Francis celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s square. During his homily, on the Sacrament of Baptism, he paused, and asked the crowd assembled in the square, how many of them celebrated their baptism each year. Very few people responded. Then he asked how many celebrated their birthday; the whole crowd cheered enthusiatically. The Pope then urged everyone to celebrate their baptism each year, beause it was their birth as children of God, and as followers of Christ.
So with that urging, I went looking for my baptismal certificate. I had seen it many times before, but I had not focussed on the date. I now saw, with surprise and awe, that I was baptized on July 31st, the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, a few days after I was born.
In the mystery and gift of God’s grace, and the intercession of saints, plus the prayers of others, the Holy Spirit is at work in every person, whether they are conscious of it or not.
I recall, in my first experience of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius when I was a novice, I was captivated by what he himself experienced, when he considered what he had passionately desired to do in his life before his conversion, namely to serve the King of Spain and win the affection of noble lady.
But when his leg was shattered by a cannon ball while defending the citadel in Pamplona and after surgery, was brought home to recover in the Loyola Castle, he wanted to read chivalry and romance novels to pass the time. However, the only books available were the Life of Christ and Lives of the Saints. These stories trasformed his desire, from serving his earthly monarch to serving Christ, the eternal King. Now, as with St. Paul, he wanted to “do everything for the Glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). And as Jesus cautioned those traveling with him, so Ignatius took to heart his words: “none of you can beome my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions” (Lk 14:33)
From then on, his conversion and commitment gradually deepened by trial and error. He left home and spent 9 months praying, fasting and doing penance in a cave in Manresa, Spain. This experience was the foundation for what later became his Spiritual Exercises. There he understood how the Holy Spirit and other spirits moved in him.
Never having had any formal education other than how to live and behave in the royal court, he realized that if his calling was to serve and follow the example of Christ, he needed to be schooled in the fundamentals of grammar and rhetoric by first learning Latin and then by studying philosophy and theology, before he would be permitted by church authorities to teach and offer the Spiritual Exercises to others.
While studying at the University of Paris, he became a friend of Francis Xavier and other students, with whom he shared the Spiritual Exercises. These young men were so tranformed through that experience, that they chose to remain companions with Ignatius in leading others to know and experience the never-ending love of God and to finding God’s presence in all things. With Ignatius, they became the founders of the Society of Jesus.
Down through the 4½ centuries since that time, the ignatian Spiritual Exercises and his method of discernment have changed the lives of countless men and women, saints and sinners, clergy and laity in every part of this world. And so it is that the Church (the people of God), gives thanks for and prays through the intercession of St. Ignatius of Loyola this day.
