By Dan Burke, Catholic Exchange, Feb. 25. 2022
Dan Burke is the founder and President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, which offers graduate and personal enrichment studies in spiritual theology to priests, deacons, religious, and laity in 72 countries and prepares men for seminary in 14 dioceses. …
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. — Romans 15:13
St. Ignatius of Loyola was a bad man before his conversion. It is said of him that he probably had broken every commandment by the time a cannonball ripped through his leg in a battle he initiated in his native Spain.
During his convalescence, the Lord opened his eyes to the reality of the spiritual battle around and within him. His sister-in-law gave him books about the saints, and he had no better way to pass the time than to read and think. Bedridden during his long recovery, he discovered that when he would fantasize about worldly conquests and adventures, he would begin to feel desolate. …