Pope’s Audience: Intelligence Helps Us Recognize God in Unexpected Events

Charlotte Smedes – Vatican

Pope Francis continued his series of catechisms on the subject of discernment during his general meeting on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The Holy Father Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the crucial episode in the saint’s life recalled when he was recovering at home after his leg was injured in battle. To ward off boredom, Saint Ignatius asked for something to read and unfortunately there were only books on the lives of the saints in the house.

In the course of reading, Saint Ignatius begins to discover another world that he has captured and seems to rival the life of the knights. He was fascinated by Saints Francis and Dominic and a desire arose to imitate them.

Saint Ignatius noticed the different thoughts and feelings. The saint states in his autobiography that when he thought about worldly matters, he felt great happiness, but then felt dry and sad. When he thought instead of going barefoot to Jerusalem and doing penance, he found pleasure not only in the thought of it, but also afterward.

Time and ultimate goal of ideas

Pope Francis noted that there are two obvious aspects to Saint Ignatius’ experience. First, the ideas of the world are initially attractive but lose their luster and leave one empty and unsatisfied.

“The thoughts of God, on the contrary, at first provoke a certain resistance, but when they are welcomed, they give an unknown peace that will last through time.”

The Pope added that the second aspect is the ultimate goal of thought. There is a development in discrimination, and we understand what is good for us not in a general abstract way, but in relation to our life journey.

St. Ignatius gives the rules of distinction an important hypothesis: “In people who pass from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is usually used to suggest to them apparent pleasures, causing them to imagine sensual pleasures and pleasures that cause them to fast and grow. In their vices and sins. With these people, the good spirit is used The opposite way, it shames and bites their conscience through the process of reason.”

“There is a history that precedes the virtuous, a history indispensable for knowledge, because the distinction is not some kind of revelation or fatalism, like casting a lot on two possibilities.”

The big questions arise as we travel a little on the road of life, and we must return to that journey to understand what we are looking for.

For Saint Ignatius, who did not think of God when he found himself wounded after a battle, his first experience with God was to listen to his heart as he signaled repentance—that things that were at first sight attractive disappointed him, while in others, they were less impressive. I found lasting peace.

God works in unplanned events

Another aspect of discrimination, Pope Francis said, is the “clear chance of life events”.

During Saint Ignatius’ convalescence, there were no chivalric books, only books on the lives of the saints – an incident that represents a possible turning point – and Ignatius did not realize this until some time later, when he devoted his full attention to them.

“God works through unexpected events, even accidents,” the pope stressed, referring to Matthew’s gospel of a man who plows his field and finds buried treasure. Then the man sees it as an unexpected gain in his life and acts accordingly, selling everything and buying the field.

In conclusion, Pope Francis noted that the distinction is to “help to recognize the signs by which the Lord makes himself known in unexpected, even unpleasant situations, as the leg injury of Saint Ignatius, where a life-changing confrontation can arise from them forever.”