Living every moment joyfully

Another way of looking at Annotation 23

By Errol Fernandes, SJ

Some scholars of Ignatian spirituality believe that the content of Annotation 23 -which is the last Annotation in the Spiritual Exercise of St. Ignatius – titled “The Principle and Foundation”, contains enough material for reflection and meditation for the whole retreat. They think that it contains almost all the points made in the other parts of the Spiritual Exercises. I agree with this view.

On deeper reflection on the content of Annotation 23, I have found that all of it is contained in the catechism we learn during our initiation into Christianity. As a matter of fact, this catechism could also be the imitation to any other faith tradition. In this catechism, there are two questions and responses as follows:

1. Who made you? God made me.

2. Why did God make me? To love God, to serve God and to be happy with God forever.

In the book of Genesis, we read about the creation of the heavens and the earth and of life on the earth. We are also told that humans are created in the “image and likeness of God” (Gen 1:26-28). This means that as humans we were created for eternity. It is in this context that we can understand what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience”. There was to be no limit or end to life. Sin – symbolised by selfishness – was the reason why life ended. Because of sin, humans would now have an end.

Thus, to be made means that each of us has come at a moment in time and will have to go at a moment in time. The date of birth on a variety of documents that we possess indicated the date, month and year when we were born and so came into this world. Nobody knows when we will be called back. Therefore this moment is all that I have and all that is given to me. Since I do not know when our lives will end, I will live every moment of every day as it were my last moment. I will have no regrets about the past, but I will learn from it. I have no obsession about the future, although I will plan for it.

The Jesuit saint John Berchmans’s motto was: “Age quod agis.” It roughly means “Do what you are doing.” It can be paraphrased as “live in the present moment.” If we live this present moment as we ought to, we will be able to look back at the “past” with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. It will also mean that the “future” will naturally have been planned. In the conclusion to the parable of the shrewd steward (Lk 16:1-7), Jesus makes exactly this point. The steward is shrewd because he acts in the present. In this, he prepares for his “future”, but by acting in the Now. This leads Jesus to state the following in conclusion, “For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own than are the children of light” (Lk 16:8). It is an invitation and exhortation to live in the now.

It is a good practice to do some ‘spring-cleaning’ once every few months and give away that which we do not need to others who might need them. This will be a freeing experience and also lead to a sense of detachment.

Since we do not know when our life on earth will come to an end, we must be circumspect in our accumulation of things. The way to do this is to not convert our wants into our needs. Even a cursory reflection will reveal that we need very little to live fully and be happy. We often convert our wants/cravings/longings (James 4:1-3) into our needs. We then get obsessed with acquiring those “wants” and so stop living in the now.

It is a good practice to do some ‘spring-cleaning’ once every few months and give away that which we do not need to others who might need them. This will be a freeing experience and also lead to a sense of detachment.

To be “made” means that I cannot be in two places at the same time. It also means that I cannot be at two times in the same place. The present moment is never intolerable. What is intolerable is to have our body in a particular place and our minds in another.

We were created for a triple purpose. To love God means to glory in my selfhood. It means to thank God for who I am. It means that I will never compare myself with anyone. I do not need to be better than anyone. I do not need to feel lesser than anyone. I am who I am. In the parable of the  workers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) where the owner of the vineyard pays first those who were hired last, the reason for the consternation on the part of those who were hired first was because they compared themselves to others. To be sure, the owner was not being unfair because he paid everyone what he had promised them. However, when those who were hired first witnessed that those who worked only one hour were being paid the amount that the owner had agreed to pay them, they assumed they would be paid more. They did do, because they compared themselves with others and because of their cravings, they desired for more.

If we stop comparing ourselves with others and realize the glory that is within us, we will love ourselves, others and God.

Service implies work, surely, but it goes beyond the action to the attitude we take to our “work”. The German mystic Meister Eckhart summarised this well when he said “You should bother less about what you ought to do and think more about what you ought to be. Because if your being were good, your works would shine forth brightly”. Thus, the focus ought to be our being/attitude/heart/inner being more than the action.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus makes a telling point in his instructions on how service must be rendered. “So, you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Lk 17:10). The meaning of this is that we must have no expectations of any kind of reward or congratulations for the service that we do. We must consider the privilege of rendering the service as reward in and of itself. This is reiterated when Jesus sends his disciples on Mission and exhorts them thus, “You received without paying, give without pay”. (Mt 10:8)

I am meant to be happy at all times and in every place. In the Gospel of Mark, 10:23, Jesus says to his disciples, after the rich man had rejected his offer to give his possessions away, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God!” He repeats this in 10:24, because his disciples are amazed that he could say such a thing. The point that Jesus is making in these verses is that possessions take hold of us in such a manner that we are not able to realize their temporary nature. The verses may be translated thus, “How hard it will be for those whom riches have to enter the Kingdom of God!” In other words, he is referring to those who are possessed by their riches, those who are controlled by their riches, those whom their riches will not allow to be free.

We could summarise the “Principle and Foundation” and the early catechism as follows: To be created/made means that because we do not know when the Lord will call us, we live this moment as if it was our last.

To love God means to thank God for the gift of who I am and to glory in my selfhood.

To serve God means to do what I do and see the reward of my action in the action itself.

To be happy with God means that I need nothing from without to make me happy. I have ALL that I need within myself.

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