Reflection for Thursday, November 14, 2013: Memorial of St. Joseph Pignatelli, S.J. (Jesuit Supplement).
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Authors
Rodriguez, Luis, S.J.
Issue Date
2013-11-14
Type
Essay
Language
en_US
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Abstract
If the name Jos+ Pignatelli does not ring a bell with you, you are not alone. Strangely though it may sound, some present day Jesuits may not be able to tell you much (or anything) about the saint we venerate today. Born in Zaragoza, Spain, of a noble family in 1737, he entered the Society of Jesus at age 16. On April 3, 1767, king Carlos III of Spain expelled the Jesuits from all his dominions "for reasons I keep in my royal chest" and he had them all shipped to Italy. Under strong pressure from Spain, Portugal and France pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus in 1773. The Society continued to exist legally in Russia, because Tsarina Catherine refused to promulgate the decree of suppression. During a piecemeal process of restoration Jos+ was named Provincial of the Jesuits in the duchy of Parma. He died on November 11, 1811, almost three years before pope Pius VII restored the Society of Jesus universally. Jos+ Pignatelli was canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954.||Today's gospel reading portrays ominously the situation experienced by the Jesuits during the regional expulsions and their almost universal suppression. The warning given by Jesus -I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves- turned out to be a pertinent one at that time. It is also sadly pertinent today in more than one place of our world, even where there is no open physical attack on Christians.|Be therefore shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. Jesus invites us to a simplicity that is not naive, one that does not exclude a shrewd appraisal of reality, yet one that is not calculating or manipulative. Shrewdness belongs in the mind, simplicity belongs in the heart. When we are single-hearted (one of the be-attitudes), we do not use our head or power to manipulate others. Indeed we will not rely on our cleverness, even when called to give witness to our belief: ...do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say... If we live single-heartedly, if our lives are led and inspired by the Spirit of the Father, then we will speak from the fullness of our heart, not from the cleverness of our head, even as we use our minds (our "shrewdness) to articulate our witness in a non-naive form. What is important is to have our hearts filled with God's Spirit, so that, when we are "tapped", the right witness flows out.
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Publisher
University Ministry, Creighton University.
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These reflections may not be sold or used commercially without permission. Personal or parish use is permitted.