11 June 2022
Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
Ignatian spirituality invites a generous response from its practitioners. Where possible, it invites them to withdraw from routine affairs for 30 days of seclusion. It proposes many hours of meditation, which may become wearying, but which are signs of a generous heart.
It is natural, when you are with the ones you love, for your heart to become generous. You give them your time and your attention, not because you are using them for your own projects, but because they themselves are worth your time and attention. In fact, you might even inconvenience yourself for their sake, taking on additional burdens and obligations.
The early Christians, being so filled with the Holy Spirit, gave themselves generously to prayer and fasting. They did not use prayer and fasting as mere means by which succeed in other projects. One time, while they were worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2). As soon as that happened, the early Christians did not leap up and immediately ordain Barnabas and Saul and send them off. No. First they finished their fasting and prayer and then they ordained Saul and Barnabas. Their delay was not due to any personal hesitation or lack of docility to the Holy Spirit. It was due simply to their love of God. They loved God and were generous in spending time with him and paying attention to him for his own sake. They did not make him their tool for Church-building.