I found Ignatius while I was in Yogyakarta this summer.
The first time was on a sticker affixed to a student’s mug. The student alongside other fellow students was generously giving of his time to make special coffee for the JESEDU-Jogja2024 participants. I told him that half a world away, students at my school also shared their love for making coffee with my colleagues in the cafeteria one morning each week. I found Ignatius’s image on the sticker, but I found his legacy present even more tangibly in the student holding the mug.
The second time was in this statue I somehow failed to see until our last day at de Britto. As I came across it, I was struck by how I have never failed to find a statue of Ignatius at any Jesuit school I have visited. But I was also struck by something beside the statue – a plaque of dedication to a former student. I never got a chance to ask the story of that particular student, but I recognized in the plaque the universality of loss – something I’ve never failed to find at any Jesuit school I’ve visited either. I found Ignatius’ likeness in the statue, but I found his legacy of companionship even more tangibly in the plaque of remembrance beside it.
I am so grateful to Ignatius for what he started and even more grateful to all those who have walked in his footsteps to keep bringing people closer to Christ and to keep building up the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
Let us never stop moving forward!
Happy Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola!
