Watching Pope Francis and Ignacio de Loyola

Pope Francis’ participation in this year’s World Youth Day was titled “Apostolic Journey to Poland.” A main event was his visit to the concentration camp which had been converted into a museum at Auswitz. Here he remained silent all the way. You could only guess what he was about with this silence. Most probably, his silence was in reverence for the man who offered his life in exchange for the life of a family man. And he sat on his chair in silence for quite a while. Was he drawing strength and courage from the spirit of this great man of valor for the many, many challenges that he has been confronting? The silence may have been because of the deep sorrow he felt in this place of the slaughter of innocent Jews, all killed merely for being Jews. Of course, much of the silence must have been a prayer. He was very serene in all these; he had come upon a great stillness.

On the other hand, in his homily at the last Mass, he was very vocal about God being near and wanting very much to reach out to the young people. With the gospel reading on Zacchaeus, he discussed the barriers that come between the young and closeness with God. He said what stops us in doing certain things especially coming close to God is a sense of smallness. Many times, we do not realize our real worth and identity, our divineness as children intensely loved by God. Another big obstacle is “the paralysis of shame.” What made Zacchaeus hesitant was his sense of guilt over his corrupt past. The third barrier was the murmurs from the crowd. But the Lord pursues us as Jesus did with Zacchaeus. The Holy Father called on the youth to refrain from brooding, to reject negativism for it is like a virus – very dangeriously weakening. In this Mass, the Pope encountered a Syrian female who suffered so much because of the ongoing war that she asked, like that young girl in the Philippines, “Is there a God?”

The Holy Father urged us to give time to listening and talking with the youth. He pointed out that it is the lack of these conversations that is leading them astray, leading them to coping mechanisms such as drugs. That really struck me because I had been providing a young person with a weekly allowance and when he asked for an increase in this allowance, I was advised to have a chat with him. Instead of having a pause in my activities, I asked another person to do this for me. Then he asked for money because his teacher wanted him to buy a microscope, I was simply shocked and angry, instead of being sensitive enough to realize that these fund requests may be signs of some addiction. I realized only when he broke down and had to be admitted to a drug rehabilitation center. After the period of rehabilitation, he still had to undergo treatment for schizophrenia. So now I keep reminding myself to always be ready to patiently pause from “adult duties” to give a listening ear and words of warmth to the children. At the same time, I have been praying that the battle of our country against drugs will succeed.

Just as in Poland the Holy Father in warm gestures, in his very words, even through his silence communicated to the young people, the film, Ignacio de Loyola also addresses the young of today. The struggles in the journey of life, in the search for meaning is actually long and difficult, and we need to accept this from the very beginning. For if we don’t, we will end up resorting to all forms of escape. It is Ignacio’s struggles with his family, his Church, himself and his God that the film dramatically impresses on us.

A favorite part of the film is his answer to the question regarding how we should approach life and he answered, “Indifference.” This I understood to be detachment because he continued by saying that with of our faith in God’s love, nothing should disturb us.

Of course, I seriously observed his relationship with women. To the woman eager to provide him pleasure, he listened and provided the encouragement for heartfelt dreams. To the Princess Catalina, he gave a promise of devoted protection. To that precious noble lady who had the wisdom to recognize the nobility of his soul, he responded by joining her efforts at providing healing through soothing service.

The film Ignacio de Loyola offers the young an alternative lifestyle. What a beautiful way to offer such an invitation!