I am always appreciative of the abiding sense of God’s playfulness, of the humor of God, even on this day when we celebrate the memory of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. As a people of faith, we can see how we have moved from and grown into our understanding of God from the God described in the Hebrew Scriptures to the God Jesus describes in the Christian Testament. We have come to know that our God has never been a God of wrath, but a God that Jesus teaches, who has always been a God of love, of primordial grace and mercy, and a God of every goodness.
I say this, because in my twilight years, I have come to embrace that God is, well, at least on my own spiritual journey, a God of loving, intimate care, whose grace and never-ending love, plays out in a myriad of ways, and one of those ways is in a loving humor. I say this because, as a male who is follicly challenged, I imagine this gracious God looking down on me with a wry smile as he showers love on me, as he showers love on all of us, saying ‘yup’ to me, ‘old baldy’, that, ‘Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. [SO] Do not be afraid’ (Luke 12:1-7). God always communicates to each one of us, where we are, wherever that may be, with a comforting ‘Hey, I got you!’
We remember today Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr, whose life journey, a journey of conversion when the Church was still young, and his seven letters he wrote concerning God’s grace and mercy. In these letters, he has this urgent appeal for the faithful he was writing to, but also for us alive today, as we pray over his letters to always remain steadfast in faith because the grace of God for us, God’s creation, is limitless. How did Saint Ignatius of Antioch remain steadfast? Because as he faced his martyrdom, the world presented hate, but he, from the core of his being, believed in God’s gracious and merciful love. God’s grace, mercy, and forgiving, healing love is there for us ALWAYS AND FOREVER.
This enduring and loving grace from God, this grace that flows as part and parcel of God’s essence, God’s ‘righteousness’ is the main message from today’s Letter to the Romans. For in that letter we discover that, as David himself says, God blesses the person, graces the person with God’s love (God’s righteousness) always apart from any of our works. We are blessed, therefore, because God loves us first. And that love is a love that can never be earned but is a divine love freely given. And so loved, we have the courage to be, and graced by God with the courage then to love God, self, and neighbor.
Jesus, in our Gospel passage from Luke for the day, encourages his disciples, and the people of God gathered to listen (us), about this limitless living grace of God, as well. In the symbolism of sparrows in challenging life circumstances, or hairs on ones’ head being counted, we are called to never, ever, EVER fear, nor forget that God’s grace, displayed in God’s never-ending love, is a love that pours out to me, and to you with the Spirit of graciousness. In that divine grace and love, we find our worth glorified. And that, my friends, is indeed a great, awesome, and beautiful truth – and for this we give thanks!
Rev. Kent Beausoleil, SJ
Rev. Beausoleil, SJ, PhD, has lived in the Creighton Jesuit Community since 2020. Currently he ministers as the Market Vice President for Mission Integration (NE/IA) for CommonSpirit/CHI Health while continuing his ministry as a mission leader at five local area hospitals: Immanuel Medical Center, and Lasting Hope in Omaha, and Mercy Corning, Mercy Council Bluffs, and Missouri Valley in Iowa. Joining the Jesuits in 1997 and ordained in 2007 his Jesuit formation focused on three types of ministries: healthcare, spiritual direction and pastoral counseling, and higher education focusing on young adult spiritual development.
Rev. Kent A. Beausoleil, SJ has a PhD in Student Affairs from Miami University in Oxford, OH. He also possesses master’s degrees in public administration, philosophy, divinity and education. He loves to walk and be out in nature, cross-stitch and bake.
The ability to reflect on other contributors’ reflections as well as being able to provide a personal monthly spiritual reflection has become an important and integral part of my daily prayer.
