Ignatius: “Friends in the Lord: The Tension between Companionship and Mission”, Part 2

There is a natural tendency to protect oneself from the pain of separation from a loved one, and so the thought of having to lose friends when sent on mission can result in superficial friendships that avoid any real intimacy and love. Or of course, the opposite can also be the case – mission is foregone for the sake of friendship.

I think I gave myself pretty well to the friends I’ve had, and haven’t allowed myself to hold back because of the thought of moving on again. But I’m a little rankled, because I’m such a poor correspondent. And my friends aren’t that great at correspondence either, so the friendships don’t continue over any physical distance. This fact would not please Ignatius. He insisted on ‘maintaining union of hearts through regular correspondence’, and because of that, the Jesuits left an enormous literary body of work in their wake.

Tags: ignatius, contemplative, prayer, spiritual disciplines, friendship, mission