Ignatian Spirituality and Anglican Ethos: a ‘Family Resemblance’
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ONE IN CHRIST CONTENTS VOLUME 49 (2015) NUMBER 1 ARTICLES Ignatian Spirituality and Anglican Ethos: a ‘family resemblance’. Paolo Gamberini SJ 2 Maria Hodegetria: She Who Shows the Way. Martin Browne OSB 22 Night Prayer. John F. Deane 39 The Legacy of Ecumenism in the Armenian Orthodox Church. Vrej Nerses Nersessian 41 An Ordinariate Contribution to Ecumenism. Mark Langham 60 Rowan Williams and the Possibility of Dialogue: Part 2. Philip Ind 74 The Seal of the Spirit and Christian Initiation: a source of ecumenical embarrassment? Eric Bodson 94 No Turning Back: The Testament of Margaret O’Gara (1947-2012). Catherine E. Clifford 114 REPORTS Spiritual Guidance on Mount Athos. Stefan Reynolds 124 General Assembly of the World Student Christian Federation, Bogota, Colombia, 2015. W. Salters Sterling 129 A New Monastic Reality. Stuart Burns OSB 136 DOCUMENT Response to the 2015 Synod on the Family from the Interchurch Families International Network 142 REVIEWS 161 1 ONE IN CHRIST VOL.49 NO.1 EDITORIAL Our review of a new on-line journal (Schwanda, ‘Journal for the History of Reformed Pietism’) reflects that ‘while there was indeed doctrinal discontinuity [in the Reformation period] between the Protestants and Roman Catholics there were also some forms of devotional continuity between these divergent traditions’; the particular example is the ‘Protestant retrieval and adaption’ of the Jesuit Herman Hugo’s emblem book. Our opening article traces ‘the resemblances between Ignatian Spirituality and an Anglican ethos, grounded on their common focus on a theology of Incarnation’. So ‘we are reminded that God’s loving Spirit is present far beyond one single spirituality or one denomination’ (Gamberini). Incarnation is further- more the raison d’être of the icons of the Eastern Churches: ‘the icon transmits visually the realisation of the patristic formula: “God became Man so that man should become god”‘ (Browne quoting Ouspensky). Hence our reflection on the icon of Mary Hodegetria, complemented by John F. Deane’s meditation on Rembrandt’s Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt. This journal’s historic concern for the gifts of the Eastern Churches is further exemplified by an account of the Armenian Orthodox Church’s ecumenical legacy (Nersessian). This is especially appropriate in the year that saw Pope Francis declare St Gregory of Narek a doctor of the universal church. St Gregory was a tenth century Armenian monk: his book of prayers (‘Book of Lamentations’) is a definitive work of Armenian religious thought and spirituality, and a gift awaiting further reception by Western Christians. Similarly, we rejoice at the canonization in May of four women, including Sister Mariam Baourdy: St Mary of Jesus Crucified. An account of this young Palestinian Carmelite’s charismatic life, now recognised as an in-spiration for the universal church, may be found in an earlier issue of this journal.1 1 Avril M. Makhlouf, ‘Three Christian Women of the Arab Orient: Rafqa, Mariam, Hindiyya’, One in Christ, 44/2 (2010): 3-28. 2 IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY AND ANGLICAN ETHOS: A ‘FAMILY RESEMBLANCE’ Paolo Gamberini SJ* Ignatian Spirituality has inspired through the centuries many individuals and religious communities on their way to conversion and apostolic mission within the Catholic Church and beyond her visible boundaries. The scope of this article is to show the resemblances between Ignatian Spirituality and an Anglican ethos, grounded on their common focus on a theology of Incarnation. The shared attention to this central truth of Christian faith activates some of the traits which an Anglican ethos and Ignatian Spirituality have in common: comprehensiveness and probabilism, indifference and an apophatic sense of mystery. The ecumenical movement enhanced by the Second Vatican Council has brought churches and Christian traditions to a closer dialogue. The basic assumption is that we all share as Christians a common spirituality, though expressed in a variety of ways. Gifts from one tradition have been and are still given and shared by other Christian traditions. Speaking of Ignatian Spirituality and Anglicanism, in particular, we may realize how vivid and concrete receptive ecumenism is alive and flourishing between these two major traditions. ‘Receptive Ecumenism is not simply a matter of structural adjustments or doctrinal refinement but is an encounter of people—a “conversation” between two horizons that inevitably changes both. The very process of engagement and conversation is revelatory in that we come to * Paolo Gamberini is an Italian Jesuit priest, born 1960 in Ravenna. He is Associate professor at the University of San Francisco. His major interests are in systematic theology, ecumenical theology and interreligious dialogue. He has been involved since 1988 in the ecumenical dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He attended the past three Lambeth Conferences (1988, 1998 and 2008) as a journalist for La Civiltà Cattolica. 3 ONE IN CHRIST VOL.49 NO.1 realize that God speaks not simply in my tradition but in the very conversation and interaction that we share.’1 One way to develop conversation among Christian denominations is through spiritual acquaintance: to know each other better in order to understand how much we share and participate in the same Christian heritage. By doing this churches may discover that they reflect the same image of the incarnate God. In three steps I will highlight how we may find consonances, similarities and common traits between Ignatian Spirituality and Anglicanism. Firstly I will highlight the main traits of Ignatius’ way of proceeding; in the second part I will point to the leading characteristics of an Anglican ethos; and in the third part I will show how these two traditions have similarities and consonances, because of their common approach to Christian faith through the lens of the mystery of Incarnation. From this common interest originate those distinctive traits that both traditions share: comprehensiveness, indifference, probabilism and an apophatic sense of mystery. Therefore I argue that both traditions have ‘family resemblances,’ according to the terminology of Ludwig Wittgenstein. What is Ignatian Spirituality? Ignatian Spirituality is rooted in the experiences of Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, and in his book of the Exercises. ‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God.’2 This line from a poem by the Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins captures a central theme of Ignatian Spirituality: the awareness that God is at work everywhere. Ignatian Spirituality places great emphasis on discerning God’s presence in the everyday activities of ordinary life: work, relationships, culture, the arts, intellectual life and creation itself. This kind of spirituality develops a spiritual ‘radar,’ since it enables us to find God in all things and attunes us to the presence of the Holy everywhere. It sees God as an active God, always at work, inviting us to an ever-deeper exploration. Its focus on God at work here and now 1 Philip Sheldrake, ‘Becoming Catholic Persons and Learning to Be a Catholic People,’ in P. D. Murray, ed., Receptive Ecumenism and the Call to Catholic Learning: Exploring a Way for Contemporary Ecumenism (London: Oxford University, 2010), 55. 2 Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Poetical Works of Gerard Manley Hopkins (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), 139. GAMBERINI Ignatian Spirituality & Anglican Ethos 4 fosters an active attentiveness to the ineffable and ever greater presence of God (Deus semper maior) in reality and history. ‘The basic element of Ignatian Spirituality is its incarnational character [...] This prompts us to reflect on the relevance and importance of the Incarnation in Ignatian Spirituality as a means of living an authentic and incarnated faith in the world today.’1 Ignatian Spirituality is firmly based on the concrete incarnation of human history. Ignatius’ conviction was that the Creator can act directly on the loved creature in the most intimate way dealing with his/her interior motions (consolation and desolation).2 The subject with his passions, personal characteristics and freedom is the key in order to initiate an experience with God. Ignatian Spirituality focuses more on the heart than the intellect. The use of imagination in prayer, discernment and interpretation of feelings, cultivation of fundamental desires, and generous service, are the major features of the Spiritual Exercises. Ignatian Spirituality focuses more on the heart than the intellect and leads to a prompt responsiveness to God which is the fruit of discernment and decision making. It emphasizes interior freedom and indifference. Usually, the word ‘indifference’ has two meanings: a negative one suggesting not caring for, not being interested in something. It has also a neutral one: having no inclination either for or against something. Ignatius uses the word indifference (indifferencia) in the neutral sense; namely, we have to bring ourselves as far as possible to the point of not having an inclination either for or against any created thing. Ignatian understanding of ‘indifference’ overlaps with ‘equanimity.’ This interior disposition is essential to understand Ignatian mysticism. Indifference is not an end in itself, but it leads to choosing what is better in the world and in reality. It means recognizing that there is no disjunction between God and the world: God is fully present in the world and it is up to us to make sure that the world is fully in God. We announce the incarnation of God by incarnating ourselves in the lives of other people, through our presence, service, listening and sharing. We announce the incarnation by incarnating ourselves in society, culture, politics, economics, in 1 Emmanuel da Silva e Araujo, ‘Ignatian Spirituality as a Spirituality of Incarnation,’ in The Way, 47 (2008): 67-80, at 67. 2 da Silva e Araujo, ‘Ignatian Spirituality,’ 73. 5 ONE IN CHRIST VOL.49 NO.1 order to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 6:13–16).1 Ignatian mysticism leads a person to be enfleshed in the world and in reality.