Ignatian Indifference

In this post, we recommend an article to all those who will be participating in apostolic planning in the fall. As Robert Doud points out in in the first sentence of his article, Ignatian Indifference and Today’s Spirituality, “we do not usually think of indifference as a good thing.“ It is hard to imagine a better way to begin a reflection on Ignatian indifference! Doud then takes the reader on a journey that begins with our commonsense view of indifference and proceeds from there toward a full understanding of Ignatian indifference. This is the spiritual quality of those persons who seek to know the will of God and of those who seek to do the will of God. In our regional gatherings and our Jesuit community meetings in the fall, the gift of Ignatian indifference will help us to discover anew the call of Christ and discover anew the will of God for the USA East Province. We are being asked to leave aside our own apostolic preferences and embrace the Society’s Universal Apostolic Preferences. Only the grace of Ignatian indifference can enable us to make this exchange. Is it any wonder that we are taking time to pray and reflect so that all of us can be open to promptings of the Holy Spirit. This is definitely worth a read both for the novice in Ignatian spirituality as well as for the veterans among us.