The thematic orientation of the Jesuit Order is divided into four so-called preferences. What exactly this means and which contents these are, we present here in the course of the year preference for preference. It shall be shown what the preferences generally mean and how the order fills them with life. The first one concerns mainly the spirituality of the Order and how the Ignatian spirituality helps people to find God. When a young man decides to become a Jesuit, he initially enters the novitiate for two years. There he learns what it means to be Jesuit and above all he gets to know the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Thomas Hollweck SJ explains how to teach young men spiritually "to be Jesuit". He is the novice master at the Nuremberg Noviciate.
The way to the noviciate
When someone knocks at the door of the novitiate and comes in, possibly to become a Jesuit, I tell him somewhat pointedly: "I do not want you to become a Jesuit. My wish for you is that you can find your personal way in trust in God and make a good decision, whatever it may be in the end. If that becomes possible, that will be cause for celebration."
The spiritual formation in the novitiate consists in this respect in a certain paradox: the young and sometimes not so young men should be able to discover, develop and appreciate more and more clearly their own personality with all its gifts and limitations, with head and heart, body and spirit, also with its quirks and possibilities, without being "made a Jesuit" by a program. If, however, in the course of the novitiate, someone has discovered and accepted himself more and more, and thereby - with inner peace and a lasting feeling of coherence - notices that his path in the order, that is, in a community with common projects, continues, then the novitiate should have contributed to his formation in such a way that he can credibly show himself and others that he is a Jesuit.
Spirituality, not only the Ignatian spirituality, but every spirituality that breathes the Christian spirit of freedom of the children of God, gives room for a person to develop and in his own way - as he is just created and wanted by God - to find more and more the contexts of meaning in his life and to live "contact with God", which both are closely connected. Spirituality is nothing elevated, no whispering above the clouds, but to a large extent the way to deal with the immediate. What light or dark feelings someone is feeling right now; whether he has a lively access to his body or whether he neglects it in a top-heavy way; human openness and inner resistance; the questions that are currently on your mind; a memory from your own biography that is just becoming painfully or joyfully conscious; a hopeful daydream for the future or a disturbing dream from last night; how community life goes and how I deal with loneliness - whatever comes up and speaks to me is current "material" for spiritual life. Because everything belongs to my reality and belongs in the relationship with God, ideally wants to belong to it.
The willingness and the feeling for it may grow in different contexts:
- In the novitiate there are retreats built into several places, monthly days of reflection, daily times of explicit prayer and silence, also exercises in perception. When it becomes quieter around me and in me and my hearing grows, new things can become audible, but also old things that have long since wanted to tell me something. Encountering myself (which is not always easy and fun) and "God encounter" (even if it is often only groping and tedious and always incomprehensible) may follow a common path.
- Likewise, the novitiate includes "experiments", that is, times when "experimentation", trying things out, being allowed to discover. Nothing must run perfectly or be crowned with success. But the willingness is needed to enter and to go further, to learn, insofar as life always teaches you something, if I do not block it. What does it show when you spend eight weeks in hospital helping out in the care sector and make sure that you meet people with respect and attention? What happens when two novices go on pilgrimage together for four weeks without money and have to ask for food and accommodation? How does loving go in meeting homeless people, the abandoned, speechless, prisoners, open-minded, church critics? How do I get in touch with young people, old people, sympathetic people and the others I meet?
- And then there is the community. Not the easiest "spiritual place" for (prospective) Jesuits who understand more spontaneously the art of individual development and personal relationship with God. And yet (loosely based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer): Christ in others sometimes recognizes more than Christ in me. It is good to listen to him and to get involved with him. Moreover, there is the word of Jesus - probably spoken just for people who want to call themselves Jesuits and his companions: "Where two or three ...". Living with each other, the discussions in the group, working together, thinking, planning, wrestling, celebrating the Eucharist, organizing leisure time, also practicing to give honest and appreciative critical feedback, all contribute to the development of more personality, more self-confidence, more trust, more openness, more clarity. A convincing religious community does not work in single mode.
What comes out in the course of the novitiate? It is always exciting. A living person, always, I hope. Sometimes a Jesuit at the same time. It should happen more often. Probably it would be a worthwhile way of life for many more people if they came up with this good idea.
Thomas Hollweck s.J.
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