Celebrating St. Ignatius of Loyola on July 31.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, celebrated on July 31, was a 16th-century Spanish soldier who became one of the greatest spiritual reformers in Church history. After a cannonball shattered his leg in battle, Ignatius underwent a profound conversion while recovering. Reading about the lives of Christ and the saints stirred his soul more deeply than dreams of glory ever had.
He went on to found the Society of Jesus—the Jesuits—an order devoted to education, missionary work, and spiritual discipline. His Spiritual Exercises remain a powerful tool for discernment, inviting individuals to examine their desires and align their lives fully with God’s will.
Ignatius was no stranger to ambition—but his conversion reoriented that drive toward heaven. He didn’t abandon strategy or passion. He just surrendered it all to Christ, famously saying, “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.”
For Catholic professionals, Ignatius offers a roadmap for integrating faith and leadership. He teaches us that the spiritual life is not an escape from reality, but the deepest engagement with it. His emphasis on discernment encourages reflection before action, and his spirituality calls us to find God in all things—especially our daily responsibilities.
St. Ignatius calls us to be people of depth and direction, rooted in prayer but not afraid of the world. He reminds us: transformation doesn’t begin when we leave our jobs—it begins when we ask, what am I really living for?