A VERY IGNATIAN LEG
I am Augustine Enabulete am from the Nigeria/Ghana Region its my 11th year in the Society, and I've been trying to study theology at Hekima College Nairobi since 2001 but my left knee won't let me1 I am currently trying to recover from the 6 th operation on the same knee in Johannesburg After my 5 th surgery in Nairobi my community members sent me a get well soon card One message in the card went thus “Your leg is very Ignatian” On hearing me complain after my 6th surgery Mike Lewis my Regional Superior jok ed that I ask ed for the pain that i am going through now during my making of the Spiritual Exercises so I should not complain. I recently visit ed Puleng one of the lay staff at the nearby Vuselela Spiritualily Centre and she ask ed if I was trying to be like St ignatius - who walk ed with a limp for most of his life I quickly retort ed “far from it” I won t be pious about my knee I hate the pain it has given me all those years since 1995 The knee may be lgnatian but I m sure that I m not trying to be like him in that respect His leg problem began with a cannon ball mine originat ed from playing basketball! After his experience, Ignatius worri ed about walking when each leg was of a different I just want ed to walk and dance without pain He probably had the ladies in mind when he worri ed about having equal legs I do not! Holy Mackerel who is this man who talks about St Ignatius in this manner? Give me a break! There is another side to this lgnatius was arguably positive about his leg problem For now I am not and won t pretend to be. Yes something very positive emerg ed from Ignatius convalescing period From reading the lives of the saints he began a quest that ultimately culminat ed in the founding of this Society Wait a minute! There is something positive from my convalescence too What am I doing here as I recuperate in Jo burg Though I am not reading the lives of the saints I am not some reading; I go for physiotherapy or to the gym, I do some exercises at home I am sorting stamps I am trying to be faithful to my e-mail correspondents And I an trying to find God in all of these things – not unlike Ignatius Did Ignatius ever go for physiotherapy or to the gym? Something else that I have been doing is to be available and to be of service to the Holy Trinity Parish and Chaplaincy Holy Trinity is a very lively dynamic down to earth parish I have always admir ed and had great respect for any ministry to students and the young The priests at Holy Trinity Frs Mike Lewis Graham Pugin and Anthony Egan plus Peter Brook, who was here on sabbatical are simply great and unique in the way they go about their work There is something admirable about their simplicity and availability to the students – there is something beautiful about the way they care for the students like their own younger brothers and sisters in the Lord Actually they run a hostel for the students in the parish/chaplaincy - that is something that I haven t seen before Holy Trinily Is a chaplaincy to three institutions Wits University RAU Universrty and TECHNIKON Thus besides giving spiritual nourishment to the ordinary non-academic parishioners the priests also cater for the spiritual and sometimes temporal ne ed s of the Catholic students of these institutions And a few of the students who actually come to the spiritual well of the Holy Trinity are non-Catholics I feel privileg ed to have been invit ed to share in the service of care to the young something Ignatius encourages I have been of help in the area of giving talks recollections and retreats Both the students and I draw great fruit from the experiences of these activities One moving theme that has run through all of these experiences is the students and young peoples desire to have and to seek. Go d s doing some reading I go for guidance in their lives In the week length physiotherapy I go to the gym I before Holy Week we had a Recollection entitl ed Dying you destroy ed our death and it took the form of an all-night vigil Some of the highlights of the event were the washing of each others feet each persons personal letter to Go d painting on a grafith wall - which was fifteen minutes walk from the church and the burning and offering in incense of our prayer requests to Go d Fr Graham Pugin who end ed the night with the celebration of Mass at 530am agre ed that it was the best Recollection ever And what do you think I wrote In my letter to Go d'? I spoke about my knee - and I m expecting a reply from Him soon!