Lord, in your great love, answer me. — Psalm 69:14
Mass Readings: Jeremiah 26:11-16,24 / Matthew 14:1-12
A fter I graduated from a Jesuit college in the mid-1960s, I taught in a Jesuit school in Baghdad, where I lived with a couple of other young American laymen in the Jesuit residence. Our Iraqi students included Christian, Muslim, and Jewish men and women who profited from the same education as I had. Unfortunately, Americans, including American Jesuits, had to leave because of political reasons in the late 1960s, though the few Iraqi Jesuits could remain.
Today the Church honors St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. I honor Ignatius’ sons, the dedicated men with whom I lived and prayed for two years, the men who by their very presence in educational institutions bring Christ to a world that hardly knows Him, both here and abroad.
Prayer: St. Ignatius, strengthen our Church through the work of your sons.