First Principle and Foundation Resources
Text #1
The human person is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by so doing save his or her soul; and it is for the human person that the other things on the face of the earth are created, as helps to the pursuit of this end.
It follows from this that the person has to use these things in so far as they help toward this end, and to be free of them in so far as they stand in the way of it.
To attain this, we need to make ourselves indifferent toward all created things, provided the matter is subject to our free choice and there is no prohibition.
Thus for our part we should not want health more than sickness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one – and so with everything else; desiring and choosing only what leads more to the end for which we are created.
-trans. Michael Ivens, S.J.: The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola
Text #2
God who loves us creates us and wants to share life with us forever. Our love response takes shape in our praise and honor and service of the God of our life.
All the things in this world are also created because of God’s love and they become a context of gifts, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we show reverence for all the gifts of creation and collaborate with God in using them so that by being good stewards we develop as loving persons in our care for God’s world and its development. But if we abuse any of these gifts of creation or, on the contrary, take them as the center of our lives, we break our relationship with God and hinder our growth as loving persons.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some responsibility. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God.
Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.
-David A. Fleming, S.J.: A Literal Translation & Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises
Text #2a
God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve Him in this life and be happy with Him forever. God’s purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may obtain our goal of everlasting happiness with Him in heaven.
All the things of this world are gifts from God, created for us to be the means by which we can get to know Him better, love Him more surely, and serve Him more faithfully.
As a result, we ought to use and appreciate these gifts from God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress towards our goal, we ought to let them go.
In everyday life, we should keep ourselves indifferent or undecided in the face of all created gifts when we have an option and we do not have the clarity of what would be the better choice. We ought not to be led on by our natural likes and dislikes even in matters such as health or sickness, wealth or poverty, between living in the east or the west.
Rather, our only desire and our one choice should be that option which better leads us to the goal for which God created us.
–Fleming, Literal Translation, preliminary copy
Text #3
Before the world was made
we were chosen to live in love in God’s presence
by praising, reverencing, and serving him
in and through his creation.
As everything on the face of the earth exists to help us to do this,
we must appreciate and make use of everything that helps,
and rid ourselves of everything that is destructive
to our living in love in his presence.
Therefore we must be so poised
that we do not cling to any created thing
as though it were our ultimate good,
but remain open to the possibility that love may demand of us
poverty rather than riches, sickness rather than health,
dishonor rather than honor, a short life rather than a long one,
because God alone is our security, refuge, and strength.
We can be so detached from any created thing
only if we have a stronger attachment;
therefore our one dominating desire
and fundamental choice
must be to live in his presence.
-Paraphrased by Gerald M. Hughes, S.J.: God of Surprises
Text #4
Lord my God,
when your love spilled over into creation
you thought of me.
I am from love, of love, for love.
Let my heart, O God,
Always recognize, cherish, and enjoy your goodness in all of creation.
Direct all that is me toward your praise.
Teach me reverence for every person, all things.
Energize me in your service.
Lord God,
may nothing ever distract me from your love,
neither health nor sickness, wealth nor poverty,
honor nor dishonor, long life nor short life.
May I never seek
nor choose
to be other than you intend or wish. Amen.
-paraphrased by J.S. Bergan and M. Schwan, C.S.J.: Praying With Ignatius of Loyola
Text #5
[My Name]
The goal of your life is to live with me forever.
I gave you life because I love you.
Your response of love
allows my life to flow into you without limit.
All the things in this world are my gifts,
presented to you so that you can know me more easily
and return your love to me more readily.
I want you to appreciate and use all my gifts
insofar as they help you to develop as a loving person.
But if any of my gifts become the center of your life,
they displace me and so hinder your growth toward your goal.
In everyday life, then, you must hold yourself in balance
before all of my created gifts
insofar as you have a choice and are not bound by some obligation.
You should not fix your desire on health or sickness,
wealth or poverty,
success or failure,
and a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in you
a deeper response to your life in me.
Your only desire
and one choice should be this:
to want and to choose what better leads
to my deepening my life in you.
-Paraphrased by Sr. K. Doyle: Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom
Text #6
We are created to love the Lord our God with our whole hearts, with our whole souls, with our whole minds, and with all our strengths, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. God created the entire universe as a good place for us to exercise this love creatively.
Unhappily, because of our self-centered love, we have so impoverished our world that no place can be found that fosters love as it might. And we have so impoverished ourselves that we have both a weak will and a corresponding lack of perception of spiritual reality. Therefore, we do not easily know what is most conducive to loving God and neighbor.
Yet in Jesus, God has personally entered this chaos, turning our attention to where the divine gaze is fixed: on the victims, the marginalized, the crucified. And in the Spirit God personally enters each of our hearts to recognize the work and example of Jesus in our history, and to heal our creativity that has been wounded by sin.
So now, through the work of Jesus and the Spirit, our one desire and choice can be whatever is more conducive to loving God all the way and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
-“The Purpose of Life” (Spiritual Exercises for Today) Tad Dunne
Text #7
(This is from The New Spiritual Exercises; In the spirit of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin by Louis M. Savary.)
You were created to make a unique contribution to the great evolutionary project initiated and continually supported by God, namely, bringing all creation together into one magnificent conscious loving union.
Since all other created things in the universe share with you this common eternal destiny, they are essential to and inseparable from you as you participate in the pursuit of that ongoing evolutionary process.
Individually and joined with others, you are to use all means available to promote and carry out this shared purpose with all your personal creativity, compassion, and energy, always seeking and choosing what is more conducive to that purpose.
For this, God empowers you to grow in passionate love and care for all elements of the cosmos, since they, as you, all live and move and have their being in God’s love.
And God is with you as you undergo whatever diminishments may befall you as you cooperate with others in your efforts and actions in pursuing this divine project – the purpose for which we, individually and collectively, were created.
(NOTE by the author: This Principle and Foundation assumes God has a comprehensive plan or project for all of creation including humanity, and this developing and evolutionary project is really what God is about on earth. It also assumes we humans, individually and collectively, are meant to be active and proactive co-creators in helping fulfill this plan or project. It is our shared purpose. This Principle and Foundation omits Ignatius’ word indifference, but not his intent or meaning. Ultimately, Ignatian indifference is about the freedom to meet God and collaborate with God in all circumstances, even if those circumstances are the opposite of what we instinctively want for others and ourselves. This understanding is an integral part of what Teilhard means by the concept of “diminishment.”)
Text #8
The Foundation
Human beings are created to love God with their whole heart and soul, essentially by loving and serving their neighbors. In this way they participate in God’s plan to bring all creation to completion and so arrive at their own ultimate fulfillment (eternal life).
The other things on the face of the earth are created for human beings, and to help them to pursue the end for which they are created.
From this it follows that we ought to use these things to the extent that they help us toward that end, and free ourselves from them to the extent that they hinder us from it.
For this reason it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things, in regard to everything which is left to our free will and is not forbidden, in such a way that, for our part, we not seek health, rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long life rather than a short one, and so on in all other matters, wanting and choosing only that which leads more to the end for which we are created.
-George Ganss, S.J. (quoted by Dean Brackley, S.J.)
Text #9
The gift of the First Principle and Foundation
The goal of our life is to live with God forever.
God, who loves us, gave us life.
Our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit.
All the things in this world are gifts from God,
presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.
As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.
But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation.
We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in God.
Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.
Comment: This profound statement serves as the ultimate vision for the Spiritual Exercises and also reveals three key beliefs at the heart of what makes Ignatian Spirituality such a gift to the world : 1. That God created us out of love; 2. That all in this world can be a means to help us experience God’s love; and 3. That freedom and indifference are necessary in order to respond fully to this love.
Text #10
(This is a very simple and direct literal translation.)
God created human beings to praise, reverence, and serve God, and by doing this, to save their souls.
God created all other things on the face of the earth to help fulfill this purpose.
From this it follows that we are to use the things of this world only to the extent that they help us to this end, and we ought to rid ourselves of the things of this world to the extent that they get in the way of this end.
For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things as much as we are able, so that we do not necessarily want health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long rather than a short life, and so in all the rest, so that we ultimately desire and choose only what is most conducive for us to the end for which God created us.
-By Elder Mullan, S.J. and edited by Rick Rossi, March 2015
Text #11
The “Living” Principle and Foundation
Each of us human beings is being created freely out of love by God – who desires to share His life forever with us – if we will freely love Him in return. The whole universe which his being created by God is given over to us human beings – to help us grow in our love response – and so fill this world with the order of God’s love – between human beings – and between us and the universe, the rest of creation.
We human beings should readily make us of all God’s gifts of creation – insofar as they help us develop into more living persons – but where some gifts stifle such growth in love – or cause it to be lost – we must turn away from them – and let ourselves be free from them.
As a result, in practice we must be free before all this is being created. For example, - as far as we are concerned, we should hold in balance health and sickness – honor and dishonor – a long life and a short life – and so on.
The only thing which moves us – and the one choice that matters – is the single notion of why we are being created – to be able better to respond more fully in love to the love of God – and to be able ever more fully to grow in that response.
From: Ted Tracy, S.J. a re-writing of Fleming’s Principle and Foundation, summer, 1976