Drawing on a variety of contemporary sources which tend to confirm one another, one can construct a list of rather commonly acceptedcharacteristics of the Ignatian/Jesuit vision. It …
sees life and the whole universe as a gift calling forth wonder and gratefulness;
gives ample scope to imagination and emotion as well as intellect;
seeks to find the divine in all things–in all peoples and cultures, in all areas of study and learning, in every human experience, and (for the Christian) especially in the person of Jesus*;
cultivates critical awareness of personal and social evil, but points to God’s love as more powerful than any evil;
stresses freedom, need for discernment,* and responsible action;
empowers people to become leaders in service, “mean and women for others,”* “whole persons of solidarity,”* building a more just and humane world.
No one claims that any of these are uniquely Ignatian/Jesuit. It is rather the combination of them all and the way they fit together that make the vision distinctive and so appropriate for an age in transition–whether from the medieval to the modern in Ignatius’ time, or from the modern to the postmodern in ours.
