The Jedi and the Jesuit
IF in a galaxy far, far away has the Order of the Jedi, our world has its very own Order of men in black robes – the Jesuits.
Star Wars fans who grew up celebrating the 31st of July find it easy to draw stark parallelism between these two monastic orders. Both were suppressed by imperial powers, both served as advisers to the ruling class, both follow strict codes of conduct and most intriguingly, both share a similar way of life centered around an all-encompassing energy that binds all living things together.
They call it the Force. We call it God. And on the occasion of the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola – the founding Jesuit, I cannot but reflect on how his Spirituality born more than 500 years ago remain relevant, vibrant, and lifegiving – even finding its incarnation in sci-fi pop culture.
To begin, Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a poem with this first line: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Entitled God’s Grandeur, this poem speaks of how God is working everywhere – in arts, in science, in culture, in relationships, in work. This insistence of God’s work in everyday activities invites us to lead a life of active discernment – that is being sensitive to the movements of your heart as it faces the daily rigor of life.
When a Jedi meditates, he communicates, harnesses, and manipulates the Force around him. This causes rocks to float, wounds to heal, and force lighting to strike. When students of Ignatius meditate, we chart God’s presence through the people we meet, the work we do, and the experience we had from morning to evening. Called the Examen, this is our tool to harness the life-giving energy of finding God in all things. No lightsaber - No lighting - Just consolation of the Divine’s presence.
When Yoda told Anakin Skywalker “to train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose,” the Master Jedi underlines the paralyzing disease of inordinate attachment. “Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is”, Yoda said. This wisdom also finds itself in the Ignatian conception of Freedom. When one is about make a decision, it should be discerned with the awareness of the blinding influence of attachments. Are we attached to our positions of power? Is this attachment hindering us to grow?
Throughout the Star Wars Saga, the Jedi Order stands as the guardian of peace and justice in the Galaxy. Even after Emperor Palpatine issued Order 66 spelling the formal destruction of the Order, its remaining survivors – such as Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi – kept the hope of freedom alive. A band of Rebels never lost hope against a massive planet-destroying Evil Empire. As we also live in a world of gaping inequality, structural injustice, and the systematic denigration of human dignity, I can only relate the mission of the Galactic Rebellion to the overall call of Ignatius to live a faith that does justice.
The Ignatian way of life does not enclose itself to the concern of private affairs. It calls us to lead a life for others which – in the words of Fr. Pedro Arrupe -- entails one to live simply, to not profit from structures of injustice, and most importantly, to challenge and change those structures of injustice.
The 31st of July is a celebration of a spiritual genius and a saint who 500 years on continuous to teach us that God cannot only be experienced inside a temple. The Force of God’s love is out there, working, transforming, liberating with us. May the Force be with you.