Georgetown Celebrates the Life of St Ignatius

On July 31st, Jesuits celebrate the Feast Day of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of The Society of Jesus. This year, on July 30th, The Georgetown Jesuit Community shared that festivity with the greater Georgetown University community. The Rector of Georgetown’s Jesuit Community, Rev. Joseph Lingan, S.J., offered that he asks the Georgetown community to celebrate a day early so that on the actual feast day, the anniversary of the death of Ignatius of Loyola, our Jesuit community can join with other Jesuits serving in the Washington area and take the time to honor and celebrate St Ignatius as a Jesuit Community and friends in the Lord.  As a relatively new member of the Georgetown’s Office of Mission & Ministry, this was my first time celebrating this Feast.  I was humbled and grateful.

Our University’s public celebration of St. Ignatius included a special mid-day mass followed by a luncheon reception in the historic and beautiful Riggs Library. I was heartened that our greater Georgetown University community was able to gather and celebrate our Jesuit heritage in this way.  It reminded me that we not only are here to assist and support our students, but that we also are here to assist and support one another in our respective work and service.  Fr. Lingan’s homily touched me personally as he urged us to consider and reflect upon the message of St. Ignatius. He spoke about noticing God and the value of having a personal relationship with God. As a layman it felt so concise and yet true to St. Ignatius’s message; God works inside us, through us, for us, and with us all the time. Being able to see God in everyone and everything is a challenge, especially when you are engaged in the busyness of life. The message of St. Ignatius is that God seeks to work with us all the time, and that our task is to seek to find and see God in all things.  

The mass was followed up by a fine luncheon in Georgetown’s Riggs Library in Healy Hall. This reception brought together a wonderful mix of Georgetown’s administrators, faculty, and staff, and it followed the same humble and down-to-earth sentiment of Lingan’s message; come as you are, sit and have some conversation, which I believe would have also been what St. Ignatius would have wanted and enjoyed. 

Written by Jeremy Koss , Communications & Outreach Coordinator