Vegging Out

veg

verb /vej/ 
Relax to the point of complete inertia

I’ve spent most of the last week vegging out in the community (when I’m not at or preparing for or reflecting on the Holy Week liturgies, that is.) A bit of reading, plenty of DVDs and box-sets, some surfing (of the electronic variety).

Working in a school environment where I am constantly on the go, it’s easy not to notice just how much of my energy derives from the young people I am constantly in contact with.

So, holidays come as something of a shock to the system. A welcome shock, mind you, but a shock nevertheless. During term-time, there’s almost not enough time in the day. There’s class preparation, correction, organising school events and trips, being present at or participating in extracurricular activities etc. etc. (but mostly class preparation for me).

Weekends can be quite busy too. In the last few months, there have been a number of meetings of Jesuits on during the weekends, which can mean a bit of travelling. Jesuit life is not for the couch potatoes!

There is great joy to be found in working with young people. The energy and enthusiasm, as I’ve indicated, is infectious. But their openness and idealism can be quite refreshing too – especially in these hard times. Which is not to say I shouldn’t keep my eyes open! Discipline is the least pleasant aspect of my ministry, but an extremely necessary one. All that energy, if not channelled into constructive activities, can be wasted at best, or turned to destructive purposes at worst.

In reminiscing about his time at Manresa, St. Ignatius of Loyola felt that God dealt with him as a teacher instructing his pupil (Autobiography, Chapter III). Maybe that’s why Jesuits are so involved in education – the roots of our spirituality lie in a student-teacher (or, in Indian terms, guru-shishya) relationship with God. God not only gives us gifts and graces, but also teaches us what to do with them.

Next week, I’m back to Britain for a meeting of younger Jesuits; and then it’s back to school for the final, hectic term before the summer break – so I hope to enjoy my “vegging” time as best I can for now!

Worship

In Reason and Religious Belief (Oxford: OUP, 2003) Peterson et. al. argue that God is, above all, a being who is the object of, and worthy of, worship. What does 'worship' mean? It means total devotion, placing ourselves at God's disposal completely and without reservation, with no attempt at “bargaining” with God, no mental reservation to “keep our options open”. In other words, absolute commitment and deference.

The Jesuit constitutions summarise the particular Jesuit mode of worship in it's self description: “The end of this Society is to devote itself with God's grace not only to the salvation and perfection of the members' own souls, but also with that same grace to labour strenuously in giving aid toward the salvation and perfection of the souls of their neighbours” (General Examen [3]).

Here at De Nobili College, the second-year philosophers have slowly been receiving news of their regency placements once the academic year ends in a few weeks. Most are heading to Jesuits schools across India; many are going to parishes (particularly mission stations in remote areas). Two (possibly three) are headed to Afghanistan to lecture at one of the universities there while one is headed to China. What takes Jesuits to the far-flung reaches of the globe in frontier, potentially dangerous, situations? A sense of adventure? Undoubtedly. A desire to serve the Church? Of course. Because that's where they've been asked to go by their superiors? Naturally.

But, deeper than all that, a sense that this is how they are called to worship God.

I've often wondered what the word 'worship' denotes today in parts of the world that are largely secularised. The RE Online website (an online resource site for Religious Education in the UK) for instance, appears to use 'worship' synonymously with the specific rites and rituals used to enact it. But what about the internal attitude signified by 'worship'? What of the recognition of God as a being that is infinitely and absolutely greater than ourselves?

And yet, perhaps it is not that nothing is actually worshipped. If complete deference and unconditional commitment are the constituents of worship, then is there something else that people do, in fact, worship in their lives (even if they may not recognise it as 'worship')?