Election season can be difficult. The intense rhetoric and heightened polarization of today’s society can strain our personal relationships or disrupt our inner peace. This new miniseries offers practical suggestions for how the wisdom of the Spiritual Exercises can help cultivate a discerning spirit as we navigate another election cycle. Catch up with Part One and Part Two using these links.
The Third Week of the Exercises makes clear that suffering is an integral part of God’s story. Retreatants immerse themselves in the drama of Christ’s passion: from Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the foot of the Cross. They hear every crack of the whip and watch the Crown of Thorns pierce the face of Jesus. Perhaps they might cinematically imagine Jesus’ journey to Calvary. The most daring might suppose what it feels like to have massive nails slice through their wrist.
Beyond these acutely visceral physical moments, the Third Week sparks dramatic emotional pains as well. A retreatant might envision the sorrowful farewells between Jesus and his friends. Any mother contemplating Mary might feel her heart break as she imagines hugging her son for the last time. One might be overwhelmed by the fear and exhaustion of the apostles as they collapse asleep on the path while Jesus prays in the garden.
These last few weeks around the globe have been filled with similar stories of suffering. Wars continue to blaze around the world with no signs of stopping. Entire towns have been swept away in North Carolina. Communities in Florida scramble to piece together their lives after two back-to-back hurricanes flooded their livelihoods. In the face of such suffering, one can be tempted to ask where God is in the midst of so many seemingly unanswered prayers. Even the most pious person could be confused about how such a loving God could condone such innocent suffering.
Perhaps somewhat puzzlingly, these are the precise questions and graces at the heart of the Third Week. At the beginning of each prayer period for this week, Ignatius instructs the retreatant to pray for a sense of “grief, feeling, and confusion” because Jesus suffered so greatly on account of one’s sins and those of the world. 1 Ignatius’ primary concern is how bewildering it is that an innocent person, especially Jesus, would endure such grueling hardship for a guilty sinner.
Feeling the immense suffering of the world around us, we might be tempted to look for a leader who promises solutions. Inaction feels like the worst possible response to the immense challenges of the day. It is natural for humans to seek action, accountability, and answers. I wonder, however, if we are able to apply this grace of the Third Week to our present political discourse. Instead of listening to false prophets offering quick fixes to immensely complex problems, there might be prudence in patient discernment – even though we might feel confused or paralyzed, even though it means the harder reality of waiting while innocent people suffer
Strikingly, Ignatius suggests that there might be times when God casts aside his supernatural powers. In the Third Week, retreatants contemplate how “the divinity [of Jesus] hides itself, that is, how it could destroy its enemies and does not do it.” 2 At face value, this claim makes logical sense. If Jesus could miraculously raise the dead and multiply loaves and fishes, there appears to be no limit to his power. This simple logic, though, masks the looming mystery of why God would do nothing when he could stop the suffering of an innocent person, whether that be his only son or those threatened by floods, hurricanes, or warfare.
Indeed, during these polarized and troubling times, we might be confused. We might wonder where God is and if he has hidden the divinity yet again. We might feel alienated from our political parties or social groups for having different political opinions. We might feel unwelcome in any political party for beliefs we inherit from our Catholic faith.
But the Third Week tells us to never give up hope. That through all the uncertainty, grief, pain, and confusion, we should refrain from the quick human solution, like Peter who grabbed his sword and cut off the ear of one of Jesus’ captors. Instead, the invitation is to trust that God is active and has a plan throughout. We must patiently await the time that the divinity shows itself again. And, in that time, all will be revealed. The Third Week is not the end of the Spiritual Exercises, much less of God’s story. The resurrection teaches us that there is always hope.
One seemingly incongruent component of the Third Week is Ignatius’ “Guidelines with Regards to Eating.” After imagining how Jesus’ body was laid into the tomb and the disciples dispersed into the night, Ignatius stipulates eight rules for how retreatants should regulate their diet. While seemingly out of place, Ignatius suggests various bodily penances for the retreatant throughout the Exercises. In the sixteenth century, these included some more austere practices, such as St. Francis Xavier immobilizing himself in his bed for the majority of his 30-day retreat.
Today, these guidelines provide some helpful tools to grow in gratitude, moderation, and control. Creatively modified, these dietary directives give tips for surviving election season. The following practical suggestions might help us maintain our inner calm leading into these last few chaotic weeks leading up to the election:
- Third Rule: Cautioning how the human appetite for decadent foods can easily conquer even the strongest willpower, Ignatius recommends choosing simpler foods or small portions. It might suit us well these weeks to know what kind of indulgences are in our political media consumption that spark our indignation and stoke our anger. While limited quantities are permissible, we also might benefit from having a different news outlet that can keep us informed without supercharging our emotions.
- Fourth Rule: Ignatius reasonably suggests that it is easier for a person to approach a moderate amount by starting with lower quantities and then adding more as needed, as opposed to overestimating and trying to cut back later. As one tries to cultivate a healthy Ignatian indifference with regard to their political involvement, one might spend less time scrolling social media, watching cable news, or listening to podcasts than they might initially assume is adequate.
- Eight Rule: To best plan one’s meal size, Ignatius instructs that one should plan their meal when they are not hungry. After all, it is easier to choose a healthy salad when the french fries or juicy burgers are not staring you down. For Election Night, one should have a plan before we are enticed by the dramatic breaking news music and polls closing countdowns. We might want to save the last few chapters of our current novel, plan a walk with friends, or stream our favorite movie to interject the endless news stream.
- Fifth Rule: When eating, one should contemplate how Jesus himself ate with his apostles so as to shift one’s focus away from his hunger and onto higher aims. In times of stress or heightened emotion these next few weeks, it might be helpful to consider how Jesus was also engaged in shaping his own context. While the extent to which Jesus’ preaching could be considered political is hotly debated, his proclamation of his Kingdom nonetheless shared a vision for a transformed world. We might take heart in knowing that our political project is a continuation of the work of Christ to bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth.
At various times in the Third Week, Ignatius asks the retreatant to visualize the way forward: the pathway along which Jesus entered into Jerusalem, the winding road from the Last Supper up to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the walk from the Cavalry to the house where Mary was staying in Jerusalem. These roads, just like the future our world currently faces, are littered with obstacles and fraught with anxiety.
When we gaze into our own future, we should remember that all roads come to an end. As we continue onwards, we should remember that Jesus is always with us, even if the divinity is seemingly hidden for the time being. As Christians, we have no cause for worry. We know how the story inevitably ends: Jesus’ resurrection and the new heaven and earth at the end of the ages.
