"Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" - Song of Songs 6:10
After reading St. John Henry Newman’s comments at the end of today’s reading: “Grow you must; I know it; it is your destiny; it is the necessity of the Catholic name; it is the prerogative of the Apostolic heritage. But a material extension without a corresponding moral manifestation, it is almost awful to anticipate.” This had me deeply ponder, for the Legion of Mary, without moral manifestation and prayers, what kind of the evangelization and services can we accomplish? Also, without evangelization and services, what good is our moral manifestation and prayers?
From today’s reading we know that to be a Praetorian means to be more than an ordinary Active member. In other words, to be Praetorians, we are to recite the Tessera daily, attend daily mass, receive Holy Communion, and also pray the divine office. They spend more time and energy in prayer and receive nourishment from daily mass. Obviously, compared to an ordinary active member, “more” becomes a key word for the Praetorian.
Apparently the risk of this mere quantitative spiritual exhortation is obvious: more of this and more of that, always more; more activity, more prayer, more work. This so-called more movement can be unhealthy, leaving us exhausted. But, does the Praetorian look for burn out and exhaustion? No, absolutely not, the idea of being a Praetorian reminds me of the Magis of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
So what is “Magis”? More specifically, what is the Ignatian magis? Magis is a Latin term that means “to greater extent, more nearly.”
A lot of times we are satisfied with our daily prayer and faithful life. We think our enthusiastic prayers and our faithful life are sufficient, adequate, or enough. We think we have done pretty well in our life. We have at least fulfilled the requirements of a good legionary. We have done enough, and it would be alright to take a break, settle down, and stop. There is no need to go any further. In other words, we think we have accomplished what we have been called for as a Legion Soldier.
But, I would ask, remember the Gospel story of the wealthy young man?
The wealthy young man came and asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus answered him: “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Which he did, Jesus then asked him to sell all of his possessions, give to the poor, and then follow Jesus, but the young man went away sad.
This story perfectly described “magis”. This magis “disrupts the state of satisfaction. It awakens consciousness, enabling us to imagine something else. It broadens the horizon of movement and growth. It does not contradict the satisfaction but invites us to transcend it, using another kind of logic, the logic of growth and even of generosity.”(*1) The Ignatian Magis is that we are not going to be satisfied with what we have and what we enjoy, it is Jesus wanting us to know that there is another path that goes beyond this already exceptional way of being. If we want to go beyond goodness and satisfaction, there is costless devotion and generosity. So “be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This is what is requested of a Praetorian.
Now may I ask, do we have any Praetorians attending the meeting today? If you are not yet a Praetorian, I’d like to invite you to re-read this chapter, meditate a little more, and consider being a Praetorian. Praise be to God forever. Amen.
(*1) Reference from the topic of “The Ignatius Magis: Spirituality and Growth by Fr. André Brouillette, SJ”