Ignatius’s worldview didn’t embody an consciousness of social sin. He didn’t determine the unjust constructions of society as embodiments of sin, nor did he consider sin in communal or relational phrases. Ignatius’s understanding of sin would have been extra particular person and act-oriented. His personal battles with scrupulosity taught him that obsessing with explicit actions didn’t result in peace or carry him nearer to God. Ignatius is extra involved with the graces and wishes of our hearts than with our particular person sins. Extra essential for him is the decision to gratitude and freedom that focuses our hearts on God and God’s goodness. The extra modern strategy to sin can, nevertheless, additional increase and enrich Ignatius’s sixteenth-century understanding of sin. Reflection on social sin is an important adaptation of the Workouts in at present’s context.

—Excerpted from Placing on the Coronary heart of Christ: How the Religious Workouts Invite Us to a Virtuous Life by Gerald M. Fagin, SJ

Picture by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash.