Congregation of Jesus Mary Joseph

Daring to Be Humble: Ignatian Insights through the Eyes of Wolff

09 Jul 2025 - 31 Jul 2025

July invites us to contemplate the life and legacy of St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast we celebrate this month. For us, this commemoration takes on a special meaning because St. Ignatius was not only the founder of the Jesuits but also the spiritual father of our founder, Fr. Mathias Wolff. In his writings, Fr. Wolff expresses a deep devotion to St. Ignatius and describes him as “a great protector of the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph” (Grondregels, 127). This spiritual lineage runs deep in the heart of our congregation.

The Ignatian motto, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam—“for the greater glory of God”—was not an abstract ideal for Fr. Wolff. He reflected deeply on what this glory truly meant. It was not in grand achievements, but in the quiet and often hidden practices of humility and self-denial, through which every act and every word could become an offering to God.

Fr. Wolff wrote powerfully about St. Ignatius and the path of radical humility he encouraged:

“St. Ignatius encourages us not only to accept being humiliated and looked down upon, but even to desire it and to find joy in it. He teaches that we should welcome insults, false accusations, and mockery with as much pleasure as worldly people receive honors, respect, and high positions.

This attitude comes from a desire to become truly humble and to disregard one’s own ego. It is a sign of real self-denial. The love we have for Jesus, our Savior, makes us willing to be in a state of shame or public humiliation—as long as we are not actually doing wrong—so that we may be pointed at, rejected, or pitied by others. And when we find peace in this, not for our own sake, but simply to follow Jesus in His suffering, it seems we have reached the deepest level of self-denial.

But St. Ignatius goes even further when he explains the third level of humility. He says: If a truly spiritual person had to choose between two paths—one lowly and the other glorious—and they could glorify God equally in both, then out of love for the crucified Jesus, that person should choose the lowly, humiliating path, the path of rejection, rather than the one of honor and status.” (Grondregels, 127).

This vision is difficult to live, yet it reveals a spiritual paradox: true greatness lies not in being exalted but in being emptied. It is in being overlooked, misunderstood, or humbled and when accepted with love and freedom, then our hearts are most aligned with Christ crucified.

Fr. Wolff not only admired this teaching but lived it, modeling it for the sisters he founded. His was a leadership marked not by domination, but by descent: into simplicity, service, and surrender. To walk this Ignatian path is not to reject dignity or silence injustice, but to refuse ego, to resist self-glorification, and to desire only what brings God glory—even if that means choosing the quiet path over the celebrated one.

As we honor St. Ignatius this July, may we examine our own hearts. Are we willing to seek the greater glory of God, even when it means letting go of recognition or status? Like Wolff and Ignatius, may we have the courage to choose the lowly path and in doing so, draw nearer to Christ Himself.