Ateneo de Naga University

Graduate School
S/Y 2016-2017

Renz Marion C. Caras

MA in Philosophy
JED 200
Reflection Paper on Ignatian Pedagogy

I have been an Atenean for the most part of over a decade. Even before I began my

Secondary Education in the academe back in 2001, I have felt the presence of the institution going

back to my preschool days at the Little Flower Kindergarten School. In Primary school I walked

the streets of the Ateneo Avenue going home. I experienced growing up in both the Bagumbayan

and the Pacol campus and finally graduating for my College Degree in Philosophy back in the First

Semester of 2008. It never dawned to me that one day I would be employed and currently taking

up my Master’s degree in the very school that helped raise me to the person I am today, but I feel

it is not entirely due to some crazy random happenstance that it happened. Perhaps it was merely

due to certain turn of events brought about by the intertwining actions of individuals, including me

and those close to me. It might be force that many might call destiny, the hand of God, or any other

label to naively satisfy in answering experiences unknown to people. In any case I am now faced

with the curious circumstance of writing about it. I am not a very religious person albeit being

raised in a Catholic community though I do consider some part of me to be quite spiritual and

contemplative on a personal level. I am well-versed in most of the history of religions. I study

them out of curiosity and intrigue; enjoying largely the mythos involved in them. I do not wish to

brag but I believe I am not inept at writing down reflection papers such as this; to the contrary I

think I find it quite refreshing from the rigidities of writing legal papers and other similar
documents I am accustomed to back when I studied Law. However, be that as it may I find myself

in quite the quandary with this current task at hand. Perhaps those years I mentioned above in the

Ateneo and the redundancy of works similar to what I am presently writing regarding Ignatian

Spirituality has left a bland taste in my palate that one would probably even consider this paper

‘uninspired’. That said repetition has made it a bit difficult for me to have done this piece on the

set date to which it is due. Having said these, I find it nevertheless intriguing that there is quite a

bit of ease for me in working on this paper. Another difficulty that has grossly affected the content

of this paper is how the majority of the readings I was supposed to incorporate in this work were

misplaced most probably lost within the mountain of paperwork on my desk when I was busy

helping facilitate the recently held Asian Conference on Spirituality, Knowledge, and Justice at

the University. Trying to recover said references proved to be folly and I was left with only a few

of the handouts given in class. As such, I am drawing from my recent profound experience in

spirituality during the Annual Retreat I participated in that was held in Betania Retreat House in

Baguio City last May of this year. I had little opportunity to express in writing my experiences

there since I soaked in all the fresh horizons the retreat had to offer thereby I was to absorbed in

the meditative and contemplative experience that I had no time to write something about it.

As I have mentioned above, I am not a religious person; rather religion for me is more of a

large mythology that fascinates me intellectually. Spirituality, on the other hand, is different. I

could spend a few pages of this paper trying to explain the apparent difference between the two

but it would only labor the point. Spirituality, I believe, is not and should not be placed within the

inelastic confines of systematic processes; processes written on some document as if a manual to

assembling a bedroom dresser or a baby’s play pen. Having been inspired by a reading that has

been given to us faculty in the Philosophy Department a few semesters back from Superior General
Father Adolfo Nicolas, S.J. entitled Challenges to Jesuit Higher Education, I find systematic and

procedural tasks to attain spirituality to be very mechanical. Strictly following a set of rules on

how one reflects and meditates defeats and demeans the whole phenomenology of a spiritual

exercise. That being said, Ignatian Spirituality features a path of reflection that highly appeals to

me. Instead of being highly directing and imposing, the Spiritual Exercises in Ignatian Spirituality

provides a conducive ambience regarding the way a person seeks to encounter whatever he/she

wishes or hopes to understand about one’s self. Drawing again from the article by Fr. Nicolas, I

believe the most important aspect one should strive for is depth of thought and imagination. In a

world intertwined with machines and technology, one’s humanity becomes questionable. The soul

rusts with the oils of industry. This is why I find it important to be able to access that part in us

without being subjected to imposing technicalities and procedures, but through authentic personal

reflection. In Ignatian Spirituality this can be gained. One need not abandon all civilization just to

attain this urge. All is part of a person’s development and we have to accept that. Ignatian

Spirituality teaches a person this acceptance. Another feature which highly appeals to me is the

nature of what is described to be Grace. Even in a state of unbelief a person may still be surprised

by how the cosmos sometimes touches lives. I think this is the highlight of the Spiritual Exercises.

For Ignatian Spirituality, grace is not something exclusively prayed or asked for but it sure

something needed. By allowing a person to draw energy from all things around him/her one can

be at a state of calm. I can somehow compare it to how Taoists and Buddhists take silence as an

essential aspect of a person’s life. Silence itself is a grace, especially in the current generation. It

is easy to be quiet but particularly arduous to be still and silent. To quiet one’s heart and allow the

spirit to enter is quite trying for a person not particularly attuned to it. This feature in Ignatian

Spirituality is highly valued as the process of attaining silence is itself the grace that most do not
realize they asked for. Gaining knowledge and skill are all valuable assets but having a steady

heart that beats in serenity is priceless.

As an educator myself, I find Ignatian Spirituality to be highly valuable and plays an

important role in it. Primarily, I am an educator in the Ateneo community, thus one might be

inclined to view my opinion to be quite biased. Perhaps it is—I did mention how the Ateneo has

heavily contributed to how I was morally conditioned. Again drawing from the article by Fr.

Nicolas, it is important to have depth of thought and imagination within a world that is slowly

being controlled by the monsters of industry and technology. Many find it taxing to have Theology

and Philosophy to be Core subjects in College but this feature is what retains the humanity in

students who are overstimulated by the info-technological reality. As a product of this form of

education, I see it as a means to ground me back to my humanity and even my sanity. It is my hope

that I do the same for my students.