Is laughter good medicine? Maybe, but it’s rare that we hear about the laughter of a saint. In our current historical moment, I think we need a saint’s laughter.
In July we celebrated 31 days of St. Ignatius of Loyola, leading up to the anniversary of his death July 31, 1556.
Originally a soldier, St. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and became one of our greatest saints.
But in all the reading I’ve done on Ignatius I’d never heard about laughter.
So, reading a book of selected works by and about Ignatius, I came across this line, written by his companion and first-generation Jesuit, Jeronimo Nadal: “Those who were in his room,” wrote Nadal, “were continually laughing.”
Hearing that Ignatius’ rooms were full of laughter is a good reminder at a time when so many Americans are feeling anxious. We are, after all, in a Jubilee Year of hope.
Recently, I read about a man who appeared at immigration court, accompanied by two Jesuits and a religious sister. He was following the legal process of seeking asylum but was whisked off by masked people purporting to be ICE employees.
The responses to the post were intense. “I live every day in a state of outrage and grief,” wrote one poster. “I am very distraught,” wrote another. Posts continued to pour out deep angst.
None of this, of course, is a laughing matter. Yet when we find ourselves distraught and grieving, we remember that, as Christians, we’re called to hope and to joy.
Ignatius, too, lived in tumultuous times. The Protestant Reformation roiled Europe. Plague swept through cities intermittently. Henry VIII abandoned the Church for a second marriage.
Somehow, Ignatius, who called himself “the pilgrim,” kept his eyes on God.
I remind myself that we pilgrims of hope cannot solve all the world’s problems. We aid our neighbors when and where we can. We remain active politically. We avoid obsessing over the news. We focus on the positive, the helpers, the good around us.
Notice Nadal refers to “those who were in his room.” We seldom laugh robustly by ourselves. Laughter is a communal event, something we do best together. Community has never been more important than it is right now.
Effie Caldarola is a wife, mom and grandmother who received her master’s degree in pastoral studies from Seattle University.