Are you an emotionally intelligent person?

If we really want to understand what is happening in the world around us, we first need to explore what is happening within us.

I first met Ignatius of Loyola at Georgetown University during my third visit to the United States. I had been invited there to speak by a group of Jesuits, and listening to their stories over dinner piqued my interest and I began to read Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises.

The thing that struck me almost immediately about Ignatius' writings was how attuned they are to our humanity. Confined to his bed for months as he recovered from his battle injuries, he was forced to look at who he was as a man and the choices he had made. He measured his life and concluded that he was falling short of his God-given potential. He also reached the conclusion that he was being called to something more, though he had no idea what.

For many that would be enough, but Ignatius went further. He explored why he had made the choices he had made, and what his motives were for doing the things he had chosen to do. This led to a whole new level of awareness, and it is this ever-expanding awareness that became one of the enduring gifts of the Spiritual Exercises.

Over the past several years it has become popular to speak about the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ), in large part because it is disappearing from our culture at an alarming rate. So much of modern culture promotes a numbing unconsciousness rather than the vibrant consciousness that God wants us to live in each moment.

EQ is an awareness of what is happening within us and what the people around us are experiencing. It could be something as simple as realizing that your mood is a little off, perhaps because you didn't get enough sleep, and as a result you are more impatient than usual. Another simple example is you are having dinner with others and you notice someone's glass is empty, so you offer her another drink. Emotional intelligence is not only an awareness of what is happening within us and around us, it is ultimately an awareness of what is happening within the people around us. It is also an awareness of how what we do and say affects other people.

Do you notice when someone is happier or sadder than usual? There are some people we see every day. Can you tell if their spirits seem lighter or heavier than usual?

Today, let’s ask God for a piercing awareness of what is happening within us and around us.

Feast Day: July 31

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Justin de Jacobis of the Congregation of the Mission

Patron Saint of: The Jesuits, Soldiers, Spiritual Retreats, Accidents, and Injuries

Symbols: IHS Christogram

Canonized: March 12, 1622

Canonized By: Gregory XV