Reflection 7
Shrines of Spain - Alcala, Serve the Poor
That's the end of this reflection.
Notes from Fr. Michael On our 2nd day of pilgrimage in Spain, we traveled to the city of Alcalá de Henares, 22 miles northeast of Madrid. There we toured the university where St Ignatius studied for 18 months. It’s a bustling, academically respectable university to this day. St. Ignatius arrived in Alcalá in 1526 at the age of 35 to begin his studies. He supported himself by living at a hospital, caring for the sick and working as a cook. We were able to visit the room in which he lived and saw a chair he made to sit by the fire while preparing meals. During his stay in Alcalá, he preached and led people in the Spiritual Exercises. This soon attracted the suspicion of the Spanish Inquisition who put him in jail for 42 days, suspecting him of heresy and inappropriate behavior. Eventually he was exonerated and all charges were dropped. But he decided it was prudent to leave Alcalá to continue his studies at the University of Salamanca where he hoped for a more hospitable reception. Learn more about Heart to Heart: htoh.us/subscribe Attend an Ignatian retreat: jesuitretreat.org
...Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. ...