Perhaps the most satisfying activity this year was the Two Standards.  Using another slide show (young people love Power Point), we saw Lucifer with a bunch of gangsters huddled in a room. “Get all the people to crave wealth, and get them to rely on the honour and status that comes with wealth.  Give them what they want.  Make them feel proud and let them feel they need no one else but themselves.  Let them think they’ve got it made and they have no need of God. From pride I can lead anyone to other vices.”  That was easy for the students to understand. 

What was more difficult was to convey what Jesus’ camp was like.  “Draw them to the greatest spiritual poverty, looking to God for security, not to wealth or status.” They were primed to understand that everything was a result of the generosity of God.  “Just look outside at that beautiful sky!  You couldn’t buy that sky with all the money in the world!” 

To understand poverty, I used the Star Wars film “The Force Awakens” which almost all the students had seen.  Rey, the hero of the film, demonstrates material poverty as a scavenger on the planet Jakku, collecting space junk to buy tasteless food.  She demonstrated that she didn’t require material wealth to be somebody important.  In fact, with no possessions except a scooter and a stick, she became the hero of the show. 

The dependence of the Republic upon the Force demonstrates spiritual poverty.  The greeting, “May the force be with you” shows the Resistance fighters of the Republic as spiritually impoverished, trusting in the Force, in my analogy, a metaphor for God, to see them through to the end.  As Rey begins to develop her skills during the film, she learns to use the Force to escape from her captors on the Starkiller Base. 

The power of the Force in the final lightsaber battle beween Rey and Ren, the fighter for the evil “First Order” prevails as Rey defeats Ren before the Starkiller Base disintegrates.  Trust in the Force enables the victory of good over evil. The humility of the Republic shows it is centred upon the Force, not on its self-interest, just as we should be centred on God, not on our own interests.  Ignatius says this leads us to all virtues.  

Jesus tells his followers to accept and even desire the insults and contempt that the world offers us. To demonstrate this idea, I used the example of Gandhi, who extracted Indian independence from Great Britain.  Two quotes were used: “Nobody can hurt me without my permission” and “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”   Gandhi showed that no one could get to him unless he allowed it; he persevered to his goal as Jesus did.  Secondly, recognition to the point of a fight is a win.  In the Acts of the Apostles, suffering ridicule because of Christ was also considered a win. 

At the end of the slide show I gave them a choice:

• The First Order exemplifies the choice of Lucifer’s Standard of self-interest in power and wealth over the well-being of all.
• The New Republic exemplifies the choice of following Jesus, seen as the Force, that supports the life and well-being of all. Humility is seen in the dependence on the Force, and the cooperation with others.

The choices were clear, and the choice was clear.  They got it.

Being involved in St. Bon's taught me the principles of Ignatian education – the grad-at-grad, the ratio studiorum, etc. so that I understand them.  But I didn't get to practice them.  The idea of the teacher learning from the student as well as the other way around is what I experience in Sunday School.  Having to bring the ideas of the Spiritual Exercises, like the Principal and Foundation, the Two Standards, to the most fundamental level, and to put these ideas in a context that suits them, and then to see how they learn it, teaches me!