Event analysis - Mike Ray

Last Thursday I attended an event where the story of Homer, “The Iliad”, and the Odysee. The story began as the war between the Greeks and the Trojans in the fight for Troy. It began quietly as the Greeks created the Trojan Horse to stealthily enter the city of Troy. They piled in the massive wooden creation and wheeled up to the gates of Troy and amazingly, were allowed within the walls of the forbidden city of Troy. This teamwork relates back to our conversation on Jesuit tradition of unity. The warriors are united under one mission, similar to the Jesuits’ cura personalis mission. As the Greeks worked together and stealthily gained entrance into the city of Troy, they waited patiently until the right time to open the hatch and attack the Trojans. When that time came the Greeks sprung out and started a massive 9 hour fight. Gold was stolen, relics were destroyed and gods were disturbed. Days after this fight the Greeks were inundated with rain, floods and horrible swells of water. They were lost at sea in terrible weather for 9 days with gusty winds, and persistent rain. There was only one explanation for this – God. After 9 days of miserable conditions, the Greeks were lost at sea until finally the gods released them. Similar to this the Jesuit tradition forgives, rather than punishes. The gods realized the Greeks were sorry after 9 days of punishment and gave them freedom. In the Jesuit tradition, if one is truly sorry for your sins, god will always forgive, never punish. The Greeks then carried on to an island where they find mysterious people laying on the ground. Curiously, they venture towards these welcoming people and fall into their trap. They partake in the indigenous peoples activities and become high and out of their element. The “sailors” as they become known as soon become lost in the jungle in a cave thought to be of similar kin. The sailors come to the conclusion that this must be a human cave due to the fire remnants and the cheese and milk around. Much to their dismay the cave belonged to a giant Cyclops who only tries to kill them. The sailors were faced with a problem; hide and die or fight back and risk death at the cost of survival. Similar to the Trojan horse, the soldiers joined together and fought against the Cyclops by poking its eye out and ran to their survival. In this case they wee united under a different mission, survival. The soldiers united and defeated the monster for survival and ran to their ship and sailed away home. These stories of the Iliad and the Odysee tie to our conversations on the Jesuit tradition in that God only forgives when one is truthfully sorry and people unite under one goal, cura personalis.  Coming from an non-religious and non-Jesuit family, this story opened my eyes to the Jesuit way and how it really is a great way of life. The combination of our conversations and this performance makes me want to embrace the Jesuit tradition with open arms.