SEE THE WORLD WITH WONDER by Fr Ambrosio “Bros” Flores, SJ
Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola
Jeremiah 20:7–9; 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1; Luke 14:25–33 

Years ago, I used this strategy when I interview job applicants. I would hold up a blank sheet of paper and ask, “What do you see?” 

One Chemical Engineer from UP answered, “A standard letter-size sheet made from processed wood pulp, engineered for strength, whiteness, ink absorption, and print quality.” 

Another applicant, a Management Engineering graduate with a minor in Philosophy from Ateneo, smiled and said, “I see freedom… a story waiting to be written… an artwork waiting to be sketched… a blank canvas filled with endless possibilities.” 

Both answers were correct. The paper had not changed. Only the person looking at it had. 

Now let me hold up this ballpen. What do you see? A student may see tomorrow’s examination. A teacher may see another stack of papers waiting to be checked. A doctor may see prescriptions that bring healing. Again, nothing has changed. Only the eyes looking at it have. 

Perhaps that is what wonder really is. We often think wonder is being amazed by something extraordinary. But wonder is much deeper than that. Wonder is seeing the same reality more deeply. It is allowing God to correct the way we see the world. It is discovering not only what something is, but what, in God’s hands, it can become. 

Wonder begins with the way we see. 

That was one of the greatest gifts St Ignatius gave the Church. Before God changed the choices Ignatius made, He first changed the way Ignatius saw. Every conversion in the Spiritual Exercises begins with a conversion of vision. And that is exactly how Ignatius looked at the young man whose name your school proudly bears. 

When Ignatius first met Francis Xavier at the University of Paris, everyone saw a brilliant student—intelligent, athletic, ambitious, destined for success. Xavier dreamed of becoming a famous professor. Ignatius saw all of that. But he saw something more. He saw a missionary. He saw the future passionate companion in the journey. He saw a saint before Francis Xavier ever saw the saint within himself. That is what every great teacher does. They do not simply see students as they are. They see who they can become. 

Wonder begins with the way we see. 

Today’s readings show us three ways wonder changes our lives. First, wonder changes what we notice. 

Jeremiah experienced rejection, ridicule, and suffering. Most people would have noticed only disappointment. Jeremiah noticed something else. God’s word had become “a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones.” His circumstances remained the same. But he began to notice God even within his struggles. 

The same thing happened to Ignatius. When a cannonball shattered his leg at Pamplona, everyone saw a wounded soldier whose dreams had ended. During his long recovery, Ignatius noticed something he had never noticed before. Dreams of worldly glory left him empty. Dreams of following Christ filled him with lasting joy. The cannonball did not immediately change his life. It changed what he noticed. 

The same happens every day at Xavier. Two students sit in the same classroom. One notices only assignments. Another notices opportunities. One sees a strange classmate. Another sees someone who needs a friend. One sees a demanding teacher. Another sees someone who refuses to give up on them. Nothing has changed. Only the eyes looking at it have. 

Wonder begins with the way we see. 

Second, wonder changes what we value. 

Ignatius never told Francis Xavier that success was wrong. He simply helped him discover something greater. Again and again he repeated Jesus’ question: “What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” Little by little, Xavier’s heart changed. Success was no longer his greatest treasure. Christ became his greatest treasure. Then everything else found its proper place. 

That is exactly what St Paul tells us today. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Notice. Paul does not ask us to stop studying. Or teaching. Or competing. Or working. Those things remain exactly the same. What changes is why we do them. The student still studies. The athlete still trains. The musician still practices. The teacher still prepares lessons. 

But now they do these things not simply for grades, medals, promotions, or applause. They do them for God’s glory and the service of others. Wonder does not destroy our desire for greatness. It purifies it. Greatness is no longer measured by how many people admire us. It is measured by how many people are blessed because we used our gifts well. 

Wonder begins with the way we see. 

Finally, wonder changes what we choose. 

Jesus speaks today about carrying the cross and counting the cost. At first, those words sound demanding. But Jesus is not asking us to choose suffering. He is asking us to choose what is worth suffering for. Athletes understand this. Musicians understand this. Teachers understand this. Students certainly understand this during examination week. 

We gladly sacrifice for what we truly value. So the real question is no longer, “What am I willing to give up?” The better question is, 

“What has become so valuable that I am willing to give myself for it?” 

Jeremiah continued because God’s word had become too precious to abandon. St Ignatius lived the same lesson in another way. 

Ignatius needed Xavier in Rome. More than that, Xavier was one of his dearest friends. They had prayed together, dreamed together, and built the Society together. Ignatius knew that if Xavier sailed to the Indies, they would most likely never see each other again. He could have found many reasons to keep him. Instead, he let him go because Christ had become more valuable than even one of the deepest friendships of his life. 

That is what Jesus is asking of us in today’s Gospel. The hardest sacrifices are rarely things. They are our attachments. When wonder changes what we value, sacrifice no longer feels merely like losing. It becomes an expression of love. Christianity is not first about giving things up. It is first about discovering Someone worth giving everything for. 

And that is the deeper mission of Xavier School. The world already knows how to produce successful graduates. A Jesuit school seeks something greater. It forms young men and women who can see the world with wonder. Because what we notice shapes what we value. What we value shapes what we choose. And what we repeatedly choose shapes the people we become. 

Wonder begins with the way we see. 

So today, on the Feast of St Ignatius, perhaps God is not asking us to look for a different world. He is asking us to look at the same world with different eyes. 

When wonder changes what we notice, choose, and value, sacrifices no longer feel like losing something. It becomes an expression of love. 

To see classrooms as holy ground. To see classmates as companions. To see teachers as formators. To see talents as gifts. To see success not as having more than others, but as becoming the person God created us to be. 

At the beginning of this homily, I showed you a blank sheet of paper and a ballpen. They have not changed. But my prayer is that, after listening to God’s Word today, you have. Later, when you pick up a sheet of paper, don’t see only another assignment. See another opportunity to become the person God is calling you to be. When you pick up your pen, don’t see only ink. See one more chance to write a life that gives glory to God. 

For the greatest miracle God performs is not always changing the world around us. Sometimes, the greatest miracle is changing the eyes with which we see the world. 

So this year, Xavier School invites us to “See the World with Wonder.” Remember: Wonder begins with the way we see. May St Ignatius teach us to see the world with wonder. And may St Francis Xavier give us the courage to go wherever that wonder leads.