📅 26 August 2026  |  👤 Br. Seby Varghese SJ

We make many decisions every day. But how do we choose? 

While some are instinctive, based on our likes or dislikes, others are carefully thought of. But every choice is influenced by desire. In most cases, our heart is inclined towards that which is most satisfying or easy to achieve. In a way, we can become bound by our self-serving desires. We are delighted when our desires are fulfilled – but what happens when they are not?

St Ignatius invites us to grow in holy indifference to free ourselves from the desires that control us so that we are free to choose that which leads us to greater good, that which is not self-serving but God-serving. In the Principle and Foundation, Ignatius reminds us that our sole purpose in life is to praise, revere and serve God. So, all our actions should be directed to this end. The end is more important than the particular path we take. 

Ignatius is not against having desires. Rather, he asks us to look at them closely. Sometimes we are blinded by – our fear of failure; desire for recognition, money, fame; pressure from family, friends, society; or dislike for an option; or the necessity to preserve our self-image. Basically, we may not be free to choose but are compelled by hidden attachments. So much so, that we forget that the ultimate end should be God-oriented.

Once we become aware of our hidden inclinations or desires, we are better positioned to discern. We grow in interior freedom since our desires no longer govern our decisions. Once we are free from our attachments, we are free to choose that which is most conducive to praise, revere and serve God. 

“I may desire this option, but I do not need to possess it. If another choice better serves God and others, I am willing to receive it.”

Holy Indifference is like asking – if the preferred outcome were not available, could I still remain open to God and choose faithfully? If the answer is in negative then I may not have sufficient interior freedom for discernment. 

Indifference increases rather than decreases freedom. Attachment narrows the field of vision while openness allows the person to see and choose more truthfully.

Suppose a priest is discerning between two options – a prestigious academic posting in a city school and a less lucrative position in a remote village school. Shouldn’t he choose the second option? Not necessarily. 

Ignatius would ask the priest to be free from the desire for prestige, comfort and vainglory and then take it up in prayer after carefully examining the lights and shadows of both the options. The real question is - “Which option, in this concrete situation, enables me to love and serve more generously?” 

Whatever the eventual choice, the question is whether it was made in freedom, prayerfulness and with the end in mind, that is selfless service. The whole purpose is that one’s desires are rightly ordered. 

I may rightly prefer health to sickness, peace to violence, or adequate resources to poverty. Yet I remain willing to serve God faithfully even when suffering, limitation, or loss becomes unavoidable.

Holy indifference is not the absence of desire but the freedom to desire rightly, becoming free enough to choose what God’s love asks of us.