Following a new Lord
7. Don Juan loses his job
Iñigo’s Lord, Don Juan Valazquez de Cuellar had a well paid job as the national treasurer of Castile. With the job came not just money, but property such as the castle he lived in in Arévalo and the revenues from lands. However, when King Ferdinand of Castile died in 1516, the King was replaced by his grandson Carlos who came from the Spanish Netherlands. The young king had his own retinue from the Low Countries to whom he wanted to give lucrative jobs. He also wanted to provide for his mother, and gave her Don Juan’s castle.
Iñigo moved with Don Juan to a modest house in Madrid, but his patron survived the loss of his fortune for only a year. After his death, his widow could not afford to maintain an extensive household, so she packed Iñigo off with two horses, 500 ducats and a letter of recommendation to the Viceroy of Navarre, Duke of Nájera. Iñigo moved north to Navarre.
A thought to ponder
Looking back at disappointments in your own life, how did you best come to terms with them?
Did you have a faith in God that was helpful?
Scripture for the Day
As a way of praying today’s Scripture we suggest, Imaginative Contemplation.
Luke 12: 15-21 NRSVACE
Jesus said to the crowd, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed;
for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’
Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly.
And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?”
Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”
But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”
So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’
Music for Today
Lord Jesus think on me : Sung by the choir of St Michael and All Angels, Bassett
Purchase more choral hymn music
Nájera Monastery
The current Monastery of Santa Maria la Real in Nájera took 80 years to build and was finished two years before Ignatius took up his post with the Duke of Nájera.
Photo: Dietmar Giljohann, Wikimedia