Foundation of the Ignatian Exercises

The human person is created

to praise,

reverence

and serve God our Lord,

and by so doing save his or her soul;

and it is for the human person that

the other things on the face of the earth are created,

as helps to the pursuit of this end.

It follows from this that the person has to use these things

in so far as they help toward this end,

and to be free of them

in so far as they stand in the way of it.

To attain this, we need to make ourselves indifferent

toward all created things,

provided the matter is subject to our free choice

and there is no prohibition.

Thus, for our part we should not want health more than sickness,

wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace,

a long life more than a short one--

and so with everything else;

desiring

and choosing

only what leads more to the end for which we are created. (Michael Ivans translation)