Winter 2012

Boston College and Marquette University High Students Reap Benefits

of Retreating in the Outdoors

Into the Wilderness

Also: Listening to God and the Call to Novices

InsIde:

Welcoming Home Fr. Rick Curry

Calls Us Forward to

Help Veterans

Dear Friends,

I first met a Jesuit when I attended our Jesuit high school here in Milwaukee. At first I was curious and wondered why these priests and brothers weren’t working in a regular parish church like the other priests I knew. Soon, I learned about the variety of ministries in which the Jesuits are engaged all over the world. Still today, most people encounter Jesuits outside of the diocesan parish structure, like I did at Marquette University High School.

Many Jesuits serve the Church in the ministry of education. Yet Jesuits also serve in other ministries far beyond the classroom. Some are hospital chaplains, some are pastors, and some are administrators. No matter what specific work they do, all Jesuits consider the original wish of our founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, that this band of apostles should work for “the salvation of souls” and help people advance in their faith. The overall mission of the Society of Jesus has not changed much over the last 500 years or so, although its articulation has evolved because of changing times and circumstances.

Our recent Jesuit documents say we are “servants of Christ’s mission,” which reminds us of the centrality of Jesus Christ in our ministry. Jesuits are called to be part of the Church’s “overall mission of evangelization” or spreading the Gospel message. In speaking to the Jesuits gathered at our most recent General Congregation in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI confirmed and reaffirmed the two inseparable and integrated parts of the Jesuit mission today: “the service of faith” and the “promotion of the justice of the Kingdom” of God. Whether Jesuits serve in pastoral, educational, social, communication or spiritual ministries, those two dimensions of the mission are paramount.

As you read the articles in this issue of Jesuit Journeys, you’ll see examples of the different ways the Jesuit mission is lived out. Be inspired by the work of Fr. Rick Curry, SJ, who directs a theater company for the handicapped, and who assists wounded veterans in their re-entry to civilian life after military service. Listen to the reflections of students who traveled by canoe into the wilderness led by two young Jesuit priests. There they discover the beauty of God’s creation, reflect on the direction of their lives, and appreciate the silence of this adventure-filled retreat in the woods. Read the vocation stories of our newest Jesuits as they explain how the Lord pursued them and called them to follow Him in service. Consider the long-range view of our human ethical responsibility to care for earth and the environment, and discover how this is a crucial element of the Christian call to be witnesses to God’s presence in the world.

Jesuits can’t be everywhere, but we do our best to serve at the frontiers of faith and justice beyond the parish boundaries.

Gratefully in Christ,

Tom Lawler, SJ Provincial

As members of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits endeavor to help people grow more deeply in love with Jesus Christ, moving them to serve others. Emphasizing education and justice ministries, we work with our lay colleagues to build a more just and humane world, especially for the poor and the marginalized.

Jesuit Journeys is published three times a year and distributed by the Jesuits of the Wisconsin Province – Fr. Tom Lawler, SJ, publisher – to increase awareness and understanding of how Jesuits seek the greater glory and honor of God through stories about them, their co-workers, their ministries and the people whose lives they touch.

For editorial matters, contact the editor (editor@jesuitswisprov.org).

To change an address or for information about ways to give, visit www.jesuitpartners.org or contact Jack Paquette (jpaquette@jesuitswisprov.org) or Dan O’Brien (dobrien@jesuitswisprov.org).

3400 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53208 (414) 937-6955 or (800) 537-3736

Managing Editor: Rory Gillespie(editor@jesuitswisprov.org)

Designer: Jeff ZmaniaEditorial Assistant: Maureen Lelinski

IN THIS ISSUE WINTEr 2012 vol.20, No.1

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7 IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITYExercise—spirituallyaswellasphycially—isimportanttoyourlife.

8 A LETTER FROM UGANDAOcerCampionJesuitCollegeinGuluiscapturingsuccessduringitssecondyear.

10 INTO THE WINDERNESSBostonCollegeand

MarquetteUniversityHighstudentsdiscovertheoutdoorsandmuchaboutthemselvesduringasummerretreat.

19 LISTENING TO GODThe“Call”tolifeintheSocietyisasdifferentasaretheninemenwhoprofessedVows.

22 WELCOMING HOMEJesuitFr.RickCurrycallseveryonetosteptothefrontofthelineandhelpreturningveterans.

28 SOCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL MINISTRYThereisaplanetaryEmergency.

31 SEASONAL REFLECTIONIsitpossibletohavefuninyourfaithlife?

FR. ORObATOR COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL U.S. vISITAfter a successful visitation with various Milwaukee Jesuit 

ministries and communities, Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, provincial of the Eastern Africa Province, returned to Nairobi. His schedule included concelebrating the annual Marquette University High School World Hunger Mass and engaging 

Marquette University administrators and faculty regarding possible collaboration with a higher education initiative in Eastern Africa. He also was a keynote speaker at the Ignatian Family Teach-In held in Washington, D.C.

While news often focuses on the significant hardships facing the 230 million residents that comprise Eastern Africa, (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan), Fr. Orobator made it a point to speak of the tremendous natural beauty and, even more importantly, a beauty in the Eastern African people who express in their lives vitality, joy, faith and hope. This year a special collection at the MUHS 

Mass raised more than $4,000 which was donated to the Jesuit Relief Services located in East Africa.

SOCIALLY RESPONSIbLE INvESTINGA shareholder engagement led by Jesuit groups yielded a 

corporate human rights policy at Cleveland based OM Group. Midwestern Jesuits led the shareholder dialogue with the company regarding the need for a comprehensive and verifiable human rights policy. At the annual meeting, the Jesuit-led stockholder resolution delivered an impressive 43% favorable vote. With the recent acquisition of a German company (Vacuumschmelze) OM Group now employs 6,400 worldwide and is a leading supplier of specialty chemicals. Particular concerns raised in this shareholder engagement include cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly the practices of joint venture partners.

Thanks to U.S. and Canadian Jesuit provinces, Loyola University, Creighton Prep, Regis (New York) and other religious investors who co-filed support of this resolution. 

AMERICA MAGAzINE NAMES SCHLEGEL PUbLISHER AND PRESIDENT

America Press Inc., the Jesuit-sponsored magazine and website, announced the appointment of Fr. John P. Schlegel, SJ, as publisher and president. Fr. Schlegel, who recently completed 11 years as president of Creighton University in Omaha, assumed his office in November.

The joining of the publisher’s role with that of the president of America Press is an early outcome of the press’s strategic planning process which will conclude in late February. As president, Schlegel succeeds Fr. Drew Christiansen, SJ, who will remain America’s editor in chief. 

Around the Province

on the cover Marquette University High School students portage canoes during a retreat at the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.

Jesuitfathers(from left)TomManahan,WarrenSazamaandAgbonkhianmegheOrobatorcelebratedtheMassforworldhungerandMarquetteHighSchool.

Cover Story

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4 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Around the Province

NATIvITY jOINS WITH NOTRE DAME IN HOLY SPIRIT MASSMilwaukee’s Nativity Jesuit Middle School celebrated the Mass 

of the Holy Spirit with Notre Dame Middle School, a Milwaukee-area Catholic school for girls. The Mass, a first of its type for both schools, was held in Notre Dame’s chapel, the former St. Wenceslaus parish church. Concelebrated by Nativity President Fr. Jim Flaherty, SJ, and board member Fr. John Fitzgibbons, SJ, students from both schools participated as lectors, musicians, singers and acolytes. Also present were parents and trustees from both schools.

AFRICAN HUNGER CRISES UPDATEThe various projects and collections for famine/hunger relief in 

the Horn of Africa continue. Recently Creighton Prep designated its regular mission collections (totaling $5,000) to those affected. To date, our Midwest provinces (Wisconsin and Chicago-Detroit) have helped to get $150,000 to Jesuit-led responses to the crisis.

To join in Eastern Africa relief you can help in two ways:Immediate Food Aid: The Jesuits of Eastern Africa are 

collaborating with religious congregations and dioceses on a Famine Relief Project that aims to provide food for people in some of the worst hit areas of northern Kenya. Please go to www.jesuitpartners.org.

Long Term Assistance: The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in East Africa has been assisting refugees from Somalia for many years. They are seeking additional financial support to accommodate the increased flow of traumatized famine survivors. Please go to www.jrsusa.org.

HONORS AND ACCOLADESThe University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Roberto Hernández 

Center honored Fr. José Moreno, SJ, as Milwaukee Hispanic of the Year. He received a second plaque personally delivered by his alderman, Jim Witkowiak, with a commendation from Milwaukee’s Common Council.

Fr. John Patrick Donnelly, SJ, retired after 40 years in the classroom at Marquette University’s Department of History and was named Professor Emeritus. He continues to be active by teaching one course and assisting with the morning liturgies at Gesu Parish as well as translating a 16th Century Latin commentary on the book of Genesis.

Fr. William J. Kelly, SJ, received the William F. O’Donnell Civic Achievement Award. This was presented at the liturgy before 

the William Ryan Drew Scholarship dinner sponsored by the Milwaukee Chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

FITzGIbbONS TO bE REGIS PRESIDENTFr. John P. Fitzgibbons, SJ, will be the 24th 

president of Regis University. He will begin his term on June 1, the retirement date announced by current president, Fr. Michael J. Sheeran, SJ. 

Fr. Fitzgibbons most recently served as the associate provost for faculty development at Marquette University in Milwaukee. He served on the University of San Francisco (USF) Board of Trustees from June 2001 through June 2008. In addition, he was elected to the Gonzaga 

University Board of Trustees in July 2008. He served as vice president for administration and interim dean of the College of Professional Studies at USF from June 2007 to June 2009.

He was appointed superior and director of novices at the Novitiate of the North American Martyrs in St. Paul from 2001-2006. He taught English at Marquette University from 1993 to 1996 and at Creighton University from 1996 to 2001. 

Fr. Fitzgibbons holds a Ph.D. in English from Loyola University Chicago; an S.T.M. in moral theology from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; and M.Div. from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.

A native of Omaha, he entered the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1985. 

DIULIO TO vATICAN ObSERvATORYFr. Albert J. DiUlio, SJ, is president-elect of the 

Vatican Observatory Foundation in Tucson, Ariz., after six years at the Jesuit Conference in Washington, D.C. 

Fr. DiUlio has been President of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Xavier University in Cincinnati, the Catholic School System of Los Angeles and was the founder of the Ethiopian Catholic University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

NativitySchoolPresidentFr.JimFlahertyillustratedtheGospelmessagetostudentsduringtheMassoftheHolySpirit.

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n Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 5

He comes to the Vatican Observatory Foundation after a sabbatical that found him in Spain, Los Angeles and San Antonio. 

COMINGS AND GOINGSFr. John D. Mace, SJ, returned to Asia — 

specifically to Cambodia. Cambodia is a mission of the Korean Province, and John Mace will assist Fr. Gabriel Byong-young Je, SJ, the delegate of the Korean Provincial for the Cambodia Mission. 

Fr. David Haschka, SJ, has joined the Wisconsin Province staff as Delegate for Safety in Ministry. 

Paul A. Lickteig, SJ, who is scheduled to be ordained in June, was ordained to the diaconate at Church of Christ the Light 

Cathedral in Oakland, Calif. by the Bishop of Oakland, Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone.

Michael Rossmann, SJ, will complete his First Studies program with an internship with the Creighton Center for Service and Justice and vocation promotion work. 

NOvICES MAKE LONG EXPERIMENTThe Long Experiment for Jesuit novices 

usually lasts from January until early May and is an opportunity to be immersed in Jesuit apostolic life, living in a Jesuit community and working full time in an apostolate before proclaiming First Vows.Recent assignments are:Garret Gundlach –Loyola High School in Detroit.Ken Homan –St. Procopius Parish in Chicago. Robert Karle –pastoral ministry at Holy Rosary Mission in Pine Ridge, S.D.Keith Kozak –Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities in Minneapolis.Paul Miner –Jesuit Academy in Omaha.Trevor Rainwater –Marquette University High School.

“REALITY” KEY AT TEACH-IN“The Gritty Reality” was the theme of the 

2011 Ignatian Family Teach-In that drew more than 1,100 to Georgetown University in November. The theme is attributed from a line in former Jesuit Superior General Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s Santa Clara address which described a faith-justice pedagogy which brings students into direct contact with those who are suffering and broken. Through this education of the heart, informed by faith, all are encouraged to become more committed to the long-term work for social change. Teach-In attendees represented all 28 Jesuit universities, more 

than 25 Jesuit high schools, Jesuit parishes, Jesuit volunteer communities, and many other Catholic institutions and organizations. 

Wisconsin Province Jesuits and colleagues attending included Wisconsin Provincial Fr. Tom Lawler, SJ, who addressed students during an advocacy training session.

The Wisconsin affiliated groups made 12 congressional visits, primarily regarding immigration reform and the DREAM Act. Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, Eastern Africa Provincial, was one of the three keynote speakers. A variety of break-out sessions considered social, environmental and human rights concerns.

DAHIRS PRESENTED 2011 IGNATIAN SPIRIT AWARD

A famous statue of St. Ignatius depicts him walking into the wind, his body leaning forward and his cape billowed, but a look of energy emanates from his face. Challenges are opportunities, difficult requests are avenues for change and renewal. This is the Ignatian way.

Mike and Mary Jo Dahir of Omaha represent this spirit. They are always available to the Church and the Society of Jesus. 

Creighton Prep High School is blessed by their involvement with capital campaigns and Creighton University is helped through their 

support of student housing. The Jesuit Partnership Council of Omaha was chaired by Mike for many years, with the loving support and involvement of Mary Jo. Gesu Housing is stronger from the involvement of Mary Jo as a board member as well as financial and administrative guidance from both.

Mike and Mary Jo are always available when the Jesuits — or the Omaha community — ask for their involvement. The wind is never too strong for either of them.

The Ignatian Spirit Award, presented by the Jesuit Partnership Council of Omaha, and its tradition are alive in recent recipients Mike and Mary Jo Dahir. And, it is alive in the Omaha community.

Around the Province

Haschka Lickteig

CreightonUniversitybroughtastrongdelegationtotheIgnatianFamilyTeach-In.

IgnatianSpirithonoreesMikeandMaryJoDahir.

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Around the Province

6 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

TWIN CITY PARTNERS REACHING OUT, REAPING REWARDSReaching out to more people to support collaboration with the 

Jesuits in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is a goal for the Twin Cities Jesuit Partnership Council, according to the Council’s new chair, Dave Graff.

“We have had very gratifying success engaging new members this year,” Graff said, “but now we need to continue to earn that engagement, and harness everyone’s ideas and connections, to continue to build a team that supports the mission, find new and creative ways to bring people together, and create awareness of the Jesuit mission in action.”

A recent “Meet and Greet” event was informal and fun, and attracted people who had not connected before. Council members, alumni of Jesuit schools, and others who embrace the Jesuit tradition to be men and women for others all came together. 

“While I had family models for this kind of involvement, it was really my experience at Marquette University High School that opened to me the way the Jesuits operate for the benefit of the community around them — so creatively and selflessly, and with spirituality at the center,” Graff said.

He has been working with the Twin Cities Council since 2006, but the connection began when he was a student in Milwaukee.

“Fr. Warren Sazama, SJ, who had been my instructor at MUHS, invited me to work with the Jesuit Partnership group in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Here there is not the obvious Jesuit presence of a Marquette or a Creighton, yet there is a large and vital community to serve. I felt honored and fortunate to have the chance to reconnect more closely and help if I could,” he said.

He feels working with the Partnership has been rewarding.“Being a volunteer with the Jesuits has provided all kinds of side 

benefits,” Graff said. “Connecting with new and different people around the metro area, gaining deeper awareness of and experiencing more closely the impact of Jesuit ministries, having a faith community ‘home’ outside of my local parish with which to share a cause and grow spiritually in the Ignatian tradition are just a few. The expression about getting back what you put in, and then some, has been validated repeatedly for me.”

Graff sees serving on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Partnership Council as a special experience.

“We have a diverse community, and I am constantly surprised to discover how many people have connections to the Jesuits,” he said. “The opportunity to find creative and fun ways to bring people together is really engaging. We have a great team on the Council, varied in our backgrounds but with a shared purpose and commitment that brings us together. I always look forward to our meetings and events.”

Graff also sees more importance for laypeople collaborating with the Jesuits?

“I believe causes and organizations that focus on building strong communities and serving both physical and spiritual needs are important. The Jesuit mission and ministries are appealing precisely because they are directed toward serving the whole person,” he said.

“There is a lot of personal reward in being able to share time and ideas, or just ‘be there’ with others to congratulate and show appreciation to those who make commitments toward these goals. The Jesuits are great stewards and very appreciative of what we offer, 

and they do incredible things with the help we provide through their focus and energy.

“I encourage everyone to look at the efforts of the Jesuits locally and around the world. Look at who they are serving, and the way they seek to serve the whole person.” JJ

TheJesuitPartnershipCouncilofMilwaukeehelpedtheJesuitsoftheSt.CamillusCommunitycelebrateChristmas.CouncilmemberDanMeyerhelpedCarolWernerkickoffthecarolingsessioninWauwatosa,Wis.

ProvincialFr.TomLawler,SJ,receivedtheFinalVowsofFr.PatMalone,SJ,atSt.John’sontheCreightonUniversitycampus.

DaveGraffchattedwithFr.ChrisManahan,SJ,superioroftheJesuitNovitiate,duringaTwinCitiesPartnershipCouncilevent.

CHRISTMAS CAROLING AT ST. CAMILLUS

MALONE PROFESSES FINAL vOWS

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 7

By Christopher P. Johnson, SJ

Exercise is usually done for another reason. Of course some pleasure can be found in exercise itself, but generally the true pleasure is in the health that 

results — the lost pounds, the sounder sleep and alertness, the easier putting of the bag in the overhead bin.

Something else true about exercise is that although there may be a few immediate results, the real benefits come over time. If one has not been exercising lately, getting back can take some discipline. Over time, exercise becomes a habit, and when it is missed, it is genuinely missed. When it is missed for a longer period time, the benefits one enjoyed begin to slip away  — one is no longer so agile, and maybe some former aches and pains return.

It is worth noting as well that different exercises are appropriate to different ends. Some might help with your golf game, others with putting that bag in the overhead bin, others with more general fitness. Before committing time and energy to an exercise program, it is a good idea to know what one is really trying to achieve.

Spiritual exercises are similar. They are not really for their own sake. They have some immediate results, but the biggest benefits come from the cumulative effect. It also takes some discipline to get started and keep going, but the greater the number of days and weeks and months one has engaged them, the more of a habit they become. It is also true that not every spiritual exercise is right for every spiritual state. A sense of where one stands and what one desires is important in choosing the right exercise.

No matter the particular exercise, spiritual exercises in the Christian context really have a twofold aim: to help the maker of the exercise become more free to be aware of reality, the reality that in each moment God’s free gift is creating, sustaining, and transforming creation; and to help the maker of the exercise become more free to respond to his or her circumstance in a way that most draws attention to and magnifies God’s love. St. Ignatius called this being disposed, free of disordered 

attachments, and thus made free for the magis, for the greater glory of God.

In the first annotation, or explanatory note, of the text of the “Spiritual 

Exercises,” St. Ignatius writes: “By the term Spiritual Exercises we 

mean every method of examination of conscience, meditation, contemplation, vocal or mental prayer, and other spiritual activities, such as will be mentioned later. For, just as taking a walk, traveling on foot, and running are physical exercises, so is the name of spiritual 

exercises given to any means of preparing and disposing our soul to rid itself of all its disordered affections and then, after their removal, of seeking and finding God’s will in the ordering of our life for the salvation of our soul.”

The Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices. St. Ignatius organized the Exercises into four “weeks” aimed at helping the one making the exercises come to a greater experience of God’s love, hear with greater clarity the call to join God’s enterprise, realize that in following that call 

there is a cost, and that in moving through suffering in love, one finds true joy. For centuries the Exercises were most commonly made as a 

“long retreat” of about 30 days in solitude and silence. The most common way of making the Exercises now is according to what St. Ignatius suggested in the 19th annotation of his text, in a “retreat in daily life” in which the four “weeks” of the Exercises are experienced over a number of months through 

a program of daily prayer and regular meetings with a spiritual director.  As St. Ignatius recommended, the Exercises have also been adapted in many other ways to meet the needs of contemporary circumstances. It is good to keep in mind that St. 

Ignatius intended his Exercises for whomever would benefit most. He developed them as a layperson and first gave them to lay people. 

If you have been exercising spiritually, you are probably realizing the benefits of greater freedom in awareness and action. If you have not been exercising spiritually much or at all, you might consider jump-starting your spiritual workout routine by making a retreat or finding a spiritual director who could serve as your spiritual personal trainer. If nothing else, start with the Examen. It is St. Ignatius’ minimum: at some time during the day take no more than 15 minutes to note for what you are most grateful, make a short review of your day to see where God has been active and where you have moved closer to God and where you might have moved away. Note your disappointment for the moments you moved away from where God was drawing you and find joy in those where you 

moved closer, and conclude with the resolution to continue paying attention and more consistently follow your truest desires.

It’s always the perfect time to improve your health, especially your spiritual health. JJ

Christopher P. Johnson, SJ, is in theology studies at The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Why Exercise?

SpiritualityIgnatIan

“before committing time and energy to an exercise program, it is a good idea to know what one is really trying to achieve.”

– Christopher P. Johnson, SJ

8 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Fr. Tony Wach, SJ  Project Director

As the second year of school recently drew to a close, the whole school 

community assembled for Mass presided over by myself, and we gave great thanks to God for all his blessings. The 111 students  — 32 from Primary 7 and 79 from Secondary 1  — then headed home until we resume in early February. By then we expect to add another 100 to 120 students, bringing us to well over 200!

Thank goodness our new boys’ dorm should soon be finished. The big dorm for girls opened last February and included some temporary classrooms and office for Fr. Mulili Innocent, SJ, headmaster. The new classroom complex, including science and IT labs as well as temporary library, also should be ready in February. We’re praying that we soon hear the success of the application for funds to build our planned new kitchen and much bigger dining room, which also will be available for all-school assemblies.

Back to today’s Mass. The celebration included 10 students who had asked for and been prepared for baptism and another 14 joining them for their first Communions. These latter had been baptized years ago, but because of the long war insecurities, they had not been able to be prepared to receive Communion. The day before we had our first all-school communal reconciliation service. Fr. Tom Mawayu, longtime diocesan friend of the Jesuits in Kampala, led the students through a nice examination of conscience. Fr. Strzok and another local diocesan friend of Ocer Campion helped Fr. Mawayu and myself with the confessions. Needless to say, the singing and joy both then and at Mass were exuberant. The final song at 

Mass was “Ocer, ocer,” Acholi for “He rose, He rose from the dead, and He will lead his people home.” Hopefully, besides some good students coming out of here, we’ll have some great apostles for Christ and future servant-leaders for Uganda!

After the Mass, the support staff had prepared a big feast, and many of the students entertained us with Christmas carols. The special cake disappeared very quickly and then Fr. Mulili officially ended the school year by presenting the students their final reports  — hopefully good news for all. We Jesuits, at least Fr. Mulili and myself, are ready to collapse. Thanks for all your prayers as we look toward a prosperous new year. JJ

A Letter from UgandaF r . Wa c h s h a r e s t h e s u cc e s s e s o F o c e r c a m p i o n

J e s u i t co l l e g e i n g u lu

InternationalWomen’sDaywascelebratedwithspeakersandpresentations.

“Hopefully, besides some good students coming out of here, we’ll have some great apostles for Christ and future servant-leaders for Uganda!”

– Fr. Tony Wach, SJ

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 9

(Above)VisitingDay,whereparentscomeandspendtimewiththestudents,wascelebratedatOcerCampionJesuitCollegeinGulu,Uganda.

(left)Thefootballteamisreadyforaction.

(Far left) TailoringisoneofthemanyvocationalskillstaughtatOcerCampion.

10 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Into the Wilderness

There is solid footing to believe retreating into the wilderness is good for you. John the Baptist came from the wilderness, and Jesus went into the wilderness at an important time of his

life to gather himself.Over the years, two Jesuits have shared their experiences of the

wilderness with groups of young men in the form of retreats.

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 11

Jesuit Frs. Casey Beaumier and Mark Carr entered the Society of Jesus in 1993 and shared life in the novitiate. They both had camping backgrounds and discovered camaraderie in faith and enjoying the outdoors. As regents (Beaumier taught English at Creighton Prep in Omaha and Carr taught social studies at Marquette High in Milwaukee), they decided to share their attraction to the outdoors and faith with students at their respective schools. Wilderness retreats were born. What began as a joint trip with some from Creighton Prep and some from Marquette University High, has grown. Fr. Beaumier, who is studying history at Boston College, has taken several groups on wilderness retreats from that Jesuit institution as well as a trip with Prep alums. Fr. Carr, assistant principal, brought back the wilderness experience to some of his MUHS students this summer.

Both continue to use versions of a retreat guidebook they developed as regents. Like St. Ignatius’ “Spiritual Exercises,” these books contain a grace for each day and points for prayer and reflection. They also contain readings for each day. In addition to scripture, the books include quotes from spiritual figures such as the Wisconsin Province’s Fr. John Eagan, SJ,: “The best, most wonderful thing that can happen in this life is that you should be silent and let God work and speak.”

“The ‘Exercises’ value silence for the retreatant,” said Fr. Carr who, with Jesuit regent Chris Krall, SJ, took students to the Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. “Part of the grandeur of the wilderness is its quiet and isolation. It is very powerful for the kids.” 

The Boston College students are older, more mature and stronger than the high school retreatants. Fr. Beaumier stresses the retreat as having a continuing impact on their lives. “During the academic year, we meet monthly for fellowship as a group and I see each student one-on-one for ongoing spiritual direction,” Fr. Beaumier said. “I want their relationship with Jesus Christ to deepen — the retreat is one step in that important journey.

“It’s easy to find God in the wilderness,” Fr. Beaumier said. “But the content of the retreat is more important than the context. My hope is that this experience plants the seed for making future

annual retreats as Jesuit grads at our retreat houses around the United States,” he said of the students’ experience on the Penobscot River in Maine.

The days are filled with paddling and prayer, silence and reflection, hiking and daily Mass. As Fr. Carr said: “Taking time away from their normal summer jobs and routines, these retreatants journeyed, not only spiritually, but also physically and they paddled and portaged over 70 miles with the outdoors serving as their ‘retreat house.’ A normal day involved about six hours of canoeing — including the first hours in silence – and four and a half hours of prayer, Mass, reflecting and faith sharing.”Following are the reflections of some participants.

Dan Flaherty, Boston College junior“While on retreat in Maine I was able to do almost a status

report on my life. Spending so much time in reflection and prayer allowed me to focus on a lot of pressing questions in my life: What are my strengths and weaknesses? Where have I felt God’s love in my life? Where do I feel like God is directing me in life? What changes do I want to make in my life to increase my connection with God on a daily basis? Coming into the school year I feel more confident, more ready to tackle the life of an undergraduate student and a much stronger connection with the Father. After the retreat I feel sure of my core identity as a son of God. I think having an appreciation for one’s core identity is huge in the tumultuous life of a college undergraduate. With a certainty in my core identity all other things in college just seem to fall into place.”

Sebastian Juncadella, Boston College senior “I would have to say that being in the wilderness has

helped me greatly when it comes to personal reflection and contemplation. There is something invigorating about the sounds, smells and sights in these vast expanses, and the experience of the wild is nourishing to the soul in a way that is truly profound. And, just as proper nutrition and exercising go hand in hand in the athletic world, so do the “exercises” (Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius) and the nourishment that the wilderness provides.”

Eddie Linn, Marquette University High“The Quetico wilderness retreat was like no other

experience I have ever had. The combination of intense prayer and physical trials really put things in perspective. The beauty of God’s creation is often taken for granted in such a modern age. The wilderness makes it easy to step back and analyze who I am and what is important to me because I was not worried about a text or email from a friend. I was able to pray like I never have before, because of the truly private environment.

“This trip was far more than just a camping trip. My relationship with God was strengthened. I pray more. I ask for God’s guidance more. I have received a new heart from my experience in the Quetico. My relationship with God aside, I really enjoyed getting to know the other guys. My favorite day was the one day when it rained. It poured and poured and yet our attitude could not have been better. We spent the entire day soaking wet, sore and happy. I hope to go back soon, but I know I will never have the same retreat experience again.”

“being in the wilderness

allows me to open up and

become more aware and

sensitive to my heart and mind.”

– Esteban Munera, Boston College

ThebeautyandsilenceofAllagashRiverinMainewasaconduitforaretreatandtimeofdiscoveryforBostonCollegestudents.TakingthejourneydirectedbyFr.CaseyBeaumierareBostonCollegestudents (from left) MikeVillafranca,GianniMatera,Fr.Beaumier,DanFlaherty,RodolfoRosas,SebastianJuncadella,EstebanMunera,BenMartin,ConnorThomsonandPaulBorn.

12 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Esteban Munera, Boston College “Being in the wilderness allows me to open up and become

more aware and sensitive to my heart and mind. I feel that my connection with God is clearer and tangible at some points. Being away from the stress and day to day pressures as a college student in itself is a relief, but to have a guided spiritual meditation guide to gently lead one through ones thoughts and feelings is grace.”

Michael Malucha, Marquette University High“Silence. “This is one virtue that our society is lacking today. Silence 

encourages prayer, meditation and a deeper level of a spiritual awareness. On the Quetico wilderness retreat, I was given 

multiple opportunities for quiet prayer and meditation. We started out our day with an hour of silence and spent over an hour each afternoon meditating on the theme for the day. These opportunities for silence gave me the chance to pray about scripture and saints. It also allowed for participation in Jesuit exercises. My favorite moment of silence was during my hour of Eucharistic Adoration at 2 in the morning, with the bonfire reflecting off the monstrance. The Quetico Wilderness Retreat was a very faith-filled and life-changing retreat.”

Ben Martin, Boston College“I think the wilderness offers several advantages for

engaging in the Spiritual Exercises. First, Christ retreated to the wilderness before beginning his own public ministry, as did 

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 13

St. Ignatius. Their very example gives greater meaning to the wilderness as a place of retreat, a place where we will follow in their footsteps.

“Second, the physical distance from home and work, along with the lack of technology, allows us to step outside our daily routines and engage in uninterrupted reflection. 

“Third, the discomfort and the need for cooperation associated with life outdoors often tests our patience and allows us to discover our own generosity or lack of generosity outside a comfortable and predictable environment. I have found it to be a great environment for learning to listen to the movements of the heart. Finally, the wilderness allows one to appreciate the beauty of nature and to enjoy connections both to the history of a particular region and also to the rest of humanity, past and present, in a very concrete way: to connect with everyone who has ever stood in awe before a magnificent landscape or stared into the night sky or struggled to pitch his or her camp in wild nature.”

Maxwell Roeske, Marquette University High “Spending a week in the Canadian wilderness with no

electricity or contact with the outside world is not an easy adventure. The fruits, however, of being so close to the beauty of nature without being disturbed by the business of everyday human life far outweighed the hardships. Swimming in waterfalls, laying under a night sky that was not black but rather vibrant and colorful with millions of stars, drinking water straight out of lakes and having it taste like the freshest water you have ever drank — these were all everyday opportunities in the Quetico. Consequently, finding God was not a hard task. God displayed His raw, majestic creation before my very eyes, and by recognizing its beauty I grew closer to Him. By taking the times to sit, pray, reflect, and just watch the world revolve around me, I found God’s love, and strengthened my relationship with Him.” 

Dan Flaherty“Being a college student, it can be extremely easy to get

caught up in the ‘grind,’ where almost all the attention is put on school work and social lives. Going up to a place like Maine allowed me to escape from it all, to connect with God on a level I had never been able to previously. In Maine there are 

no distractions, nothing to deter your gaze from the beauty of God. In my experience, I had never felt God’s presence throughout my day the way I did in Maine. I didn’t just feel His presence when I was in prayer or during mass but all day long, as He guided my canoe and sat amongst us at the campfire. Living simply in the woods really strengthened my ability to feel God’s presence and really strengthened the quality of my prayer, and the quality of my silence.”

Sebastian Juncadella“These retreats have helped

me grow tremendously due to the fact they help me set goals and come into contact with my core identity. The Exercises always provide direction and guide me closer to God. I’ve seen myself grow as a result and feel blessed to be part of a Jesuit institution where an experience such as this can take place.”

Esteban Munera “As an undergraduate, I think I have grown in affective

maturity and personal balance. I believe a gift that can be taken from college is the ability to maintain a healthy balance in life. This balance, however, is always changing as we grow and our needs change. The danger is to never adjust and remain flexible to our primary identity. The wilderness retreat grants me time to reflect on what I need to do in the present and the future to stay true to my identity while preserving my other callings in life.”

Ben Martin “The wilderness retreat has given me the opportunity for

serious prayer and reflection just before the start of the academic year. It has been a time when I could recollect my thoughts and experiences from the summer, prepare mentally for the coming academic year, and pray over a particular set of graces that have both helped me in the start of the year, and, in some cases, become constant guides throughout the entire academic year and hopefully for the rest of my life. I have found most important the emphases on the need for time in silence every day, the need for careful attentiveness to the movements of the heart, and the value of a firm hope and the peace that it brings. The retreats have provided for me a great environment for learning these essential lessons and have encouraged me further to stay close to the sacraments. These have been central to the development of my own interior life.” JJ

TheMarquetteHighretreatantswere(clockwise beginning at left)BryceKrier,ChrisKrall,SJ,MichaelMalucha,AlexIdarraga,MaxwellRoeske,JamesChristain,EddieLinnandFr.MarkCarr,SJ.

DailyMasswasinintegralpartofthewildernessretreatfortheseMarquetteUniversityHighSchoolstudentsinCanada.Teacher,ChrisKrall,SJ,(kneeling) andFr.MarkCarr,SJ,ledthestudentsinfaithandportaging.

John R. Adams 

In the summer of 2008, my wife, Barbara, and I took a cruise around the Society Islands. The day we were 

at Bora Bora we had time to walk around the local community. We saw a sign announcing St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church and walked up to the doors of the plain, concrete block church. Finding the doors open, we entered to see the simple, but beautiful interior. Two decorations struck us immediately: first, the window over the Sanctuary  — the four evangelists and community events surrounding Jesus, and second, the Tabernacle. The window had clearly been painted by a local artist. The Tabernacle also had been carved from a local tree. We were awed by the simple beauty of it all. 

The Tabernacle is my regular focus for meditation. About one and a half years ago, I was recovering from a serious illness, and Barbara had posted a copy of the tabernacle picture in my nursing home room. Several times over a month, I reflected on this picture. Awed by the beauty of the blending of the physical tree and its spiritual contents, I felt as if there 

was a true Eucharistic presence in that room.

When I returned home, I placed the photo of the Tabernacle near my desk as a daily reminder of God’s creation and love. Is this the Root of Jesse, with its cut-off branch and the trunk of continuing faith? The egg-shaped light reminds me of 

creation and God’s presence in the universe from its very 

beginning. It is also the light pointing to the coming of Jesus as Messiah.

The Tabernacle door, its Eucharistic symbol and the surrounding carvings, all point to our Risen Lord present in the consecrated hosts contained within. A continued sense of communion with our Lord arises in me as I contemplate the mystery of salvation over time. Finally I see the flowers as a sign of the ongoing newness of life and God’s promise of love forever. The mixture of bird-of-paradise and ginger flowers also leads me back to Society Islands and the beauty of creation visible there. JJ

The Glory of a Simple Church Captured While on a Cruise

John R. Adams was ordained a deacon in Peoria, Ill and is now active at our lady of Assumption parish in Ventura, Calif. where he and his wife, Barbara, live. Both are graduates of Marquette University, he in engineering in 1959 and she in Arts and sciences in 1962.

14 Jesuit Journeys

Share a picture and a few words of places that inspired you while you were traveling.Send them to editor@jesuitswisprov.org – or mail them to: Jesuit Journeys Editor, 3400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53208

By Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ

Oddly, we were encouraged to contradict ourselves.

The first days of my Jesuit novitiate experience in St. Paul, Minn. were filled with instructions and guidelines for orienting the 10 of us first year novices to a purposeful program of community life and vocational discernment. There were rules about the cars we would share, procedures for kitchen duty, and responsibilities for Morning Prayer. There were a lot of daily basics, and there were also fundamentals spiritual in nature. When to do an Examen, why to participate in weekly faith sharing groups, and how to name and appreciate the dispositions of our interior lives are some examples of what we discussed.

As we learned about the components of the Jesuit novitiate, however, one particular bit of advice caught my attention. In fact, it’s the one specific suggestion from those early moments that I remember exactly. On a Sunday evening 18 years ago, from the southwest corner of the

living room of the novitiate building, in the rocking chair, the director of novices explained that we should not be afraid to contradict ourselves. I was surprised by the advice, in fact, and confused by what it meant. But I also smiled.

In the living room that night we were talking about Ignatian discernment and, more pointedly, how to engage spiritual direction, a process whereby each of us would meet weekly with one of the members of the novitiate staff and speak

FR. Daniel HenDRiCkSOn’S (center) JOURney in tHe SOCiety HaS taken Many patHS. He attenDeD tHe WORlD SOCial FORUM in naiROBi, kenya WitH (from left) MilaRy MUSHi, FR. GReG lynCH, SJ, FR. HenDRiCkSOn, FR. JiM HUG, SJ anD iGnaS CHenGUla.

Moving Forward in the Lives and Hearts of Others

The whole weekend was truly a holy, fantastic and insightful experience for my discernment,” 

said one participant of a discernment weekend this fall. 

Six men attended a “Weekend at the Novitiate” in St. Paul, seeing what life in the novitiate is like. Ten men visited Chicago’s Jesuit Loyola Community in late October, talking with and learning from young scholastics. On both occasions, the attendees examined Jesuit spirituality and had many questions answered. There is another Come and See weekend, please check it out under ‘Happenings’ on the back page. 

Check out all the videos and stories at:

Canadian Jesuit Scholastic Adam Hincks, SJ, an astro-physicist from Princeton University, talks about the journey that led him to the Jesuits.

Hendrickson On next paGe

On THE WEB

tHe COMe anD See WeekenD in CHiCaGO inClUDeD a tRip

tO lake MiCHiGan.

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M I D W E S T U S A j E S U I T S VOLUME 13 NO 2 WINTER 2012

Fall Discernment Weekend ‘Fantastic Experience’

thinkjesuit.org

CALLINGS

See HAPPEnInGS on back page for more upcoming events

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through the questions, moods, and insights regarding our praying and desiring to be Jesuits. Implicitly, we were not told to be clear, or certain, or consistent, but given permission to freely roam and wander widely about all the desires of our lives: careers, relationships, family life, religious life. Even if a bit messy and, well, contradicting, this was great data for good discernment. We would also learn that much of it was God’s data.

In the weeks and months that followed, this meant that we could ponder aloud, and loudly — with the director, but also with each other — the impulses, instincts, and incentives that pushed and pulled any of us. For instance, we could evaluate the network of relationships we all enjoyed in our own lives, and explore the layers of any single relationship. We could rejoice in the new relationships of a Jesuit brotherhood, and the ones that were forming with the partners and people of our service work. Once we engaged the “Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius, we would speak personally and powerfully about a relationship with God.

Many of us accepted the invitation to waver the road of the heart, and the more we did so, the more we learned about the spiritual force of our desires. The best of what we wanted was what God wanted. But they weren’t all possible, not at the same time, at any rate, or even in the same lifetime.

Our novice master knew this, of course. He knew the forces of his own heart, and he encouraged us to befriend the forces of ours. This, we learned, was the way forward, and making a decision was less about being right and wrong, or true and false, but about trusting how God was right in the middle of each of our lives, pushing and pulling.

All of this we brought into spiritual direction, wondering which pushes and pulls to follow. Back and forth, in fitful starts and unsteady stops, I once apologized to my spiritual director, “I’m all over the place this week. I want all of it, none of it. I’m not making sense.” He replied, “But you’re moving forward.”

I am still moving forward. Through excellent formation programs on each coast, a magnificent regency assignment between them, and, along the way, South Dakota, the sub-Sahara, and the sub-continent, my Jesuit journey forward has gained incredible momentum. It has traveled globally, but never not locally. As we had been encouraged to be so easily at home in our own lives and with our own hearts, I have found it easy to be at home in the lives and hearts of many others. My university students, the Lakota Sioux, Salvadoran campesinos, and the Maasai of the

Serengeti are some of them. I wouldn’t have guessed this 18 years ago.

I am now at home in a doctoral program. But not for much longer. I am writing my dissertation in the philosophy and education program at Columbia University, and, with completion in sight, preparing for a new assignment. It was in the doctoral program,

however, that I was once again encouraged to contradict myself. This time, though, I wasn’t stumped, and I smiled even more.

A Renaissance humanist philosopher, Michel de Montaigne, wrote about the intricacies and complexities of human life and of the myriad of desires at play within it. He is comfortable with all their possibilities, and he also says something to the effect about not being absolutely clear, steadfastly certain, and entirely consistent in what we know and understand about the world and ourselves. “So go ahead,” he suggests, “contradict yourself.” But as Montaigne says this, he is not that different from the novice master, or for that matter, Master St. Ignatius. Montaigne knows that we must move forward, and in doing so, we must make good decisions about our lives.

To help him keep doing this, Montaigne painted sayings on the ceiling beams of his study, words of encouragement from Greek and Roman philosophers who spoke eloquently about eloquent living. Socrates, Cicero, and Seneca coached him forward.

I am glad to have met Montaigne in my studies. Someday I too want to paint words on the ceiling of my study. Ignatius of Loyola offers good ones: “Go forth and set the world on fire.” I might also write “Micah 6:8.” In meeting and reading Montaigne these recent years, I am glad to be reminded about being genuine and intentional. Remembering that there are many ways forward seems to show me once again my own many desires, and it makes me exceedingly grateful for following my desire to be a Jesuit.

Montaigne in the 16th century and my novice master: they want us to make good, informed choices for living great lives, and they each offer powerful reflective methods for doing so. The brilliance of my novice master’s, that is, the genius of the “Spiritual Exercises” of the Jesuit tradition, is its ability to frame for any of us the options in life that are most fundamental and existential. The Exercises have a way of showing us what matters in life, and how and where God stands in this. Beckoning.

Hendrickson FROM pReviOUS paGe

the JourneyNOVITIATE | 1994-1996• St. Paul• L’Arche, Spokane, Wash.• Holy Rosary Mission, Pine Ridge, S.D.

HUMANITIES STUDIES | 1996-1997• Creighton University, Omaha • Language Study: Antigua, Guatemala• Summer service experience:

San Salvador, El Salvador

PHILOSOPHY STUDIES | 1997-2000• Fordham University, New York• Fordham Global Outreach: Calcutta, India• Language study: Paris

REGENCY | 2000-2003• Creighton University, Omaha

(Department of Philosophy)• Summer study experience: Greece• Semester service learning program:

Santiago, Dominican Republic• Summer immersion experience:

North East India

THEOLOGY STUDIES | 2003-2006• Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, Calif.• Parish: St. Agnes, Haight-Ashbury,

San Francisco • Inter-religious dialogue immersion: India• Language study: Guayaquil, Ecuador

ORDINATION | JUNE 9, 2006• Summer: Gesu Church,

Marquette University, Milwaukee • Academic Year: Tanzania, East Africa

DOCTORAL STUDIES | 2007-2012• Philosophy and Education Ph.D. program,

Columbia University, New York

“Implicitly, we were not told to be clear, or certain, or consistent, but given permission to freely roam and wander widely about all the desires of our lives: careers, relationships, family, and religious life.”– Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ

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By Ken Homan, nSJ

I had looked forward to the Pilgrimage Experiment for some time. The pilgrimage for us novices is this: $35, a one-way bus ticket, and a month to get

home. We should avoid staying with people we know or Jesuit communities. Most, if not all of us, set out with particular graces we sought. I wanted to visit different Native American ministries and to look for God’s work and hope in the world. My journal reveals that God made these graces extremely present.

My trip took me on a fairly big loop of the West — from the Twin Cities, to Albuquerque, to a Navajo Reservation, to Seattle, to Billings, to St. Louis, to Omaha and back to the Twin Cities. I spent

endless hours on the bus and hitchhiked with rude, wonderfully kind and story-telling persons. I stayed with Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuit Volunteers, my dad, and friends (I bent the rules a bit because they were places prayer led me). And perhaps that was the biggest grace I had — simply letting prayer lead me. Prayer, more than anything, helped this pilgrimage be about God’s will rather than my own desire for travel and adventures.

God gave me many different ways of seeing His love and action in the world. The uncopyable gifts of heaven that landscape our planet enveloped me with a sense of God’s love and inspiration in the world. The people I met filled me with more hope than I could ever ask. I met

God’s Graces Present on Pilgrimage

Vocation Director: “So, how do you pray?”Inquirer: “I am not sure I knowhow to answer that question.”

I was a bit stunned when the young man came back with no way to respond to my question about prayer. In my years

of interviewing men who want to join the Jesuits, I will say that I have heard lots of different answers to questions like: Why do you want to be a priest? What do you like about the Jesuits? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? But to have my question about prayer fall on (fresh) deaf ears was both disappointing and inviting.

Most people do not ordinarily talk about prayer or describe their experience of prayer to others. It’s usually a private matter and it often takes men by surprise when I ask about it. So, I would like to raise the awareness of those in discernment by posing two ways to talk about prayer:

1) What do YOU do in order to find God?2) What does GOD do in order to find you?

What YOU do?Jesuits are fond of claiming the phrase

“finding God in all things” as a method or style of Ignatian Spirituality. In truth, anyone who prays tries to “find” God. (Fr. James Martin, SJ, in his book, “How Can I Find

God” has collected ways that many famous believers have found God in prayer: Sr. Helen Prejean, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Huston Smith, Mimi Kennedy, Mary Higgins Clark, Hon. Paul Simon, etc.) Some men tell me they enjoy using the rosary, the daily Examen, the Liturgy of the Hours, or a contemplation of

the Gospel reading for a given day. A man illustrating his pathway to God helps a vocation director see exactly what steps he is taking in that search for intimacy with God. It speaks of his desire and discipline (discipleship). For example, many men under the age of 30 frequently talk about

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They indeed narrate a story of discovering Jesus in this most meditative tradition and how this form of worship offers the man peace and clarity. Some say they attend Eucharistic Adoration weekly. As well, Loyola University Chicago offers a weekly Taize service which allows students to find that meditative quiet space through music and rhythm. To speak of prayer in terms of days and weeks describes a metric or frequency that can indicate one is drawing closer to or further away from God. That is, the man who admits he attends Mass once a month is different from the man who responds, “I attend daily Mass.” In a similar way, one who can’t find time to pray has a hard time talking about what forms of prayer

he prefers and how often he uses them. The details of what YOU do in prayer are helpful to your vocation director.

What GOD does?The second way of talking about prayer is

less factual and more subtle. It attempts to describe how God has found YOU during your daily life. You might tell your spiritual director ways that you had been surprised by God’s grace in your experience. You might talk about God breaking into your life with graces you didn’t expect. Ignatius Loyola, in his “Spiritual Exercises”, spoke about “consolation without previous cause” as a way to discern if this or that peace in the soul comes from God or from the man himself. What God does in your life, to call you to Himself, qualifies as prayer! For example, while doing his daily run, one man reports that he experiences God deeply in the movements of his muscles, the pace of his run, and the steady breathing of his lungs. Here is God finding the man where his passions live. Another man talks about hearing music

“for the first time” as God has touched him through the lyrics or the adagio. If we agree that you desire to “find God in all things,” it is a priori that God desires to “find YOU in all things.” A vocation is attuned to hear that divine pursuit of your soul in the various ways God chooses to find you and call you.

A Jesuit always talks about his prayer. Even if he is not praying! So if you are considering a religious vocation, you do well to first pray, then to reflect on your prayer when it is finished, and finally to talk about your prayer with others. Through our experience of prayer we find our way to God, Who desires always to find His way to us.

AnSWERInG THE CALL

Finding Godin Prayer

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Jesuits in Congress

Since the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States produce some mighty fine graduates every year, it isn’t unusual to find many working

in the nation’s capital. If you know the answers to the following questions, keeping your head warm will be easy. The first two winners get “thinkjesuit.org” caps for their noggins.

happenings

St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga (1901-1952)Famous as a pioneer in the Latin American

Church’s activities in favor of the working poor, St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga directly

experienced poverty as a young man when his mother was forced to sell the family farm after his father’s death. However, a scholarship allowed Hurtado to study at the Jesuit school in Santiago, Chile. He was ordained in 1933 and taught religion, trained teachers, led retreats, and worked in the poor areas of the city whenever he could. In 1941 he wrote “Is Chile a Catholic Country?” and became national chaplain to the youth movement called Catholic Action.

In 1944, Fr. Alberto started the work that would lead to El Hogar de Cristo, which shelters the homeless and tries to rescue abandoned children. “Hogar” means home, and the name signifies that people were welcomed into Christ’s home. The movement spread beyond Chile and throughout South America.

In 1947, Hurtado founded the Chilean Trade Union Association (ASICH) to promote a Christian labor-union movement. He wrote several works explaining the Church’s social teachings, on trade unions, social humanism and the Christian social order. He was canonized in 2005 and the novitiate in St. Paul is named for him.

THE SAInTS

Jesuits and WindowsFr. William Sullivan, SJ, presided over the wedding of Bill and Melinda Gates on January 1, 1994, in Hawaii. Fr. Sullivan is the former president of Seattle University and connected with Melinda when she was a student at that Jesuit university. Craig Krueger, a student at Silver Lake College in Manitowoc, Wis. and Warren Serrani, a senior at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland were the winners.

LAST ISSUE'S QUIz

THE CALLInGS QUIz

Fr. Paul Coelho, SJ – Vocation Director(for Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, south Dakota, Wyoming)3400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53208 (402) 619.7030 vocations@thinkjesuit.org

Fr. Patrick Fairbanks, SJ – Vocation Director(for Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and ohio)2050 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614 (773) 975.6363 vocations@jesuits-chgdet.org

COME AnD SEE WEEKEnD MARCH 30-APRIL 1 • Live in a Jesuit community with the seminarians at Loyola University, as they introduce you to Jesuit life, formation and ministries. The weekend includes Mass and meals with the Jesuits, lively conversations, and informative presentations on St. Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuit vocation.

HOLy WEEK PILGRIMAGEAPRIL 4-9 • Stay at St. Procopius Parish in Pilsen, a Spanish-speaking neighborhood of Chicago, living at the parish rectory. Attend the sacred Triduum services with the faith community of Pilsen, participate in the Via Crucis (the Living Way of the Cross) through the Pilsen neighborhood on Good Friday, and tour the Jesuit parishes and schools in the Chicago area.

SUMMER SPLASHJUnE 22-26 • Located at the Jesuit vacation spot in Waupaca on the Chain of Lakes in central Wisconsin, this is an opportunity to get to know the Jesuits better in the relaxed atmosphere and beauty of the rustic Loyola Villa. There will be presentations on Jesuit life by Jesuits in training, daily Mass, chances for small group sharing, and plenty of time to enjoy the lakes—with swimming, water skiing, canoeing and good Jesuit-cooked meals. (This program is for younger candidates, 16–20 years old.)

“He who carries God in his heart bears heaven with him wherever he goes.”

ignatius says

What percentage of the 112th Congress are alums of Jesuit higher education?

A. 2% B. 10% C. 35% D. Every last one of ‘em

How many Jesuit alums are in the Senate?A. 62 B.12 C. 21 D. Every last one of ‘em

How many Jesuit alums are in the House of Representatives?A. Less than in the Senate B. Not a single one C. 31 D. 42

a neWSletteR aBOUt vOCatiOnScALLinGS

Send answers to vOCATIOnS@THInKJESUIT.ORG

teachers, writers, construction workers, nurses, doctors, students and more who all were searching and who all were serving. In Albuquerque, I stayed at a Catholic Worker House with beautiful people who dedicated themselves to offering a community to those in need of one. In Billings, I met a bishop, doctors, nurses and community members who created ideas to serve with and for the nearby Crow Reservation. In St. Louis, a high school teacher of mine asked me to talk to all five of his sophomore classes about faith and justice. The simple generosity of people inviting me into their homes and feeding me was amazing. One family wouldn’t even let me do my own laundry — they demanded I relax on the couch while they did it for me!

Overall, pilgrimage left me with a fantastic sense of being able to trust God. By no means am I alone. God is always with me and always inspiring us to love and serve each other. And we need this love in our world.

What does this mean for me? It means my pilgrimage not only gave me graces, it gave me responsibility. More than ever, I feel called to share hope and the Good News. I feel called to serve, to love, to hope and to pray. I need this prayer to remind me I need God and I need you.

I’d like to share this poem (right )

I wrote while sitting on a mountain top watching the sunset at St. Mary’s Mission on the Navajo Reservation. I found out the next morning that several mountain lions live and hunt on that mountain.

Homan FROM pReviOUS paGe

God lives on a Navajo Reservation, so I went there to find Him.I followed from st. Paul, to Kansas City, to oklahoma City, to Albuquerque, to Tohatchi.God lives in Tohatchi, on a Navajo Reservation.I tried to follow God up the mountainside, and the Holy Wind gave me strength to hike.I felt urgency, so I ran.I stopped and looked, the only sound the drumbeat of my sea-level heart.I dug my toes into the sand set against me. God lives just beyond that peak, where the golden cloud, juts just next to the rose one.The trail stopped. or rather, it circled the Peak where God lives.I jumped at that peak.God lives on a Navajo Reservation, because that is where God found me.

– Ken Homan

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Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 19

Listening to God

A vocation is like a persistent call. “So, there are always signs,” said Gregory Ostdiek, SJ. “It kept coming back to me. I had to look into it again. It was a gradual realization, a gradual awakening, a gradual succumbing. God kept bothering me, He keeps bothering me. He doesn’t take no for an answer.”

The Call was indeed gradual, agreed Kyle Shinseki, SJ. “I thought it was just one moment. But looking back, it was definitely a series of seeds being planted. Even though I didn’t acknowledge them, they grew. I resisted, and I felt it — which showed that it was really something coming from God, that in my own selfish way, I was just trying to push back or aside.”

“It’s almost been like a freeze tag game with God,” said Matt Lieser, SJ. “He was chasing me and I was running. He’d catch up to me, and then I’d stay frozen a couple years. I was bargaining with God: ‘This is my time, I’m young. If you really want me to 

do this, it will still be there down the road.’ “But God is very patient. He’ll wait. You can run, but He’ll 

follow you. Even if you run fast, He’ll be there, wherever you end up,” Lieser said. “It’s not easy to trust. But I know he will be wherever I want to run anyway.”

Jeffrey Sullivan, SJ, referenced scripture for analogy. “There’s a story from Genesis: Jacob (Israel) wrestles God. I feel like Israel,” he said. “In grade school, people said I’d make a good priest. In high school it picked up again. Later in college, I was real into it. God would get the upper hand. But when Israel asks God’s name, he doesn’t give it. So I kept on wrestling.

“It took me on a wild journey. A great journey,” he said. But surrendering is worth it. It’s an investment. It pays dividends. It’s like the parable of talents. You’ve been given five talents? Invest, and they become 50.” 

‘ T h e C a l l’ To l i f e i n T h e S o C i e T y o f J e S u S i S n ’ T S i m p l e a n d i T S o m e T i m e S i n v o lv e S f e a r , w r e S T l i n g a n d C h e e Ta h S

T  he Call” is a journey that may begin in struggle, and ends in a boundless, perfect relationship.It is a path — often long, dark and/or twisting — that can be likened to a game of freeze tag, gentle tugs and battlefield losses, planted seeds, wrestling, invitations and investment, as well as cheetahs.

These are the experiences of nine Jesuits who professed First Vows after two years of study as novices at the Midwest novitiate in St. Paul. Their stories are compelling, enlightening and often fun.

20 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

“To be honest, if I had one word, it would be: ‘surrender,’ ” said Joshua Peters, SJ. “A journey of surrender. A long road. A long, long road. Pretty rocky; dark here and there. And it was like a crazy arm-wrestling match with God. I just wouldn’t give in. It was ugly. Pretty gnarly,” he said, laughing.

“I remember saying to my mom: I’m getting pinned down. I’m so close, too. But I just won’t give up. Even though I knew, I’m going to lose.

“She said: ‘That sounds horrible.’“I said: You’re supposed to be 

happy for me. I’m talking about being a priest. 

“She said: ‘Joshua where’s the joy? I want to hear about the joy.’ ”

“That struggle,” he said “I gave up slowly, but surely. But there was also that moment when I surrendered fully. It’s terrifying, but so freeing. The control I was giving up! But that was what had to happen. It had to be that way. I had to give up that control. I, like every other human, want control. It was a story of surrender. Big time.

“I love it,” he concluded. “None of this was my idea to begin with. So I figure: bring it. Bring me into this relationship.”

“It’s the invitation of a lifetime,” said Kevin Embach, SJ. “It begins as a little tug, and comes to us each, individually, through Christ. That becomes an invitation, and develops into a personal relationship. As you grow closer, you better feel what He’s asking.

“Vocations are hard,” he said. “In discerning, the important thing is to stay close to Christ. While you date, while you explore  — let Him help you discern. Let Him help you make good choices. Let Him show you. Everything will flow from that. Stay close to Christ.

“I have such joy. I feel almost like 

The2011VowclasspausedforalightermomentonthestepsofSt.ThomasMorechurchinSt.Paul.

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 21

I shouldn’t,” he concluded. “Life is good. It’s almost not fair. Why should I have such joy when making such a big change? That’s a sign that it’s what He’s calling me to do. It all comes from being close to Christ.”

Trevor Beach, SJ, has an analogy resonating less as invitation and more as response.

“God was pointing in all these directions, and at first I was lost,” he said. “But He responded in the midst of my fear, vulnerability and a hopeless atmosphere, at a moment where I was very much wanting.

“I desired help, and God responded,” he said. “It gave me hope. The future became something beautiful. I didn’t know what — but I knew it was good, and I wasn’t afraid. There was a depth to being in the world that brought peace and tranquility, and pulled me into the present moment.

“Later, I thought, I felt so much myself in that moment,” he said. “I was hopeful, excited, loved. And then I thought: ‘So why am I afraid? What am I scared of? What is keeping me from that? What do I have to lose?’ After that, I was on fire.” 

The Call occurred in a far simpler way for Jeff Dorr, SJ. “It wasn’t the earth shaking, or a booming voice, or even that I was struck down. It was simple, like getting to know more about myself. It was an understanding or a new insight. 

Jeff Dorr, SJ 27, Milwaukee in First Studies: St. Louis University

Is a graduate of Marquette University High School in Milwaukee. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Xavier University in Cincinnati, and a master’s in education from Creighton University in Omaha. He 

was a counselor at a camp for kids with disabilities and a teacher at Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, S.D. 

John Roselle, SJ 27, Broken Arrow, Okla.in First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago

Has a bachelor’s degree in theology and history and a master’s in secondary education from Creighton University. He spent a service-learning semester in the Dominican Republic, and he taught and served in campus 

ministry at Red Cloud High School in Pine Ridge, S.D. He was involved in youth ministry and has taught confirmation classes.

Jeffrey Sullivan, SJ 31, Indianapolisin First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago

Has a bachelor’s degree in English from Creighton University. He served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Milwaukee as a paralegal helping domestic-violence victims. He also taught 

for two years at the Jesuit-led Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador, and worked at a grade school on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Trevor Beach, SJ 25, Grand Rapids, Mich. in First Studies: Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y.

Has a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. He spent a semester in Chile volunteering with the Jesuit-based En Todo Amar y Servir in Valparaiso.

Kevin Embach, SJ 50, Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. in First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago

Has a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and an MD  from the University of Virginia. He’s served as both an assistant professor of medicine at Wayne State University in Detroit, and he’s practiced and taught internal medicine at Beaumont 

Hospital in Grosse Point. 

Matthew Lieser, SJ – 31, Lakewood, Ohioin First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago 

Has a bachelor’s from Xavier University. He spent two years with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, teaching business and English. He worked for Chiquita International as an analyst and was a volunteer coordinator for Habitat for Humanity. 

Gregory Ostdiek, SJ – 42, Beavercreek, Ohioin First Studies: Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y.

Has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton, as well as master’s degrees in English and mechanical engineering from Penn State. He served in the Navy for 12 years, including tours of the Middle East. He taught physics at the University of 

Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy. 

Joshua Peters, SJ – 33, Detroitin First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago

Earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton. He worked in campus ministry and in retreat ministry at the Jesuit Spiritual Center in Milford, Ohio. He also worked as an organic gardener and with Habitat  for Humanity in Oregon. 

Kyle Shinseki, SJ – 39, Honoluluin First Studies: Loyola University, Chicago 

Has a bachelor’s degree in planning from the Massachu-setts Institute of Technology,  a master’s in urban planning from the University of California-Los Angeles and a master’s in business adminis-tration from Northwestern. He worked at Proctor & Gamble 

as an assistant brand manager and at the National Council of La Raza as development director.

“It’s the invitation of a lifetime. It begins as a little tug, and comes to us each, individually, through Christ.”

– Kevin Embach

The Call on page 30

22 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Fr.RickCurry,SJ,challengedanddelightedanaudiencewithhisremarksduringhisspeech

“BorntoServe:OurResponsetoReturningVeterans”atMarquetteUniversity.Thetalkwassponsoredbythe

JesuitPartnershipCouncilofMilwaukee.

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 23

By William A. Thorn

With equal parts humor and hope, Jesuit Fr. Rick Curry addressed the importance 

of welcoming home military veterans and how we, as Catholics, must support them. A special focus should be placed on service with immediate impact right here, right now and within the scope of home parishes.

“People always ask me: ‘What can I do for the vets?’ ” he said. “And I say: ‘I don’t know. What do you do? Do what you do.’

“What you do has every possibility to help,” Fr. Curry said. “If you’re a dentist, if you’re an attorney, if you can get discounted appliances, if you babysit — you can help. One thing’s for sure: We don’t need to build buildings. As Roman Catholics, especially, we have a nationwide network of parishes that is extraordinary.”

Fr. Curry was the guest speaker at the Richard A. McGarrity, SJ, Lecture on Faith and Culture, held this fall on 

Milwaukee’s Marquette University’s campus. His presentation was titled “Born to Serve: Our Response to Returning Veterans” and sponsored by the Jesuit Partnership Council of Milwaukee.

Fr. Curry pointed out that veterans are young, with an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran averaging 21½ years of age. These veterans have a long life in front of them, and they want so badly to again be a part of the American fabric. He warned that if we don’t embrace them soon, they could quickly slip into discouragement and the problems of drugs and alcohol or domestic violence.

“Remember that they joined to serve, and amazingly, they’re looking for ways to serve us again,” he said. “We as Christians tell the world who we are by washing each other’s feet. And we have an extraordinary invitation to wash the feet of those wearing khaki camouflage. ”

Fr. Curry, who was born without a right forearm, discussed 

growing up with a disability, how it led him into developing ministries for the disabled and how those ministries led him to work with veterans.

As a Jesuit Brother studying theater at New York University a negative run-in at an audition for a commercial changed his life. “I thought, where are the disabled actors?” he said. “Disabled people eat Big Macs, we shampoo our hair, and we use mouthwash. By the time I got back to my room, I had decided 

F r . C u r ry C a l l s e v e ryo n e to s t e p

to t h e F r o n t o F t h e l i n e a n d h e l p

r e t u r n i n g v e t e r a n s

Fr.CurryentertainedquestionsandhisaudienceduringabreakfastsessionatwhichhewasinterviewedbySteveJagler.

24 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

to run an acting class for people with disabilities,” said Fr. Curry, who has a Ph.D. in theater from New York University.

“Let me say that I think the theater is terrific,” he said. “The training is spectacular, topped only by the education one gets in prayer. When prayer is combined with the art of imagination, it’s quite perfect.”

Fr. Curry entered the Society of Jesus in 1962 and enjoyed his life as a Brother until work led him to seek ordination in 2009 (see box on page 25). He is currently the director of the Academy for Veterans at Georgetown University. He received the President’s Award of the National Council on Culture and Arts and was honored with the Distinguished Service Award of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. He has also authored two books, “The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking” and “The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking.” 

Fr. Curry found great success recruiting “active disabled folks,” he said. The first class had 22 students, grew to 57, and more than 100 in its third edition. Since 1977, the National Theatre Workshop for the Handicapped has trained thousands.

As the theater flourished, Curry sent gifts of “Christmas breads” to his supporters. “While a novice brother, I was trained as a baker and tailor. In true Jesuit wisdom, I was never assigned to a bakery again,” he said. But as benefactors grew, he had a lot of bread to make. He asked his students if they would like to help.

“Sixteen arrived in the makeshift bakery I’d set up and all had different disabling conditions,” he emphasized. “We raised some tables, lowered some tables. We had two little people, perfectly sized for opening and closing ovens. We had the blind chopping vegetables and nuts. We had the orthopedically disabled wheeling stuff around. By the end of day, we had packaged and shipped 100 loaves of bread. It was amazing; all these disparate disabilities joyfully creating this product.” 

His ministry changed at an event for newly disabled veterans running a 5K race. “A Hispanic man pulled me aside and said, ‘I don’t know where I am,’ ” Fr. Curry said. “Midtown Manhattan,” I replied. “ ‘No,’ he said, ‘I’m not a husband to my wife. I’m not a father to my children. I’m not an employee to my employer. I don’t even feel like I’m a parishioner in my parish.’ My heart broke. I realized this 20-year-old man had made his perfect body so much a part of his identity, that when part of it was ripped away, that his identity was damaged, too.”

The runner introduced everyone to Fr. Curry, who was moved by their kindness. “They could not have been more generous, or more grateful that I was there in a Roman Collar, with one arm,” he said. “Once more I found myself walking down Sixth Avenue, 

saying ‘Dear Lord, what do you have in mind?’ ”He didn’t think soldiers from a war zone would want to jump 

into theater. Instead, he brought them into his course for writing dramatic monologues.

“Understand dramatic monologues are something very specific,” he said. “Though it’s a story, it’s not journaling. You write a very specific part of a story to get a specific reaction. What do you want the audience to feel? Exhilaration, rage, anger, hurt? What it does is discipline writers, and force them to genuinely 

name these things, and not just recite rhetoric. A lot of the time you just get patriotic babble they’d like to believe, but don’t. We call it the Wounded Warriors Writers Workshop,” Fr. Curry said proudly.

He summarized three sample monologues.

“I got in touch with a blind Marine who said, ‘I’m sitting on my couch and I don’t know whether it’s day or night. I’d love to come.’ ” Fr. Curry recalled. “He wanted desperately to tell his story. His father left for the Marines when he was 14. He wanted to know what they had that was better 

than he and his mother; he was looking for his father, essentially. He was near Fallujah when a bomb went off. He lost his buddy, and he lost both his eyes. His monologue takes place as he finally reconnects with his father, in a diner in New Jersey where his father was reading him the breakfast menu. That’s the power of the imagination and the theater.”

Another man lost an arm and a foot, he said. “But his monologue didn’t even talk about battle. He talked about gratitude and how he’d like to thank the 14-year-old girl who got up and walked out of that abortion clinic ‘so she could have me.’ ”

A Georgia man, having his arm rebuilt with seven operations, wrote a monologue set in a hospital room. “He asked his wife to put a sign on his chest that said ‘Free Hugs.’ He got up, left and walked down the corridor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. People were intimidated at first, and then loved him. It finally came out he was actually going to get hugs, not give them. Because in that hospital room he was watching his marriage deteriorate.”

There is no slowing down for Fr. Curry. Now he is working on the Dog Tag Bakery. “A bakery in the front, staffed completely by the disabled,” he said. “In the back will be another business: Dog Tag Dog Biscuits,” he said. “We’ll employ veterans on a four-month internship. Teach them to be bakers, shippers, telemarketers and handlers. Show everyone that we can produce.

Fr.CurryspeakingwithattendeestohisspeechinMilwaukee.

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 25

Fr. Rick Curry, SJ, enjoyed his life as a Jesuit Brother. “I never wanted to be a priest,” he said. “I went to 

St. Ignatius Prep a Jesuit high school in Philadelphia, and they had phenomenal Jesuit Brothers there. They were amazing. I left home 50 years ago happy and fulfilled as a Brother.”

He recalled one particular encounter with a disabled veteran that led him into the priesthood.

A family member directed Fr. Curry to a Marine, back from Iraq, who had lost and arm and a leg and wanted to talk. The meeting was set for 10 a.m. at a theater in the SoHo section of Manhattan. It also was the day the veteran decided to use public transportation with his new arm and leg.

“It was also right in the middle of a Nor’easter; windy and raining relentlessly,” Fr. Curry said. “The doorbell rang, and there was the angriest human I have ever laid eyes on. I gave him towels to dry off, and for a good half-hour he spewed anger. I mean rage. It was so fierce. It was so violent. I was getting worried. Then gradually it turned terribly personal. It was good. I had tears in my eyes listening to what this poor man had gone through in such a short life.

“Then — being a Marine — he pulled himself together, and said ‘OK padre, how about absolution?’ ” Fr. Curry winced. “I said: ‘Well … the Holy Spirit is in this room. I know that your sins are forgiven. But I’m not a priest.’ 

“So he said: ‘Well what the f*** are you?’ “I said: I’m a Jesuit Brother.“He said, ‘Why aren’t you a priest?’

“I said: I’ve never been called to be a priest.“He said: ‘Well who the hell calls you?’“I said: The people of God, or God Almighty himself, I 

suppose.“He said: ‘I’m f***ing calling you.’“That’s the basis of my vocation,” he said softly. “I was 60 

years old.“When I was a boy, I was told that because of my disability, I 

could not be a priest, I could not be a soldier and I could not be a doctor,” he said. “Now I’m a priest, I have a doctorate and I’m working with the military. So never circumscribe God.”

A Very Specific ‘Call’ to the Priesthood.

“All veterans, because one thing I’ve discovered beyond a doubt: veterans help and heal other veterans. “They also need a bridge back into society. That’s where parishes could really help.”

The welcoming work is for everyone, Fr. Curry pointed out. “Pastorally, we (clerics) need to be aware of their spiritual needs, and invite them back into sacramental life,” he said.

There are many dramatic examples of life of our veterans. Fortunately, Fr. Curry said, there are many ways to help.

“What do you do? Do what you do. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. We just have to open our hearts and our intelligence to welcoming them home and being present to the needs of the moment,” he said. “They’re not running to parishes. But if you knock on their door, or invite them for pizza, they will come.” 

Quite simply, he said what veterans really need “is to know they’re people, and loved and prayed for. They need so badly a smile and a welcome.”

There are easy but greatly appreciated everyday ways to help. “It’s as simple as saying ‘Thank you for serving.’ But don’t stop there,” he said. “ ‘May I ask which branch? May I ask what you’re doing now? Can I help you in any way?’ Good God, they’ll be dating you.

“There’s no lack of generosity, just imagination,” he said. “Remember they’re 19- or 20-year-olds but often 

are married with a couple kids. They need financial advice and management. Many are in trouble with slipping mortgages. They often need law advice. They need job prospects. They need help with their children.

“A wonderful group of former teachers in Buffalo started a babysitting service for vets and their spouses. Two go into the home together to watch the children on date night for the veteran family. What started with six grew to 30, then 60. I swear, they’re now benign terrorists. They attack every chain restaurant for free passes, free meals, free wine. Now they’re holding resorts hostage, demanding free weekend passes. That’s what we can do.” JJ

MilwaukeeArchbishopFr.JeromeListecki(right)visitswithFr.Curry.

“People always ask me: ‘What can I do for the

vets?’ And I say: ‘I don’t know. What do you do?

Do what you do.’”– Fr. Curry

26 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

By Renee and Dick O’Brien

Why do we support the Jesuits? Where should we start?

For one thing, we both grew up in Jesuit-educated families. Both Dick’s father and grandfather graduated from Georgetown University and its Law School. Renee’s father was an undergraduate and law graduate of the University of San Francisco. These facts probably helped to attract us to each other.

Dick graduated from Creighton Prep and Creighton University, ultimately earning bachelor’s and law degrees. Renee could not attend USF (no women were allowed at that time), so she graduated from San Francisco College for Women. She later received a master’s in Ministry while working at Creighton University. Four of her siblings are USF graduates, and one is a former Jesuit of the California Province.

Three of our four children are Creighton University graduates. And one of our grandchildren is in her second year there. The tradition continues.

In addition, for almost 40 years, we have been committed to Christian Life Communities (CLC) — a worldwide movement focusing on mission and community, rooted in Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and working in partnership with the Society of Jesus. We have been involved in local and regional leadership, and Renee has served in a national leadership role. Renee is also a spiritual and retreat director, formed by CLC and the Creighton Christian Spirituality Program, specializing in the Retreat in Daily Life, an adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises.

Last, but not least, we have been fed spiritually through membership in Omaha’s Jesuit parish, St. John’s, for 30 years, participating in ministries of St. Vincent DePaul, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), Parish Council and liturgical ministries.

We have been blessed with many Jesuit friends during these years, and have been led through prayer and discernment to support their ministries as best we can. They have supported our desire to “seek God in all things” with wisdom and freedom.

So when it came to our estate plans, there was no question that we would include the Society in some way. We decided to invest in a charitable gift annuity. In simple terms, this is a contractual agreement between a donor and a nonprofit in which assets are donated in exchange for the organization’s promise to provide an annuitant with payments for life. 

The Jesuits have brought much to our family and to each of us personally. We hope the gift that will come to them through this estate planning tool will help them to continue their mission and good works for a long time to come. JJ

“The jesuits have brought much to our family and to each of us personally.”

Some thoughts on “seeking God in all things”

the Ignatian Heritage Society

the ignatian Heritage Society recognizes and thanks people who support the Jesuits with a charitable designation in their will or trust, or through a gift annuity.

the Wisconsin province of the Society of Jesus gratefully acknowledges the friendship and generosity of the O’Briens and all who have chosen to remember the Jesuits in their estate plans.

DickandReneeO’Brien.

DISCOver YOur PATh TO FINANCIAL SeCurITY

John D. (Jack) PaquetteVice President – Advancementjpaquette@jesuitswisprov.org(800) 537-3736 or (414) 727-3927

For more information about a Jesuit Gift Annuity contact:

Tax Savings

Guaranteed Rate of Return

Support for the Jesuits

Secure fixed income for life

Jesuit Gift Annuities:

Or visit our web site: www.jesuitpartners.org/giftplanning

Dan O’BrienDirector of Advancement

dobrien@jesuitswisprov.org (800) 537-3736 or (414) 727-1955

SociAL And internAtionAL MiniStrieS

28 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

The pressing need for environmental conversion of heart enjoys the full backing of our Church’s teaching and the unequivocal consensus of the most respected scientific 

bodies. “Observations throughout the world make it clear that climate change is occurring, and rigorous scientific research demonstrates that the greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are the primary driver.” (Climate Change Statement signed by 18 scientific associations, 2009). Clearly, this is no time to be confused by global warming deniers or carbon-intensive lobbyists pushing for environmental deregulation. 

Better ecological citizenship has been called forth by Jesuit Superior General Fr. Adolfo Nicolás in his recent environmental directive. His letter “On Ecology” and a longer accompanying report titled “Healing a Broken World” exhorts Jesuits and their affiliated institutions to adopt new ways of living, 

understanding, researching and advocating for sustainability of the planet. He realizes that such an undertaking “demands of us a change of heart that manifests our gratitude to God for the gift of creation and our readiness to embark on the path of conversion.” 

For some perspective, I inquired with two Jesuits and two lay colleagues who are already environmentally active: 

HOW WE TREAT GOD’S CREATION

“I have long been convinced that the way we treat creation, whether or not we are attentive to God’s presence in it, has a direct correlation to our attentiveness to whether we are aware of God’s presence in our daily lives.”

– Paul Lickteig, SJ (Divinity student, Jesuit School of Theology, preparing for his June 2012 ordination)

“Christianity has always affirmed the goodness of the world. The world is a ‘creation’, a specific act of God, a gift given to us as the total context of our existence. Through the Incarnation, God has entered intimately into the creation. God, in Christ, is working to redeem the creation. Human salvation is not an escape from creation, but the redemption of creation.”

– Dr. John O’Keefe, Ph.D. (Creighton University, Theology)

ENVIRONMENT VS. ECONOMY

“The idea that environmental regulations threaten the economy is a false dichotomy! The fact is that our planet is the matrix of our worldwide economy. To neglect the ecological crisis is to participate in the long-range undermining of economy. It might help to note that the very etymology of ‘economy’ is ruling the house, or “housekeeping.” The ‘house’ in this case is, of course, the earth itself. The real dichotomy is between a 

superficial short-range view and a realistic long-range view. To focus on the long-range view is to choose life.” 

– Fr. Dennis Hamm, SJ, Ph.D. (Creighton University, Theology)

“Since we can’t exist without an environment, we need an economy that is sustainable. If the current economy is destructive – and I think it is — then we need a different economy. This is not up for negotiation. We can change our economic models without destroying ourselves, but we can’t 

John SealeyPROVINCIAL 

ASSISTANT FORSOCIAL AND 

INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

Planetary Emergency

Speakingoutforourplanetare (from left) Fr.DennisHamm,SJ,PaulLickteig,

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 29

radically change our environment and expect to survive. People who 

make an argument of ecology vs. economy either do not understand the gravity of the situation or they don’t believe it. What they say is illogical,”

– John O’Keefe

RECOMMENDED ACTION STEPS

“Take steps to become informed; studying the document produced by the Jesuit task force. 

Form a study group that aims at taking actions of advocacy like 

communicating with congressional members. Make adjustments in 

personal lifestyle; if this looks like “rearranging deck chairs on the 

Titanic,” it immediately influences those who know us and provokes conversation 

and can wake up our friends and co-workers. Pay attention to Catholic resources 

on this issue. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have spoken about this; as well as the U.S. 

Conference of Catholic Bishops.”– Fr. Hamm

“Ultimately, the real issue is that human understanding of our relationship to creation is out of whack. What I realized after a while is that taking extra time to care for creation is not pointless, but rather it is part of why I exist. Taking extra time to travel by public transit, not buying that brand new coat and buying second-hand instead, having a reusable water bottle, these things are not just about doing something because I am supposed to, or about saving money, or about my singular efforts saving the world. They are about 

orienting my life in a new direction. “What I am seeking to do by being attentive to the way I 

use resources is that I have a responsibility to care for that which God has given me to care for. Being careful how much I consume is as important as being careful with how I spend my time or whether I am taking care of my body. Every time I take an extra moment to be intentional about whether my actions are harming the environment is a moment when I can become intentionally aware of how I am living in relationship with God’s creation.” 

– Paul Lickteig

SIGNS OF HOPE BUT THE TIME IS NOW

“If people do not rise up and demand systemic change, then I think — following the view of major directors of international climate research centers — that it is likely that we will not avoid irreversible catastrophic climate change and we will have mass death and mass extinction on a scale that the world has never experienced. It is, however, still possible to avoid this fate. There are two truths that we must hold onto so that we do not fall into despair as we actively work for systemic change. First, solar 

and wind energy, using existing technology, can provide 40 to 50 times the energy the world needs. It is not a technological 

problem, but a political and social problem. Second, people power works. The long histories of social movements show that ultimately the people have the power.” 

– Dr. Richard Miller, Ph.D. (Creighton University, Theology)

“This is really the first time in the history of the world that human beings have the possibility of undermining the conditions of their own survival. Protecting the environment is protecting ourselves. We cannot exist without the environment. We need a serious dose of introspection and we need to face the reality that we are creating an unsustainable future.” 

– John O’Keefe

Dr. James Hansen, chief of climate scientists at NASA, uses the term “planetary emergency” to describe our present moment. Therefore, it is eminently timely that Fr. General’s directive instructs Jesuits to personally and institutionally join this ecological effort “with all religious and with those committed to environmental justice. This is a crucial dialogue at the very frontier of the ecological sustainability of life.” Furthermore the Jesuit mission to promote justice calls particular attention to the lives of the poor and vulnerable for they bear the heaviest costs of the ecological crisis (desertification, deforestation, soil exhaustion, pollution, unclean water). And if the preservation of life and concern for justice are not reason enough, Fr. General’s report adds that the ecological crisis challenges our faith for it is the very dream of the Creator that is threatened. JJ

For more informationwww.sjweb.info/sjs

SJ,RichardMillerandJohnO’Keefe.

in MeMoriAM

30 Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012

Br. James F. Becwar, SJBr. James 

F. Becwar, SJ, a Wisconsin native who loved working with his hands, died Nov. 24 at age 88 at St. 

Camillus Jesuit Community, in Wauwatosa, Wis.

Br. Becwar was a Jesuit for 64 years and during his decades in the society he worked extensively as a carpenter, electrician and general plant engineer.

Br. Becwar entered the Society in 1947 at St. Stanislaus Seminary in Florissant, Mo. For 24 years he kept the boilers firing and the lights on at Florissant, Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Creighton Prep in Omaha and Campion High in Prairie du Chien – and for another 30 years at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Mankato, Minn. During his years in Mankato, he also served as a pastoral minister in the local hospital.  

He was born on Jan. 16, 1923 in Eastman, Wis. and graduated from Seneca High School in 1941. He pronounced his Final Vows Aug. 15, 1957 at St. Stanislaus, Florissant, Mo.

In 2001, he retired to the Jesuit Community of Creighton University in Omaha, and while there, he provided various services to that community. Due to failing health, in 2004 he was missioned to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus at St. Camillus.

“I don’t recall it being scary, and I can’t imagine it was,” he said. “God challenged me to step into a situation that wouldn’t be easy, but would be important. As long as I know this is what He is calling me to, I don’t have any doubts that I’ll be happy.”

The Call was answered with pure admission by John Roselle, SJ. “I finally just admitted that I was created to be a Jesuit, and it was silly to not be who I was meant to be. Even when I was considering marriage I was still trying to figure out how I was going to be a Jesuit doing it. You can’t have it both ways. Finally, I just admitted it.”

A very vivid analogy for a calling belongs to Peters. 

“I do vocation talks,” he said. “I even went to my dad’s seventh-grade class. One girl raised her hand: ‘How did you think about being a priest?’

“I tell the kids: ‘Have you ever seen National Geographic videos?’

“They go: ‘Yeah.’“I say: ‘You know that pack of 

zebras is racing along. And there’s the one who’s like ‘Check out my stripes’ and he’s chasing little girl zebras around?’

“They go: ‘Yeah.’“I say: ‘And then all of a sudden a 

cheetah comes out of the bush. And the zebras go: “OH NO…there’s a cheetah here.” They start going faster. They’re foaming at the mouth. They’re slobbering everywhere. All of a sudden the cheetah lunges. It grabs one by the neck and pulls it to the ground. ‘That’s like my vocation story.’

“They go: ‘Ah.’“I say: ‘So — the cheetah was God. 

And I was the zebra.’ ” JJ

The Call from page 21 Fr. John P. Daly, SJ Fr. John P. Daly, SJ, a native of Iowa who 

spent nearly 50 years in Asia, died Dec. 28 at age 88 at the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wis. 

Born in Anamosa, Iowa on July 20, 1923, Fr. Daly entered the Society of Jesus in 1943 

and was ordained a priest in 1956. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Saint Louis University and his doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina. 

Following his graduate degree in 1961, he was assigned to teach English at Sogang College in Seoul, South Korea, at the time a struggling young institution under the auspices of the Wisconsin Province. Later it became the prestigious Sogang University and the Korean Mission of the Wisconsin Province would become a full-fledged province in its own right. Fr. John Daly had a lot to do with both these developments. He served as president of Sogang from 1963 to 1975 and as superior of the Jesuits assigned there from 1963 to 1973. Along with a large number of other dedicated pioneers, John worked day and night to understand Korean culture, to learn to communicate in a new language, to help establish the Society of Jesus in a new land and to launch a new kind of educational institution in Korea. 

Fr. Daly returned to the United States in 1975 but in a sense never left Asia. He served as Director of the Jesuit Mission Service in Minneapolis from 1977-1979. He returned to Sogang as a professor of English and library director from 1979 to 1981. He spent a year on the staff of the United States Jesuit Conference and four years as academic vice president of Creighton University. In 1986 Fr. Daly began 24 years of Asian-centered ministry, first at the University of San Francisco and then at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, promoting and coordinating research and exchange programs with Korean and Chinese institutions. Declining health led to his assignment to the St. Camillus Jesuit Community in 2010, although almost to the end John also helped out in the Wisconsin Province advancement office.  

He had a gift for planning and administration in a cross-cultural milieu. He was able to dream dreams and get others to share and support those dreams. He realized early on the central importance of Asia and dialog with Asian cultures for both the Church and the Society.  JJ

Jesuit Journeys – Winter 2012 31

By Fr. James Kubicki, SJ

I’m often a guest on Relevant Radio’s daily call-in spiritual direction show, “The Inner Life.” A producer wondered if I wanted to talk about Lent. My first reaction was, “No! 

We’re going to have 40 days of Lent. No need to start it early.” Instead, I thought it would be good to talk about Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday or, as it’s often called in the Polish community of Milwaukee, Paczki Day. Is it OK for Christians to have fun? 

Of course! Jesus had fun. Unfortunately much of our religious art makes Jesus look as though he never cracked a smile and never laughed. He appears very somber and even scary. But this can’t be the way Jesus really was. No one would want to go near Him. Certainly not the children. Yet Jesus attracted droves of people to Himself. So Jesus must have smiled, laughed, had a good time and genuinely enjoyed life. He even described heaven in terms of a big party or wedding feast, and when He participated in a feast where the wine had run out, He made more. 

But what about “Fat Tuesday” and all the excesses we see? The tradition of over-indulging seems to have arisen from the logic that since we’re going to have to fast and pray and go to confession, now’s the time to party. This isn’t really the best way to enter into Lent. 

While Lent is a more somber and subdued time, a time when we see the color violet at Mass and don’t sing “Alleluia” or “The Gloria,” it’s supposed to be a happy season. The Preface for Lent I, which precedes the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, addresses the Father and says, “Each year you give us this joyful season when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery with mind and heart renewed.” The Preface for Lent II has: “This great season of grace is your gift to your family to renew us in spirit.” Do you think of Lent as a “joyful season,” a “gift”? How can fasting and penance and sacrifice be joyful? 

Our fasting with its accompanying hunger reminds us of our hunger for God. It’s a way that we pray with our bodies as well as our minds. It shouldn’t make us irritable and grumpy. 

If it does, then it would be better for us not to fast, for spiritual exercises that don’t lead to greater charity are useless. As St. Paul wrote in his famous chapter on love, 1 Corinthians 13, without love we are nothing. Without charity our knowledge and faith and even our martyrdom, should we be so called, are nothing. 

True fasting and prayer should make us more aware that nothing on earth can ultimately satisfy us. We’re made for union with God and while the things of earth may take away the hunger pains for a while, they ultimately don’t satisfy. Our physical hunger should remind us of our spiritual hunger. We are, as St. Augustine famously wrote, made for God and so our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. 

It all comes down to balance. Christians, following Jesus’ example, enjoy life and its legitimate pleasures. Sin may make us feel good for a while, but ultimately it’s a poison that destroys us and others. It’s OK to have fun today, to eat those wonderful Polish fruit-filled doughnuts known as Paczki. Have fun and give glory to God. Follow St. Paul’s example, eating and drinking and giving glory to God who wants to be a part of every moment of your life. But don’t go overboard, for that will only lead to unhappiness. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola counsels in a similar vein in the First Principle and Foundation of his “Spiritual Exercises.” All earthly things and pleasures are given to us to help us attain the end for which we were created  — the praise, reverence, and service of God  — our salvation, our union with God who alone fills the restless heart. Thus, we should use the good things of the earth in so far as they help us attain our end and we should reject them in so far as they get in the way of our attaining our end. This is real balance. Lent is a time to grow in this balance and that growth is what makes it a “gift” and a “joyful season.” JJ

Fr. James Kubicki, SJ, is the National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer – the pope’s own “prayer group.” You can discover more about prayer, prayer intentions and youth activities by going to: www.apostleshipofprayer.org.

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Can We Have Fun Now?

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of the Societyof Jesus

nine men took vows in the Society of Jesus at the novitiate in St. paul after two years of study. the Jesuits are (from left) Matt lieser, Joshua peters, Greg Ostdiek, kevin

embach, trevor Beach, kyle Shinseki, Jeff Dorr, Jeffrey Sullivan and John Roselle.

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