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Jesuit Journeys
Fall 2001
Ordination, vocations, vows
Events kindle memories, stir hope
This is a time of year when I cannot help but think of our Jesuit novices and scholastics as they continue their journey to become Jesuit priests and brothers. In part this is because the past several months have been filled with events that spark recollections of my own priestly formation.
In June, Pat Malone, SJ was ordained a Jesuit priest at Gesu Church in Milwaukee. In August, two other young Jesuits, Tom Nietzke, SJ and John Farrell, SJ pronounced their perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience at St. Luke's Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. This followed two years of formation and training at the Jesuit novitiate in St. Paul.
Just a few days later, the Jesuit novitiate welcomed five new men from the Wisconsin Province into the Society of Jesus as novices. These events auger well for the Society's future and indicate we may be making significant progress in attracting more young men to religious life.
The ordination Mass in June and the vows ceremony in August were wonderful celebrations with large crowds present. All who attended felt the presence of God as they prayed that the Holy Spirit will continue to enter ever more deeply into the lives of these men as they advance in their religious and priestly vocations.
For older Jesuits, including myself, both were times of remembrance. We recalled the day we took our own first, perpetual vows and the day of our ordination to the priesthood. These were occasions of such importance in our lives that they can never be forgotten.
I recall vividly, for example, after two years of novitiate at St. Bonifacius, taking my vows at our philosophate in St. Louis at our regular 6:30 a.m. community Mass with only Jesuits present - the men studying philosophy and the faculty. Eight years later I was ordained to the priesthood in my hometown of St. Stephen in New Brunswick, Canada before a capacity crowd that included my family, young and old friends alike, and a good number of priests from the area.
The feeling on both occasions was one of deep gratitude to God for my vocation, a total dedication to follow Christ to the point of death, if that should be my calling, and to faithfully serve the people of God.
I feel fortunate that, from the day I entered the novitiate, I was doubt free and felt no apprehension about my decision. I was 29, old for a novice then. Dressed in a gray flannel suit, I drove by myself from eastern Canada. The place was abuzz with activity, and amid all the commotion I was mistaken for a salesman. This had no effect on my confidence. I knew my decision was the right one.
Such certainty is not always the case. Sometimes answering the call to religious life requires a trust in God, a personal leap of faith.
Back then we used to say that if you showed up at the novitiate you had a vocation. It was up to you to accept it or not. This remains true today as the Holy Spirit continues to call men and women to religious life, nudging them gently in the direction of their calling.
But our modern world has many distractions. More and more it is up to people like you and me to help and support those who think they might have a calling to religious life and do all we can to reassure them as they hear and accept the call.
All Jesuits consider it a great honor to be called by God, unworthy and weak men as we are, to serve the Church as a member of the Society of Jesus. We all pray that the grace of God will sustain our new novices, as well as Tom, John, Pat, and all of us in our desire to be true disciples of Christ and to be faithful to our vocations.
As our friends and benefactors you are right there with us, joining us in prayer, helping us carry out our mission with your generous support. In this way you, as Jesuit Partners, participate in our vocations. We are ever mindful of our ongoing debt to you. Be assured that your intentions are included in our prayers and Masses.
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