Watching Fr. José Moreno, SJ at work gives the impression that, if you somehow put the brakes to him, clouds of smoke and dust would swirl round his feet as the ground ripped the soles from his shoes..

In reality this energetic Mexican priest and pastor at St. Patrick’s Parish on Milwaukee’s predominantly Hispanic South Side is moving more methodically than it appears.In fact everything in his life,while pursued with an almost tangible passion,is achieved by measured formula – enthusiasm,com-mitment,and desire not to be mistaken for uncontrollable speed.

Writing math workbooks and textbooks at 4 a.m.,his daily early morning swim, tending to the needs of his parishioners,a monthly trip to Monterrey to help poor children learn math and expand a school there – all directly or indirectly follow a five-step formula for gaining insight and knowledge. The sequence is drawn from a pattern Fr. Moreno believes St. Ignatius followed by intuition. In a figurative sense, every time the five-step sequence is completed a spiral segment forms part of a growing, upward spiral. “And this spiral is our life. And what we do in our life leads us to Heaven,” Fr. Moreno says. Each segment of the spiral is slightly larger than the previous one, providing a platform on which to store what we’ve learned and consider our next steps.

If the spiral seems like a figment of Fr. Moreno’s imagination, that’s fine with him because, in his view, imagination counts as much or more than anything in our intellectual and spiritual pursuits.

Fr. José Moreno, SJ greets parishioners outside St. Patrick’s Church in Milwaukee after Mass.

Imagination, intelligence, and creativity are essential elements of our human development. Knowledge without imagination is useless. To develop our imagination is to develop our intelligence. To develop our intelligence is to develop our creativity. To be more creative is to be more human,” he says, posing a challenge in question form. “How do we enter into a more sophisticated level of imagination?”

Fr. Moreno didn’t always see life as an upward spiral reaching to the divine. For many years he had no idea what shape or direction his life was taking. Born in Mexico City to a family of considerable wealth, Fr. Moreno appeared to move smoothly and comfortably his secular life.While still a mechanical engineering student at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, he borrowed money from his father to open what became a successful factory.When he graduated in 1975, the company was doing extremely well, but success did not seem very satisfying.

His father, an accomplished businessman, advised him to either grow the business or shut it down. He did the latter in what he calls “a Christian way.” Selling off inventory and other material assets, he shared the proceeds with his workers because “they are the ones who built it.”

Students give a presentation to parents during Parents Night at LaSalle, a grade school for the poor in Monterrey, Mexico where Fr. José Moreno, SJ has worked and volunteered since 1995.

The tug between the material world and his interior spiritual desires was not new. At one point a priest he knew even suggested he consider a religious vocation. He applied to the priest’s order but decided not to enter, accepting instead a job as an engineer with Avon Products Inc., the cosmetics manufacturer, while also pursuing a master’s degree in applied mathematics. A year later, still unfulfilled and unsure of what to do next, Fr. Moreno decided distance from his present life might offer perspective and direction.

“I was very confused. I graduated with high honors from the university. I had operated a successful business. I had a good job. Lots of money. I had what millions of people would want in the world, but I wasn’t satisfied,” he says. He applied for and received a government scholarship to attend school in the U.S. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study mathematics and biomechanics. While earning a masters and doctorate degree, he met a Jesuit priest, now a bishop in the Philippines. “I asked him if he thought I could be a Jesuit. He laughed. He said, ‘No way my friend. You are too free. You are too spoiled.’ So I went back to Mexico and got a job at a university teaching math.”

Influenced by the works and lives of Thomas Merton, the Christian mystic and Trappist monk, and Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, the renowned paleontologist and Jesuit priest, Fr. Moreno could not escape the question of his own religious vocation. He took leave from his university job and entered the Jesuit novitiate in Mexico. “I thought if it didn’t work out, I could always go back. But it did work.”

First-year Jesuit novices undertake a 30-day retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. “That was so incredibly uplifting for me.” As he became more familiar with the Exercises and immersed himself in Ignatian spirituality, the image of five-steps and spiral segments that would influence his life and teaching techniques began to emerge.

Ordained in 1989, his first priestly assignment was to teach Math at ITESO, the Jesuit university in Guadalajara. He remained there until 1991, then spent four years doing mission and parish work before returning to the classroom in 1995 again as a professor of mathematics, this time at the Universidad Ibero Americana in Mexico City.

very important. “I’m a Jesuit because I’m a priest, not because I am a professor. I love working with the people, especially the poor.What really gives me life is celebrating Mass. I love preaching. I really like it,” he says. “I want to be among the people.” The pastor position at St. Patrick’s opened up during the 2000-01 school year while he was a visiting math professor at Marquette University. He has been “on-loan” to the Wisconsin Province ever since but returns to Mexico every month to give workshops at LaSalle, a grade school for the poor in Monterrey where he has worked and volunteered since 1995. There he trains teachers to use the math workbooks and techniques he spends his mornings in Milwaukee creating. The workbook lessons draw on a five-step sequence that parallel St. Ignatius’