Jesuit Journeys
Fall 2005
Formation:
A Method to the Madness
By Tim Manatt, SJ
 |
| Tim Manatt, SJ offers a prayer
at a 1999 wedding banquet in
McLean, Virginia. |
A weight fell from
my shoulders
that evening in
mid-October 1994. I was
standing on a sidewalk
in Washington, D.C.,
lingering in conversation
with a diocesan
seminarian outside his
residence across the street
from Catholic University
which we both attended
at the time.
“You know,” he said,
“first I had to discern my
way into the seminary.
And now, at the end
of each year, I have to
discern and decide to
continue in this vocation.
Discern into and discern
to continue. The simplicity
and meaningfulness of
his words gave me an
immediate sense of relief.
For weeks, as I felt progressively drawn to the notion of
becoming a priest, I had been fretting over the length of
formation, especially if I were to become a Jesuit. Ten to 12
years! Ordination at the ripe age of 42!
Yet here was the change in perspective I
needed: take it one year at a time. What a
sensible, plausible approach. On the way home
I responded in prayer, “OK, Lord, I’m willing to
give this a try.”
There’s no doubt that Jesuit formation takes a
long time, longer even than it takes to become
a brain surgeon. What’s more, the first year
of every stage in formation has seemed like
at least two years to me, from the novitiate
to philosophy studies at Fordham University
to regency and teaching at Red Cloud High
School – I’ve had to pay some pretty significant
emotional start-up costs at each new
community and locale.
So you might, as I did, wonder what’s the
payoff to this lengthy process? For me, it all began to truly make sense in the Dominican
Republic during summer 2004, 10 years afterthat conversation in D.C. and eight years after I became a Jesuit.
Creighton University sponsors a program for rural health
care and community development through the Institute for
Latin American Concern (ILAC) based in the city of Santiago.
With its co-founder, Fr. Ernesto Travieso, SJ, on sabbatical, I
received an invitation to take part in the summer program for
the second time in four years, this time as chaplain to the group
of 50 medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy students making
the trip.
During the pre-clinic orientation, I offered points for
reflection on four occasions aimed at alleviating the
palpable fears about the clinics and the shared living
experience with host families in a foreign country. For
instance, I asked the group to consider the situations which
might require forgiveness on the part of individuals or
the group, such as a team member not pulling his or her
weight on a given day, or snapping under the pressure of
the language barrier, or a townsperson attempting to take
advantage of access to free medicine.
I also modeled the role as reflection and prayer facilitator
for the seven team coordinators and strived to convince them
of the philosophy behind the evening reflections – namely
that, in the absence of group reflection and prayer, the ILAC
experience may differ little from a secular service project, and
thereby lose its power to set hearts and minds on fire for love
of God and neighbor. A few needed some convincing; the
majority simply needed some encouragement and resources.
After the seven teams were deployed, I traveled to each
village once every two weeks with a diocesan priest to visit the
teams and celebrate the Eucharist with them. My role evolvedinto becoming a trouble-shooter and sounding board for the
coordinators, while serving as spiritual adviser to a handful
of participants. I also offered brief reflections on the Gospel
in English at Mass. Meanwhile, back at the ILAC Center, I
was invited to give a brief history of Ignatius of Loyola and
the Jesuit order to the staff of the center, and presided at a
Communion service for them in Spanish as well.
In an e-mail at the mid-point of the summer, I assured my
family and friends that I felt as “engaged and fulfilled as this
Jesuit can be,” and compared myself to a pig rolling around in
mud. No doubt, part of my joy flowed from the return to the
Spanish-speaking culture, the ‘Republic of Baseball,’ and red
beans and rice. But beyond these personal loves, I look back
and marvel at the relative ease with which I entered and carried
out the ministry. Indeed, more than once, I found myself
wondering: Where did I get all this?
 |
| Tim Manatt, SJ (left) and colleagues take time out from volunteer work in a rural
village in the Dominican Republic and relax with a friendly game of Dominoes. |
Where indeed – for when I made a brief inventory of the
stories I told to individual students, the ways I structured
prayer services, and the phrases I had used in breaking open
the Word, it dawned on me: oh yeah, I got that insight about
the Trinity from a fellow novice around the breakfast table in
St. Paul; and that paradox regarding discipleship from a talk
by Fr. Larry Gillick, SJ at Campion House in Omaha; and that
notion of conversion from a lecture on Bernard Lonergan
at Fordham; and that form of greeting from a Lakota ritual
in South Dakota; and many other ideas and images and
inspirations simply from attending Mass about 340 days a year
for the previous eight years!
In short, the payoff from the lengthy formation as a Jesuit
emerges from exposure – extensive and varied exposure topreaching, presiding, retreats, spiritual direction, individual and
group reflection, intellectual endeavor, and dialogue, as well as
exposure to the perseverance in religious life of Jesuits of all ages.
This lengthy and multifaceted exposure yielded a bountiful
harvest in and through me during my eighth year in Jesuit
formation. And not a year too soon, for I have begun the final
stage of academic and pastoral training for the priesthood at
the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB).
Don’t get me wrong. I do not suffer from amnesia with
regard to the struggles over the past eight years. In particular,
at age 40, I look forward to the end of my formal studies.
However, whichever expression you like – a heavy toolbox, a
diverse repertoire, a deep bag of tricks – one thing’s for sure:
the length of Jesuit formation bears abundant fruit. Indeed, it
has equipped me to be a man of prayer, a representative of the
Church, a companion of Jesus, a helper of souls.
And while it might take less time to become a brain surgeon,
those additional years will come in handy, I’m sure, as I humbly
attempt to touch not only the minds of others, but their hearts
and souls as well.
|
Realizing the gifts of Jesuit formation
Fr. Casey
Beamier, SJ
On the eve of his June 10 ordination
to the priesthood, soon-to-be Fr. Casey
Beamier, SJ shared some thoughts about
his years of formation.
 I
am very excited to be ordained tomorrow
night. That’s a great gift of the Spirit in
my life and, I hope, a gift for the Society of
Jesus too.
When I arrived at Marquette University
more than 15 years ago, I wasn’t planning on
becoming a priest. I didn’t even know it was a
Jesuit school. But in meeting such great, great
Jesuits there, I decided God was calling me in
this way.
One of the gifts of Jesuit formation is the
capacity to grow in Ignatian Spirituality,
which has greatly enriched my life of prayer
in the past 12 years. I know Jesus Christ much
more deeply than I did 12 years ago. And that
relationship is really what this is all about.
I couldn’t do what I’ve done had I not been
filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ. And that
spirit is what will sustain me in my vocation;
and I think it’s what sustains the Society of
Jesus in its mission.
One of the gifts of Jesuit formation is
the
capacity to grow in Ignatian Spirituality,
which has greatly enriched my life of prayer
in the past 12 years. I know Jesus Christ much
more deeply than I did 12 years ago. And that
relationship is really what this is all about.
I couldn’t do what I’ve done had I not been
filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ. And that
spirit is what will sustain me in my vocation;
and I think it’s what sustains the Society of
Jesus in its mission.
The days leading up to ordination have
been marvelous. When my brother called me
the other day he said, “Well, I can’t believe
you’re done; tomorrow night you are going
to be a priest.”
I replied, “Yes but I’m not done. In some ways
everything will change with the priesthood, but
in other ways nothing will change.”
While this Jesuit life has prepared me to be
a minister within the Church, and becoming a
priest offers the potential for me to do more
good, being ordained is much less the end of
a journey than it is a significant milestone
on a longer one. |
