Jesuit Journeys
Winter 2006

The Jesuit Partnership:
Going forth with a ‘holy boldness’

Fr. Dick McGarrity, SJ
President,The Jesuit Partnership

From its very inception, the Society of Jesus has been a missionary order. St. Francis Xavier, one of the Society’s founding companions, helped instill that tradition by bringing the Good News of the Gospel to the people of India and Japan before dying off the coast of China in the mid 16th century.

Xavier, who is the subject of a reflection by Fr. Hector D’Souza, SJ (page 28) was a bold and zealous man who believed so deeply in his mission that he joyously met the many challenges he faced. This missionary tradition lives on today in the very way Jesuit provincials assign men to our educational institutions, parishes, retreat houses – our full range of apostolic works. When a provincial sends a Jesuit to a place, he does not simply assign him; he missions him to the work he will do in that place.

From the time I entered the novitiate in 1960, the Jesuits I’ve known who serve in our foreign missions have been inspirations to me. Two of my novitiate classmates, Fr. Frank Buchmeier, SJ and Fr. Bob McIntosh, SJ were among our early missionaries to Korea. Both are now members of the Korean Province. In fact, Bob is the top aide to the Korean provincial. Another classmate, Fr. Tony Wach, SJ (featured on page 16), has shown equal dedication in furthering the work of the Society in eastern Africa. Jesuits like Frank, Bob, and Tony inspire me by the way they have adapted their lives to the languages and cultures where they work, and by their complete dedication to the people they serve – sometimes at great risk to their own well being. Our Jesuit documents describe the energy and devotion with which Jesuits approach the work they’re missioned to this way:

“For us, frontiers and boundaries are not obstacles or ends, but new challenges to be faced, new opportunities to be welcomed. Indeed, ours is a holy boldness, a certain apostolic aggressiveness.” (General Congregation 34, Decree 26)

I visited with Fr. Wach a few years ago in Kampala, Uganda. He was my unofficial guide while I observed and witnessed the wonderful collaboration between Wisconsin Province Jesuits, the men of the Eastern Africa Province, and Jesuits from other parts of the world working there. Seeing missionaries like Tony in action gives me even greater incentive to seek support for the wonderful work they do for Christ. Their initiative and boldness can involve great personal risk with few societal structures to support and protect them.

In turn, my work as a Jesuit missioned to be president of the Jesuit Partnership also helps give our benefactors an opportunity to share in the challenges our foreign missionaries face. I am further inspired by the initiative some of our supporters take. For example, when a group of Fr. Wach’s classmates from Campion High School heard about his desire to help the people of Gulu in northern Uganda, they began acting on their own to raise funds on his behalf. I’m pleased the Jesuit Partnership will play an integral part in this generous commitment.

The entire Society of Jesus, like the whole Church, is made up of different parts and, as St. Paul points out, each part has a distinctive role to play. But we are all called to a genuine love of others and to do all we can to help them advance in their relationship with Christ.

Some of us have been blessed by God with a surplus of material goods and are given opportunities and invitations to help the poor. Many others – and this includes large numbers in India, Africa, and other locales – have little or no material goods. They are the poor and, as such, it is equally important they remain open to receiving in gratitude the gifts and blessings God reserves for them through the generosity of others.

For rich and poor alike, there is always the need to be thankful to God for all we have, especially the gift of sharing in the divine life of Christ.

We are reminded that with God, all things are possible – even taking on the countless situations in the world that seem to present insurmountable problems. To tackle these problems requires not only zeal and hope, but also a trust in knowing that real solutions come only through the power of God via the Holy Spirit. That power, evident in people like Fr. Wach in Uganda, allows us to act a “holy boldness” – i.e., with a “certain apostolic aggressiveness” – in devising human solutions to the seemingly insurmountable. Please accept this challenge with us through your charitable donations.