Fall/Winter 2014
From the Provincials Dear Friends, In this season of Thanksgiving, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, it is fitting that the theme of this issue of Partners is “Gratitude.” Gratitude is at the heart of Saint Ignatius’s spirituality and vision for the Society of Jesus. And it is the bond between the Jesuits and those we work with and serve.
For Ignatius, gratitude expresses itself through service.
After recovering from battle injuries, Saint Ignatius traveled through Spain as a pilgrim, and spent time in prayer near Manresa. There, his heart was moved with gratitude and his vocation confirmed by the love of God he encountered through the scriptures, especially in the words and deeds of Jesus. After weeks of prayer, Ignatius discovered new insights into the Christian way of life. He meditated on the transformative power of God’s love, which pours out life to every living creature. He prayed about God’s love, which is showered on the world like water from a fountain and invites a response from the one who is loved.
For Ignatius, gratitude expresses itself through service. “Love ought to show itself more in deeds than in words,” he wrote in his journal. “Love consists in a mutual sharing of goods between those who love each other.” He then prayed about how to respond to such a loving God who shares so much with us. These are some of the insights and graces that eventually became part of his Spiritual Exercises. It is the founding vision and inspiration of Ignatius that has inspired Jesuits through the years, and that continues to move the hearts of men and women today throughout the world. In this issue of Partners magazine, you will meet young Jesuits in the Midwest in early training (or as the Jesuits call it, formation). Like Ignatius, these men have heard the call of Christ and have contemplated God’s love. They are drawn by a strong desire to follow Jesus as a companion and friend in sharing the Gospel message of God’s transforming love for the world. You also will read about some of the new generation of leaders of our Jesuit schools, formed and shaped by the same vision and inspiration of Saint Ignatius, and eager to make that encounter with Christ possible through the work of Jesuit education.
“Love ought to show itself more in deeds than in words.”
We also remember, after 25 years, the story of the Jesuits from El Salvador — St. Ignatius and their coworkers who laid down their lives in love and service as witnesses to God’s love and justice in the midst of danger and violence. Our mission to embody “a faith that does justice” continues around the globe and, as represented through our cover story, in our 126-year-old ministry at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in western South Dakota.
We all know by now that the Jesuit schools, parishes, retreat ministries, and outreach to the poor and marginalized owe their success not just to Jesuits, but to the dedicated men and women who share the vision and dream of Saint Ignatius to “set the world on fire” with God’s love. The Jesuits of the Midwest are grateful for your friendship and for the many ways you join us in making possible the ministries of the Society of Jesus here in this country and overseas. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Brian G. Paulson, SJ Provincial, Chicago-Detroit Province
Thomas A. Lawler, SJ Provincial, Wisconsin Province
FALL/WINTER 2 014
Features
Fr. Brian G. Paulson, SJ
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25th Anniversary of Jesuit Martyrs in El Salvador
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To the Outskirts of Existence, by Pope Francis
PROV I NC I AL , C HI C AGO-DET R O IT P R O V IN C E
Fr. Thomas A. Lawler, SJ PROV I NC I AL , WI S C ONS I N P R O V IN C E
John Sealey reflects on the legacy of the six Jesuits and two lay companions who gave their lives to promoting peace in El Salvador.
Howard Craig PROV I NC I AL AS S I S TANT F O R A D VA N C E M E N T, CH IC AGO-DE T R OI T AND W IS C O N S IN P R O V IN C E S
Jeremy Langford PROV I NC I AL AS S I S TANT F O R C O M M U N IC AT IO N S , CH IC AGO-DE T R OI T AND W IS C O N S IN P R O V IN C E S
Ann Greene, Nancy Kolar, & Quentin Maguire
In this excerpt from his book, The Church of Mercy, Pope Francis highlights our call to follow Jesus’ example of outreach and service.
CO M MUNI C AT I ONS T E AM
C H I CA G O - D E T RO I T P R O V INC E 2050 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60614 (800) 922-5327 | (773) 975-6363
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Lay Leaders Serving the Jesuit Mission
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Red Cloud Indian School Empowers Lakota
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Helping God Yield an Abundant Harvest
Regional Directors of Advancement Bill Burke (Chicago/Cleveland) bburke@jesuits.org | (773) 975-6909 Jeff Smart (Chicago) jsmart@jesuits.org | (773) 975-6920 Mark Maxwell (Cincinnati/IN/KY) mmaxwell@jesuits.org | (513) 751-6688 607 Sycamore St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 Rachel Brennan (Detroit/Cleveland) rbrennan@jesuits.org | (248) 496-6129 Mail c/o Chicago Office Nora Dabrowski (Detroit) ndabrowski@jesuits.org | (773) 368-6399 Mail c/o Chicago Office WI SCO N SI N PRO V IN C E 3400 W. Wisconsin Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53208 (800) 537-3736 | (414) 937-6955 Regional Directors of Advancement Dan O’Brien (Milwaukee/Omaha) dobrien@jesuits.org | (414) 727-1955 Al Bill (Minneapolis/St. Paul) abill@jesuits.org | (952) 715-0770
Fr. Raymond Guiao, SJ, gives thanks for the talented and faith-filled Jesuits in formation, and for all those who support them.
2–4 News, Assignments, In Memoriam 7 Ministries of the Midwest Jesuits 8–9 Meet our Novices and learn more from young Jesuits about their vocations
12–13 International 15 Vocations 16 Join Us Online 17 Advancement
Stay Connected with the Jesuits
Social Media
Photo provided by Christopher Ives, communications, Red Cloud Indian School.
In the cover story, Fr. George Winzenburg, SJ, president of the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation, describes how the Lakota value their Jesuit education.
Also in This Issue
ON THE COVER Graduates Gabriella Rodriguez and Manuel Munoz, Jr., are grateful for their Jesuit education from Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in western South Dakota. Gabriella started school this fall at the University of North Dakota, and Manuel attends Chadron State College in Nebraska.
Andrew Stith, president of the new Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee, and Melodie Wyttenbach, president of Nativity Jesuit Middle School in Milwaukee, share their enthusiasm for Jesuit education.
Search Midwest Jesuits on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
Visit our photo galleries at midwestjesuits.smugmug.com
Free App JesuitPrayer.org
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NEWS
By the Numbers
Midwest Jesuits
13,500
Students in secondary and presecondary schools
9,000
Students in national Cristo Rey Network
559
Midwest Jesuits
112
Jesuits at Colombiere/St. Camillus
103
Jesuit Communities and Apostolates
93
Jesuits in Formation
66
Jesuit Ministries
On September 27, 2014, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, celebrated a special liturgy of thanksgiving in the Church of the Gesù in Rome to mark the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Society of Jesus. In 1814, Pope Pius VII re-established the Pope Francis gives Father General Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, Society of Jesus in the universal Church the Book of the Gospels and asks him to “Go set the after it was suppressed in 1773 by Pope world on fire,” quoting Ignatius. Clement XIV. The date for the celebration marked the 474th anniversary since Pope Paul III approved the Society in 1540. In his homily, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of discernment: “Only discernment saves us from real uprooting, from true ‘suppression’ of the heart, which is selfishness, worldliness, the loss of our horizon. Our hope is Jesus; it is only Jesus.” After Pope Francis finished speaking, all the Jesuits present, led by Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, renewed their promise of commitment to the mission and to the Successor of Peter. n
All 28 National Jesuit Colleges and Universities Make U.S. News & World Report 2015 “Best Colleges” Report All 28 US Jesuit colleges and universities have been ranked near the top of their classification categories in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” report. For the 12th consecutive year, Creighton University was ranked first for Midwest master’s universities. Among 84 master’s universities ranked in the West, four Jesuit institutions were in the top five: Santa Clara University (second), Gonzaga University and Loyola Marymount University (tied at third) and Seattle University (fifth). Santa Clara University was also highlighted as having the highest freshman retention rate of any master’s university in the country and the highest graduation rate in the West at 84 percent. Jesuit schools also stood out in the category of “Best Colleges for Veterans,” where Georgetown University ranked first. Other Jesuit schools that ranked highly in this category include Marquette University, Saint Louis University, Xavier University, Le Moyne College, Spring Hill College, Wheeling Jesuit University, and Rockhurst University. n
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Saints Peter & Paul Warming Center
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Saints Peter and Paul Warming Center in Detroit held a dedication ceremony on June 29, 2014, with over 150 in attendance. The Warming Center reopened July 7, 2014, to serve 50–80 homeless men and women — yet with triple its former space, an increase in the number of guests is expected. Improvements include a renovated kitchen, new cots, and private rooms for those seeking medical help and footcare. Now there are three handicapped-accessible restrooms, which replaced a single old shower stall, and a new laundry room with brand new appliances. Visit www.jesuitsmidwest.org/warmingcenter2014. n
Secondary Schools
Ordinands in 2015
7
Elementary Schools
+3
Middle Schools
= 23,467 Reasons to be Grateful! In addition, there are tens of thousands of students whose lives are shaped by our Jesuit universities in the Midwest, and we are evermindful of our rich tradition of ministry to Native Americans in South Dakota since the 1880s.
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Pope Francis Celebrates Bicentennial of the Restoration of the Jesuits
Cleveland to host 2017 World Union of Jesuit Alumni The World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA), has selected Cleveland as the site for its firstever meeting in North America, due to its strong network of Jesuit alumni and institutions. WUJA’s global congress will convene during the last week of June 2017. Dave Clifford, executive director of the congress and founding member of the Loyola Club of Cleveland, made a pitch for Cleveland at the 2013 congress in Medellin, Colombia. Clifford was one of only three US representatives at that conference, which drew more than 700 attendees from more than 40 countries. The Jesuits sponsor more than 900 high schools, colleges, and universities around the world. n
NEWS
IN MEMORIAM
We give thanks for the following Jesuits who have gone home to God.
Remembering James Foley, American photojournalist and Marquette University alum ’96
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fter 636 days in captivity, James Foley, 40, was beheaded in Syria in August 2014 at the hands of militant extremists from Islamic State (ISIS) as an act of retribution for US airstrikes on the group. Upon learning of the news, Pope Francis called James’s parents, Diane and John Foley, at their New Hampshire home and spoke for 20 minutes through a translator. A Vatican spokesman described the call as “very long and intense,” and that the Foleys drew huge comfort from their conversation with the pope. Marquette University held a prayer vigil at Church of the Gesu on August 26, 2014, where nearly 1,000 of Jim’s family and friends gathered to honor and remember him. Three years earlier, Foley had been detained in Libya while covering the events to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi. After his release, Foley sent a letter to the Marquette University community to offer his gratitude for their active efforts to raise awareness of his captivity. “I hadn’t truly lived the values of seeing God in all people and things until my freedom was taken from me for 44 days. I was truly humbled and broken. But the faith of so many kept my spirits alive and the series of miracles that led to my actual release cannot be described as anything but.” He expressed the power and strength he drew not only from his own prayer, but the prayers of his family and friends. n
Visit www.jesuitsmidwest.org for more information CDT=Chicago-Detroit Province WIS=Wisconsin Province Fr. John F. Snyder, SJ (USA Central and Southern Province, formerly WIS) August 12, 1918 to September 13, 2014 Fr. Kenneth T. Walleman, SJ (WIS) July 30, 1923 to September 15, 2014 Fr. William F. Prospero, SJ (WIS) August 4, 1965 to September 8, 2014 Fr. Michael A. Evans, SJ (CDT) August 20, 1954 to September 1, 2014 Br. Anthony R. Kreutzjans, SJ (CDT) October 4, 1939 to August 13, 2014
Photo by Xidan Zhang, Marquette Tribune.
Fr. William J. Brennan, SJ (WIS) May 14, 1920 to August 11, 2014 Fr. Dennis R. Karamitis, SJ (WIS) February 7, 1944 to July 27, 2014 Marquette University president, Dr. Michael Lovell (center), and others joined in prayer at the vigil for James Foley on August 26, 2014, at Church of the Gesu. All 28 Jesuit universities in the US honored what would have been Foley’s 41st birthday on October 18, 2014.
MISSIONED TO SERVE AT ST. CAMILLUS
Fr. Charles Burns, SJ
Fr. Theodore Hottinger, SJ
Fr. Patrick J. Malone, SJ (WIS) February 13, 1959 to July 22, 2014 Fr. W. Richard Ott, SJ (WIS) July 6, 1942 to July 15, 2014 Fr. William B. Neenan, SJ (WIS applied to New England Province) January 9, 1929 to June 25, 2014
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ASSIGNMENTS
INTERNATIONAL Fr. James Grummer, SJ, will relinquish the office of regional assistant but will continue to serve as assistant ad providentiam, general counselor, and admonitor of Father General.
Pope Francis Appoints Jesuit Father Robert Geisinger as Promoter of Justice September 10, 2014 — Pope Francis has appointed US Jesuit Father Robert J. Geisinger as the Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, Fr. Geisinger will serve as the Vatican's chief prosecutor of sex abuse crimes. The position also involves monitoring the procedures that national bishops' conferences have in place for dealing with abuse accusations and handling the dismissal from the priesthood of those guilty of sexual abuse. Fr. Geisinger succeeds Father Robert W. Oliver, who has been appointed Secretary to the Vatican Commission for the Safeguarding of Minors. A member of the Chicago-Detroit Province Jesuits, Fr. Geisinger has been serving in Rome since 2001 as general procurator for the Society of Jesus—the chief in-house canonical adviser to Jesuit Superior General Father Adolfo Nicolás. Born in Parma, Ohio, in 1958, Fr. Geisinger received degrees in English literature, philosophy, and canon law; he also holds a Master of Divinity degree. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1981 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1991. Fr. Geisinger has also worked as associate chancellor of the Chicago Archdiocese and as a presiding judge on the archdiocese’s metropolitan tribunal.
Fr. Joseph Daoust, SJ, completed his service as general counselor on September 4, 2014, and is on a sabbatical. Fr. Juan Carlos Morante, SJ, has been appointed provincial of the Peru Province, after having served as president of the Universidad Antonio Ruiz de Montoya in Peru. He succeeds Fr. Miguel Cruzado, SJ, who was appointed by the Father General to be general counselor and regional assistant for Southern Latin America. Fr. Joseph Oduor Afulo, SJ, PhD, has been appointed provincial of the Eastern Africa Province of the Society of Jesus (AOR). Fr. Afulo was principal at Hekima College in Nairobi, Kenya. He succeeds Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ, who will be on sabbatical, then will hold the Francis C. Wade, SJ, Chair at Marquette University in the 2015–16 school year.
IN THE UNITED STATES Thomas Hoy has been named the third president of Jesuit Academy in Omaha, Nebraska, effective January 1, 2015. Hoy succeeds Fr. Tom Neitzke, SJ, who will remain in office through the school year, then will serve on the vocations team for the Midwest Jesuits. Fr. Jim Ackerman, SJ, is teaching theology at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL, after serving as chaplain at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. Fr. Kent Beausoleil, SJ, is now associate dean of student development at Marquette University. Previously he was associate pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Cincinnati. Fr. Pat Casey, SJ, (Peru) is now serving in Chicago as part-time chaplain at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in addition to his current ministry at St. Procopius Parish.
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Fr. Harry Gensler, SJ, is teaching philosophy at Loyola University Chicago (LUC) after serving as a visiting professor at LUC and Marquette University. Fr. Mark Henniger, SJ, has been assigned pastoral care chaplain at Loyola University Health System. He previously was a professor of medieval philosophy at Georgetown University. Fr. Paul O’Connor, SJ, now oversees faculty formation and teaches at St. Xavier High School, Cincinnati, where he also teaches religion. Fr. Richie Salmi, SJ, serves as head of the London Centre at Fordham University following a sabbatical.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
25th Anniversary of Jesuit Martyrs in El Salvador By John Sealey
“The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” —Søren Kierkegaard
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Original Artwork by Mary Pimmel-Freeman
he martyrdom of the six Jesuits and visit El Salvador. How could our country counted for only 5 percent of the violence. two lay companions on November 16, have knowingly supported and trained the The Truth Commission reported that 1989, was a turning point in the Salvadoran Colonel René Emilio Ponce, head of the military forces that killed the Jesuits and so Civil War (1979–92) and even more impor- Army’s Joint Chiefs, ordered troops to many others before them such as Archtantly an event that brought international bishop Romero, the four American church murder Fr. Ellacuría and to “leave no witattention to the work of the Jesuits women, and countless catechists, at the University of Central America indigenous, labor and community (UCA). leaders? How could our country The martyrs insisted that a univerdefend a brutality that inflicted so sity that calls itself Christian must be much suffering? committed to a preferential option for In the days following the assasthe poor, for it is the poor who reveal sinations, Jesuits from around the Jesus’ suffering, passion, and resurworld volunteered to help fill the rection in a special way. The UCA faculty losses at the UCA. One of became a social force in El Salvador them, theologian Fr. Dean Brackley, that challenged the atrocities borne by would often ask visiting delegations the poor. The Jesuits promoted peace to El Salvador to reflect on one quesnegotiations to end the war and contion in light of one’s faith, work, and fronted economic injustice and military understanding of the world. It is a oppression that perpetuated suffering. question of ultimate meaning that The life project of Jesuit Rector Fr. the witness of the martyrs continues Ignacio Ellacuría, the UCA not only to beckon: “Whose interests are you welcomed the poor, but also provided defending?” an intellectual presence “to provide Twenty-five years later this is an science for those without science; to enduring legacy of the martyrs and provide skills for those without skills; a question we might continue to to be a voice for those without voices.” discern on a personal, institutional, To understand the martyrs, it is and national level. The legacy and important to consider the forces that human costs of the Salvadoran Civil led to their assassinations. During the War also remain today as economic Salvadoran Civil War, 75,000 people disparity and regional murder rates Clockwise, starting top center: Jesuit Fathers Ignacio Ellacuría, SJ, were killed, one-third of the country in Central America are among the (59, philosopher); Ignacio Martín-Baró, SJ, (44, social psycholowas forced to relocate internally, and highest in the world. So many of gist and head of Psychology Department); Juan Ramón Moreno, another million people had to seek the families and children who have SJ, (56, theology professor), Celina Ramos, (16, daughter of the refuge in other countries. The tiny narecently arrived at the US southern housekeeper, Elba); Joaquin López y López, SJ, (71, founding head of tion was the second highest recipient border are fleeing the violence in El the Fe y Alegria network of schools for the poor); Elba Julia Ramos, (housekeeper and wife of a caretaker at UCA); Segundo Montes, SJ, of US military aid after Israel, despite Salvador and neighboring Honduras, (56, head of the Sociology Department and UCA’s human rights mounting evidence of widespread which shares a similar history. What institute), and Amando López, SJ, (53, theology professor). abuse by Salvadoran forces. The preference do we give these poor? United Nations Truth Commission Whose interests will we defend? n found that the Salvadoran army and John Sealey is the provincial assistant for security forces were responsible for 85 per- nesses.” Ponce graduated from the U.S. social and international ministries for the cent of the political violence (e.g., murders, Army School of the Americas (renamed Midwest Jesuits. kidnapping, and torture) during the war and Western Hemisphere Institute for Security complicit right-wing paramilitary death Cooperation) in Fort Benning, Georgia, as squads often staffed by off-duty soldiers had 19 of the 26 Salvadoran soldiers who hired by wealthy land owners or businessparticipated in the Jesuit killings. men accounted for an additional 10 percent This realization might leave some readof the violence. The leftist Farabundo Martí ers confused and even ashamed, which National Liberation Front (FMLN) acis the identical experience of many who 5
I G N AT I A N S P I R I T U A L I T Y
Pope Francis greets people as he arrives to attend a special audience with Paralympic athletes in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on October 4, 2014. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)
To the Outskirts of Existence By Pope Francis
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he Church must step outside herself. To go where? To the outskirts of existence, whatever they may be, but she must step out. Jesus tells us, “Go into all the world! Go! Preach! Bear witness to the Gospel!” (see Mark 16:15). But what happens if we step outside ourselves? The same as can happen to anyone who comes out of the house and onto the street: an accident. But I tell you, I far prefer a Church that has had a few accidents to a Church that has fallen sick from being closed. Go out, go out! Think of what the book of Revelation says as well. It says something beautiful: that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, knocks to be let into our heart (see Rev. 3:20). This is the meaning of the book of Revelation. But ask yourselves this question: how often is Jesus inside and knocking at the door to be let out, to come out? And we do not let him out because of our own need for security, because so often we are locked into ephemeral structures that serve solely to make us slaves and not free children of God. In this “stepping out” it is important to be ready for encounter. For me this word is very important. Encounter with others. Why? Because faith is an encounter with Jesus, and we must do what Jesus does: encounter others. We live in a culture of conflict, a culture of fragmentation, a culture in which I throw away what is of no use to me, a culture of waste. Yet on this 6
point, I ask you to think—and it is part of the crisis—of the elderly, who are the wisdom of a people; think of the children…the culture of waste! However, we must go out to meet them, and with our faith we must create a “culture of encounter,” a culture of friendship, a culture in which we find brothers and sisters, in which we can also speak with those who think differently, as well as those who hold other beliefs, who do not have the same faith. They all have something in common with us: they are images of God; they are children of God. [We must be] going out to meet everyone, without losing sight of our own position. There is another important point: encountering the poor. If we step outside ourselves, we find poverty. Today—it sickens the heart to say so—the discovery of a tramp who has died of the cold is not news. Today what counts as news is, maybe, a scandal. A scandal—ah, this is news! Today, the thought that a great many children do not have food to eat is not news. This is serious; this is serious! We cannot put up with this! Yet that is how things are. We cannot become starched Christians, those overeducated Christians who speak of theological matters as they calmly sip their tea. No! We must become courageous Christians and go in search of the people who are the very flesh of Christ—those who are the flesh of Christ! When I go to hear confessions—I still can’t, because to go out to hear confessions…from here
it’s impossible to go out, but that’s another problem—when I used to go to hear confessions in my previous diocese, people would come to me, and I would always ask them: “Do you give alms?” “Yes, Father!” “Very good.” And I would ask them two further questions: “Tell me, when you give alms, do you look the person in the eye?” “Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.” The second question: “And when you give alms, do you touch the hand of the person you are giving them to, or do you toss the coin at him or her?” This is the [issue]: the flesh of Christ, touching the flesh of Christ, taking upon ourselves this suffering for the poor. Poverty for us Christians is not a sociological, philosophical, or cultural category, no. It is theological. I might say this is the first category, because our God, the Son of God, abased himself, he made himself poor to walk along the road with us. This is our poverty; the poverty of the flesh of Christ, the poverty that brought the Son of God to us through his incarnation. A poor Church for the poor begins by reaching out to the flesh of Christ. If we reach out to the flesh of Christ, we begin to understand something, to understand this poverty, the Lord’s poverty. n Excerpt from The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis (Loyola Press 2014). Reprinted with permission from Loyola Press. To order copies of this book, visit PopeFrancis.LoyolaPress.com.
MINISTRIES OF THE MIDWEST JESUITS
Where We Serve EDUCATION SCHOOLS Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Indianapolis, IN Chicago Jesuit Academy, Chicago, IL Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School, Chicago, IL Creighton Preparatory School, Omaha, NE Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Chicago, IL Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Milwaukee, WI Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis, MN Gesu Jesuit Catholic School, University Heights, OH Gesu School, Detroit, MI Jesuit Academy, Omaha, NE Loyola Academy, Wilmette, IL Loyola High School, Detroit, MI Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, WI Nativity Jesuit Middle School, Milwaukee, WI Our Lady of Lourdes, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD Saint Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, IL Saint Ignatius High School, Cleveland, OH Saint John’s Jesuit High School & Academy, Toledo, OH Saint Procopius School, Chicago, IL Saint Thomas More School, Saint Paul, MN Saint Xavier High School, Cincinnati, OH University of Detroit Jesuit High School & Academy, Detroit, MI Walsh Jesuit High School, Cuyahoga Falls, OH UNIVERSITIES Creighton University, Omaha, NE John Carroll University, University Heights, OH Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH PUBLISHING Loyola Press, Chicago, IL FORMATION The Jesuit Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado, St. Paul, MN Loyola University First Studies, Chicago, IL JESUIT HEALTH CARE Colombiere Center, Clarkston, MI St. Camillus, Wauwatosa, WI MISSIONS Holy Rosary, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD St. Francis, Rosebud Indian Reservation, SD
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Delhi Province, India Eastern Africa Province Ecuador Province Kohima Region, Northeast India Nepal Region, India Patna Province, India Peru Province PASTORAL Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee, WI Gesu Catholic Church, University Heights, OH Gesu Catholic Church, Detroit, MI Kentucky Jesuit Mission, Lexington, KY Saint Isaac Jogues, Rapid City, SD Saint John’s Parish, Omaha, NE Saint Mary Student Parish & Newman Center, Ann Arbor, MI Saint Patrick’s Parish, Milwaukee, WI Saints Peter & Paul Jesuit Church, Detroit, MI Saint Procopius Parish, Chicago, IL Saint Thomas More Church, Saint Paul, MN Saint Robert Bellarmine Chapel, Cincinnati, OH Saint Xavier Church, Cincinnati, OH RETREAT Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House, Barrington, IL Charis Ministries, Chicago, IL Creighton University Retreat Center, Griswold, IA Ignatian Spirituality Project, Chicago, IL Jesuit Retreat House-Demontreville, Lake Elmo, MN Jesuit Retreat House of Cleveland, Parma, OH Jesuit Spiritual Center at Milford, Milford, OH Jesuit Retreat House, Oshkosh, WI Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, Bloomfield Hills, MI Sioux Spiritual Center, Howes, SD SOCIAL JUSTICE Claver Jesuit Ministry, Cincinnati, OH Gesu Housing, Omaha, NE Ignatian Volunteer Corps, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Omaha Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Francis Saints Peter & Paul Warming Center, Detroit, MI 7
F O R M AT I O N
Meet the 2014
Novices I
t is with great joy that we introduce the 10 men who entered the Society for the Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces at the Jesuit Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Saturday, August 16, 2014. Michael Bartlett Ashland, Ohio
Mike, 24, earned a bachelor’s in philosophy in 2003 at the University of Chicago, where he recently completed a master’s in religion. His academic studies helped him encounter great Jesuit theologians, which led him to explore a vocation to the Society. Prior to joining the Jesuits, Mike was employed as a barista, journalist, and substitute teacher, and served as an overnight volunteer at Simpson Housing Shelter in Minneapolis. (Chicago-Detroit Province) José “Chuy” Camacho Streator, Illinois
Chuy, 44, received a bachelor’s in business from Southern Illinois University in 1995 and another in chemistry from Illinois State University in 1999. He served 24 years in the U.S. Navy, working as a hospital corpsman and medical technician. His first exposure to Ignatian prayer was during a retreat with the Jesuits in Mexico. Working with his parish youth group and belonging to a small faith community in the parish were transformative experiences for him. (Chicago-Detroit Province)
Left row (from bottom to top): Chris Williams (with glasses), Michael Bartlett, David Inczauskis, William Gibson, Thomas O’Donnell, Jack McLinden Right row (from bottom to top): James McGivney, Ryan Cruise, José Camacho, James Kennedy
lina, where he was a resident assistant in the dorms and a staff writer for the university newspaper. He also served as a peer minister and studied abroad at Oxford University in England during his junior year. While at Oxford, David met an English Jesuit and spent a few weeks with novices in Birmingham, England, which helped motivate his decision to join the Society. (Chicago-Detroit Province)
Ryan Cruise
James Kennedy
Ryan, 19, attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. An Eagle Scout, he has tutored students in math and Spanish in high school and was involved in his parish’s youth group and served as a catechist. He made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, and attended Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. Ryan enjoys watching and playing baseball, football, and table tennis. (Wisconsin Province)
Jim, 23, received a bachelor’s in history from the University of Michigan in 2012. During college, he developed a tremendous respect for the Jesuits he met at St. Mary Student Parish while serving as a catechist. Jim also tutored elementary and high school students at Calvert House Catholic Center at the University of Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in social sciences in 2013. (Chicago-Detroit Province)
William Gibson
James McGivney
William, 28, received a bachelor’s in philosophy from the University of Dallas in 2010. He taught classics and coached lacrosse at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati last year and also previously worked as a lifeguard and an English tutor. Although he was a Franciscan for three years, he was drawn to the Jesuits’ intellectual tradition and its commitment to the academic apostolate. William’s interests include theology and music. (Chicago-Detroit Province)
Jim, 27, attended Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, graduating in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Dayton in Ohio and a master’s in accounting from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He volunteered with the West Side Catholic Center in Cleveland, where he served the homeless, and at the Cleveland Food Bank. He coached the crew team and was a volunteer at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois.
Bettendorf, Iowa
Round Rock, Texas
David Inczauskis
La Grange, Illinois
Cleveland, Ohio
(Chicago-Detroit Province)
Homer Glen, Illinois
Thomas O’Donnell
David, 22, holds a bachelor’s in Spanish and religious studies from Wake Forest University in North Caro-
Tommy, 30, graduated from the University of Wiscon-
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Dousman, Wisconsin
sin with a bachelor’s in finance and marketing. He then taught in Milwaukee public schools and Cristo Rey high schools. Tommy’s volunteer experiences have been with SPRED (Special Religious Development); the COVE Alliance, which provides social services to orphaned and disadvantaged children; and The Guest House, serving those with disabilities or experiencing homelessness. Tommy enjoys playing and watching baseball and golf. (Wisconsin Province) Jack McLinden Cleveland, Ohio
Jack, 23, graduated from Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland and received a bachelor’s in religious studies and classics from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He pitched for the varsity baseball team at Saint Ignatius and Bucknell and worked as a youth baseball umpire in his spare time. Jack decided to join the Jesuits after completing the “Six Weeks a Jesuit” program in Canada and going on an immersion trip to Uganda. He is interested in philosophy and theology. (Chicago-Detroit Province) Chris Williams
Spearfish, South Dakota
Chris, 24, graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, with a degree in theology and secondary education. While at Creighton, Chris worked at the Center for Service and Justice and studied in Peru. He has been a camp counselor, taught at Jesuit Academy in Omaha and spent a semester volunteering. Chris enjoys reading, movies, the outdoors, and good coffee and good food. (Wisconsin Province) n
F O R M AT I O N
For the Greater Glory of God
Four young Jesuits reflect on answering God’s call and their formation experience By Amy Korpi
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here’s an old saying that goes like this: “If you’ve met one Jesuit, you’ve met one Jesuit!” It’s a reflection of the fact that those who enter the Society of Jesus have many different backgrounds, personalities, and talents—and that includes Dan Dixon, Andy Hanson, Nick Albin, and Dan Kennedy, who pronounced First Vows on August 9. Yet, as the following reflections from these young Jesuits reveal, they, like Jesuits through the centuries, share much in common—most especially their desire to serve for the greater glory of God. ON THEIR CALLING Dixon: “It seemed like I was the last one to know I belonged in the Society. Other people kept telling me I should consider it, but I wasn’t sure. My hesitance came from a variety of places. Sometimes, it was a feeling of unworthiness. Other times, it was wondering whether I would miss being a husband and a father. It was the persistence of others saying they felt it made sense for me that eventually caused me to think, ‘I have to look at this.’” Hanson: “I was also hesitant—I had the seedlings of a vocation, in that I had long admired what the Jesuits stand for and the work they do. And I wanted to do that kind of work, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it as a Jesuit. Yet, when I worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, I realized there was something missing. As life-giving as the work might be, I needed more.” Albin: “Like Dan Dixon, I was encouraged by others—Jesuits, professors, friends— who saw the vocation in me. You hear the stories about ‘lightning striking’ and just knowing. But it’s not like that; at least it wasn’t for me. Stepping stones is a better metaphor for my exploration leading to the decision to enter the Jesuits. I felt drawn to the Society, but it was much more complex than a lightning bolt ‘conversion.’” Kennedy: “Rather than a lightning bolt, I would compare my attraction to the vocation as the clouds that gather before a storm. I might have been the first of this group to know; I had the desire to join the Society at a younger age. But in my case, too, other people were important to my discernment process. I sought confirmation that they also saw this life for me and in me.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NOVITIATE EXPERIENCE Dixon: “People have asked me why the Jesuit formation process is so long. They wonder whether Jesuits in training are just waiting to become full-fledged priests or brothers, whether we’re just so glad to check off another part of the process. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s called formation for a reason—gradually, through each experience, we are asked to become a little more available to serve as best we can. We can’t do that if we’re just completing requirements.” Hanson: “Jesuits are blessed to have a wide variety of experiences during our formation period. Every new experience helps us learn more about ourselves, and our relationship with God and others—and every new experience is a confirmation of what we’re doing.” Kennedy: “It takes time to develop the habits of creativity, of joy in prayer, of engagement with people. The goal is that we will be able to discern what is AMDG (the Jesuit motto ad maiorem Dei gloriam, translated as “for the greater glory of God”). That takes a wide range of experiences, both successes and failures. If you haven’t formed it for yourself, you can’t inspire it in someone else.” Albin: “It’s also significant that formation combines studies and service work. We apply what we learn in the classroom to our activities in the world and vice versa. And we look at where God is present in all of it.” ON CONTINUITY WITH THOSE WHO’VE GONE BEFORE Hanson: When we were at an annual meeting of Midwest Jesuits in June, we saw a video featuring men who had passed away during the previous year. The photos moved me to think about how each man had served so many people. In one, there was a Jesuit pictured with a large group of parishioners and I thought, ‘Here’s this brother I don’t know and will never meet, but he embodied what we all desire to embody. And he did it his whole life.” Albin: “I find that just living in community is a source of inspiration. I see how these role models are moved in prayer . . . how they respond to the Holy Spirit in the communal Mass . . . how they talk to each other over a meal . . . and I am motivated by their
way of being. It’s how I hope to be in 20, 40, 60 years.” Dixon: “In many cases, it is a personal encounter with Jesus working through a Jesuit that inspires a new vocation. The joy my mentor, Fr. Brian Daley, has demonstrated in being a Jesuit helped draw me to this life. Fr. Daley became my spiritual director and thesis advisor in college. Being with him even for a short time caused me to ask, ‘Where does his happiness come from?’ Other times, hearing a story can be very moving. Recently at a Jesuit event, I sat next to a man who had served in India for 25 years. He embodies the missionary spirit of the first Jesuits. Whether or not I am called to international service, encounters with such men are moving and help me learn what exactly it means to be available for mission, as St. Ignatius would have wanted.”
Nicholas Albin
Daniel Dixon
Andrew Hanson
Daniel Kennedy
Kennedy: “One of the best examples of the ‘union of hearts and minds’ that St. Ignatius envisioned for the Jesuits can be found among the best traditions of the Society—spiritual direction. Being accompanied by someone in the space where you are praying and deepening your relationship with God—someone who has had similar experiences, as a matter of the heart as well as the intellect—is an amazing gift.” n These newly vowed Jesuits now move into First Studies, a period of three years focused on academic work, studying philosophy and theology.
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J E S U I T E D U C AT I O N
Lay Leaders Serving the Jesuit Mission By Amy Korpi
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hen the Jesuits of the Midwest came together for an annual “Province Days” meeting in June, one of the key themes was the importance of lay colleagues. While the numbers of Jesuit priests and brothers are still strong, they are smaller than a few decades ago. Such trends have resulted in laypeople taking on greater leadership and support roles at the many Jesuit institutions throughout the Midwest. Yet Jesuit-lay collaboration is certainly nothing new. As Chicago-Detroit Provincial Fr. Brian Paulson, SJ, recalled, “My first two years of high school were at Campion, in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Upon Campion’s closure, I moved on to Chicago’s Loyola Academy and, even back then, all my teachers were laypeople. When I entered the Jesuits, I could have joined through various provinces, but my experience at Loyola had been so positive that I thought, ‘if this place can be so well run with a small Jesuit presence, I want to cast my lot with this team.’” Unsurprisingly, however, when a Jesuitsponsored institution is run largely by laypeople, there is a concern about its ability to maintain its “Jesuit-ness.” But Province Days participants made it clear: Energetic, dedicated lay colleagues who are highly committed to Ignatian values and the Society’s way of proceeding are making great strides in leading Jesuit-related ministries. A case in point is Andrew Stith, president of Milwaukee’s Cristo Rey High School, set to open in 2015. In charge of the feasibility study that led the Society to make the commitment to proceed with the high school, he became a natural contender to lead it. But the story begins much earlier. A communications and business major at Marquette University, Stith had plans to go into business after graduation. However, Fr. Frank Majka, SJ (now pastoral minister at Marquette High School) asked him whether he’d consider something different. Ultimately, that new path turned out to be the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame (ACE)— a graduate program providing academic, experiential, and personal formation to aspiring teachers and school leaders while placing its participants in schools whose
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missions help ensure that social and economic hurdles will not bar children from an excellent Catholic education. As part of the ACE program, Stith taught at Holy Name School in Kansas City, Kansas, where he learned of the need for Catholic education in the inner city. “The hunger for parents and students to have a place where they can find God, community, and people who care for their whole being was Andrew Stith, president of the new Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee, and Melodie Wyttenbach, president of Nativity Jesuit Middle so significant,” he said. “It also School in Milwaukee. opened my eyes to a personal mission. While I discerned my calling “My education at SLU deeply influwasn’t in the classroom, I realized it was in enced my development,” she said. “While education.” there, my involvement in campus ministry With his master’s degree in hand, Stith and community service work helped me went on to work in the development ofdevelop an understanding of good work in fice of Notre Dame High School in Niles, action and the reflective tools necessary to Illinois. Two years later, in 2005, the make meaning out of each experience. I Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth invited also came to know a number of Jesuits who him to return to Kansas City to serve in inspired me and connected me with various advancement for a new Cristo Rey High ministries, including Camp Thunderhead, School the order was opening. Finding, Nativity Jesuit’s summer camp program. among other things, the mission of the high These experiences were life-changing and school’s work-study program compelling, I continue to ground my experiences in he decided to make the move, and oversaw prayer and reflection.” communications, fund development, and Such life-changing experiences and community outreach for seven years. reflection have formed Wyttenbach into the In 2012 came the next step in the journey only woman to lead a Jesuit middle school, for Stith—by then a husband and father. high school, or university in the Midwest. It was an opportunity to become involved “That distinction is a humbling honor,” on the ground floor of another Cristo Rey she said. “Having been trained in the Jesuit school, this time in Milwaukee. He felt tradition, my leadership platform allows clear it was something he must consider. me to challenge other laymen and laywom“I kept feeling this calling,” he said. And, en to further develop their understanding after directing the feasibility study, when of Ignatian pedagogy and their own faith he was offered the position at the helm, “it formation. Further, as a wife and working just seemed right.” mother, I believe I can be an example for The move to add a Cristo Rey high others who are passionate about their work school in Milwaukee is welcome news and share my love for my faith and my to Melodie Wyttenbach, Nativity Jesuit family, while serving the mission of NativMiddle School’s president. “The need for ity with others.” good schools in our community is great,” That passion is evident in everything she explained. “And Cristo Rey, like our Wyttenbach does. “The students and their program, is transformative. I believe we families inspire me daily,” she remarked. are all called to this Jesuit notion of magis “They bring great joy to this ministry and, to do more and to be more for the greater even when the road is rocky, their perglory of God.” sistence, optimism and gratitude demonIt’s the kind of transformation with strate the impact Nativity Jesuit has on which Wyttenbach is personally familiar, each individual who enters our doors. It’s having earned her undergraduate degree at truly a place that transforms lives—of the Saint Louis University (SLU), and a gradustudents, families, teachers, volunteers ate degree at Marquette.
Continued on page 17
N AT I V E A M E R I C A N M I N I S T R Y
Red Cloud Indian School Empowers Lakota By George Winzenburg, SJ
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he big sky is the first thing you notice. The land is vast and winters can be harsh. No one travels when blizzards arise and snow is drifting. We are in South Dakota. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is about the size of Connecticut. It is strikingly beautiful land with rolling hills and canyons, and close to the Badlands and the Black Hills. The Rez, as we call it, is home to more than 30,000 Lakota. It is the second poorest county in the United States. Per capita income is about $7,800. Despite their suffering, Lakota are resilient. They are family-centered and spiritual. They are generous with their time and what little resources they have. They embrace values that can teach other Americans and people of the world what it means to be hospitable, respectful, and wise. They love to tease one another and know how to laugh. There’s a young student at Red Cloud whom I sometimes see in class and at Sunday Mass. I have ridden one of our wellworn school buses early in the morning and watched her run from her trailer house,
jump on the bus, and greet her friends. One day I asked Mia that dreaded question adults invariably ask students: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Without hesitation she wrapped her arms around my waist, looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes, and said, “I want to be a saint!” You and I know too much about ourselves to think we are saints. But we are smart enough to know that children teach us to be humble, to keep our dreams alive, and to see sacredness in ourselves and in others, especially society’s poor and forgotten people. Jesuits help to staff Red Cloud Indian School and six churches. Red Cloud exhibits Lakota art in its Heritage Center, and has 600 students in grades K–12. Last May, our valedictorian approached a podium dressed in a graduation gown with traditional Lakota regalia. She spoke in Lakota and then in English. She welcomed everyone with a warm handshake and said: “I am seventeen years old. I humbly take courage and seek knowledge and wisdom gratefully. I give thanks to my mother. She has
shown me how to attain a good education. She is a courageous and strong-hearted woman.” Savannah turned to her classmates and said: “Never take no for an answer, stay true to yourself, continue to persevere and keep your humility because you can do anything. My mother is my life and my example. With her and many of our role models paving the way, continue that path for the future generations because when you rise, we all rise.” Savannah is now a freshman at Stanford University, where she has joined Red Cloud graduates from each of the last three years. Red Cloud Indian School has been educating Lakota children since 1888. It is a beacon of hope for Lakota families through our schools and parishes. Come and visit us! You will meet beautiful children whose dreams will warm your heart and fill you with hope. n Fr. George Winzenburg, SJ, president of the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The nation’s third smallest diocese by number of Catholics is the Diocese of Rapid City, which encompasses 43,000 square miles in western South Dakota and includes the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, popular destinations for visitors. It is home to Native Americans living on five reservations. Bound on the east by the Missouri River, the prairies of the diocese are scattered with farms and ranches and small towns. The Black Hills, the highest mountain range east of the Rocky Mountains, runs along the western edge of the diocese. There is a stark beauty to land in the West. It is rugged. It is also sacred. Native Americans traveled the land for countless years before European immigrants arrived. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota were an alliance of friends who formed the largest indigenous population on the northern Plains of North America. They lived in harmony with the land and its animals, hunting bison and using every part of this magnificent creature to meet their needs for food, clothing, and tools. Native peoples saw the presence of the Great Spirit everywhere, especially in Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, where they spent the winter and practiced their sacred rites and ceremonies. The people believed they lived within a sacred circle, marked by changing seasons and the circle of birth, childhood, adulthood, and death. Family was the backbone of their culture and kinship was their connection to the world at large and everything within it. The Mission of the Red Cloud Indian School A Catholic institution administered by the Jesuits and the Lakota People, we exist to develop and grow a vibrant Church through an education of the mind and spirit that promotes Lakota and Catholic values.
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L
The International Sharing Committee at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Libertyville, Illinois, traveled to Peru with Bill Burke (first row, left), a regional director for advancement for the Midwest Jesuits. Jo Anne Coughlin (front row, center), created a video featuring signs that captured the spirit of the Peruvian people. Visit www.jesuitsmidwest.org/Peru2014 to see the video.
Pilgrimage to Peru S
ince 1568, the Jesuits have had a strong impact on the people of Peru, especially in areas where the need is great. In the last 200 years, over 50 US Jesuits have been missioned to one of four areas: El Agustino, Ayacucho, Cusco, and the Amazon. During this time, the Jesuits have established ministries including 1 university, 5 high schools, 72 Fey e Alegria (Faith and Joy) schools, 12 parishes, 8 retreat centers, and 2 radio stations. Jesuits are always welcoming pilgrims who want to see and participate firsthand in these apostolic works. In June 2014, the International Sharing Committee from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Libertyville, Illinois, traveled to Peru to experience Jesuit ministries that are devoted to serving the people of south central Peru. St. Joe’s ISC, co-chaired by parishoners John Adams and Marjorie Gaitan, is committed to supporting mission projects in partnership with the national population and have a strong goal to make any project they initiate self-supporting. Sixteen pilgrims
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explored various sites, especially in Cusco and Huaro. St. Joe’s parishoners Jo Anne and Dan Coughlin and their son, Sean, were among the pilgrims on the trip. The two-week pilgrimage was a real eye-opener, especially for Sean, as he experienced how people live on modest means. Lunch consisted of fried rice, beans, and “some sort of meat.” As a 14 year old, he thought, “I am always hungry and I can’t imagine having only one meal to eat all day!” He visited a workshop where the children are taught how to make guitars and violins. This had a great impact on him since he plays the piano and trombone and knows how making music can help the children feel happy. The pilgrims surprised the children with colorful jump ropes and soccer balls they packed in their luggage. Sean and others will never forget the smiles and laughter and what a difference a few jump ropes would make. As another pilgrim, Rena Calanca, stood in the cobblestone square in front of St. Paul the Apostle, a Jesuit parish in south
central Peru, it struck her that jumping rope is a universal language. Girls, boys, and tweens wanted to try jumping for the first time while others couldn’t wait to show off their skills. Calanca reflects, “I was called to Peru to change and become like a child and welcome one in God’s name. That is what I came to Peru to do.” St. Joe’s is committed to support the construction of a kitchen that will enable these children to receive at least one warm meal a day. Toward that goal, the parish will hold a “Simple Supper” on February 28, 2015, where they will serve food similar to what a daily meal would be at St. Paul in Peru. To continue their partnership with this Jesuit work, another pilgrimage to Peru is planned for June 12–19, 2015. n For more information, contact Bill Burke at bburke@jesuits.org or 800-922-5327.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Pilgrimage to Eastern Africa T
he Midwest Jesuits have had a great impact on the Eastern Africa Province by founding secondary schools, parishes, retreat centers, and orphanages in the countries of Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania. Jesuits from the US have been missioned to help build schools in some of the areas of greatest need, including Dodoma, Tanzania, and the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. This past summer, Mark Maxwell and Jeff Smart, regional directors of advancement for the Midwest Jesuits, made a pilgrimage to Eastern Africa with a group of 12 interested in learning more about Jesuits works in the area and ways to help those in need. “The words, ‘This pilgrimage is not for the faint of heart,’ jumped off the page of the trip brochure,” said Maxwell. The group visited St. Aloysius Gonzaga (a secondary school for AIDS orphans), and other Eastern Africa Province Jesuit works
Orphans at Nyumbani, a Jesuit orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya
including the Nyumbani Orphanage for AIDS infected youth, Kangemi Jesuit Parish, and Hekima College (Jesuit School of Theology). While experiencing challenging conditions, the pilgrims frequently encountered God in the beauty of the people, the vital work taking place there, and in the splendor of the country. “Throughout our visit, ‘Asante,’ the Swahili language equivalent for ‘Thank You,’ was consistently expressed by students, adults, and others for the good work of the Jesuits,” said
Pilgrims at Uhuru Park overlooking downtown Nairobi. Front row: (left to right) Clare Brichler, Jeff Smart, Mark Maxwell, Diane Patterson Schultz. Back row: (left to right) Gerry Vehr, Camille Devaney, Christine Curran, Patty O’Conor, Maureen Collins, Cian Earls, Denise Hintzke, and Mark Bandsuch, SJ.
Maxwell. “More importantly we got the chance to express gratitude to the people we encountered for allowing us ‘pilgrims’ into their lives and therein finding the face of God!” Patty O’Conor, a pilgrim from Cape Cod, recalls “The most rewarding spiritual experience was seeing the vast numbers of people in Kangemi coming out of Mass on Sunday, dressed in what was their very best. No matter what they do or do not have materially, they have great faith in God. I will never forget this most amazing visit to Eastern Africa. It opened my eyes to people who are proud to do their very best under the very worst conditions. I thank the Jesuits for all they have done for these strong people and most of all for providing me with the opportunity to become aware of how people with so very little manage to keep going and try to make better their lives.
These people are truly an inspiration.” Camille Devaney of Lake Bluff, Illinois, had a similar experience. “The trip to Kenya and the time that we spent in Kibera and at the Nyumbani orphanage and St. Al’s were a life-altering experience for me and I found myself struggling to explain to friends, family and co-workers exactly what it is that made such an impact—was it the mind-numbing poverty, the abhorrent living conditions, the thought of sickness and death, the signs of corruption, the friendliness of the people, the smiling children, the beauty of the countryside? Most likely it was all of the above. But after much reflection I think that what I have brought home with me is the realization that it is possible to have a positive impact on the world one person at a time and that material possessions are not what leads to contentment and happiness.” n The Midwest Jesuits are sponsoring a 2015 pilgrimage to Eastern Africa from June 16–30. For more information, contact Mark Maxwell at mmaxwell@jesuits.org or Jeff Smart at jsmart@jesuits.org or 800-922-5327.
At 17, Mary Grace Henry, founder of Reverse the Course, sponsors over 45 girls in Africa from proceeds she raises selling hair ribbons, a business she started at age 12. She and her mother, Terrie Henry, joined the Midwest Jesuit pilgrims at St. Al’s for the annual Feast Day celebration. Mary Grace currently sponsors 3 girls at St. Al’s with plans to add more. Visit www.jesuitsmidwest.org/EasternAfrica2014 to see a video of her experience at St. Al’s. Most recently, Mary Grace was honored with the World of Children Award. Read her story at www.reversethecourse.org.
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G R AT I T U D E
Helping God Yield an Abundant Harvest By Raymond Guiao, SJ
For, when we see such abundant harvest that is the crop of talented, faith-filled, and generous Jesuits in formation, how can we not be truly grateful?
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his past Labor Day weekend, I drove straight west from Chicago over to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where I was invited to preside at the wedding of a former student of mine. I wasn’t expecting an interesting trip– hours of driving through cornfields and flat farm land with nothing but the music on the radio and a book on tape to help pass the time. But something pretty profound struck me as I crossed the Mississippi River into the cornfields of Iowa. Rather than feeling “numbed” by the sameness of driving through cornfield after cornfield, I was absolutely awestruck by the thought of the abundance that these crops would soon produce. You see, I’m a city boy, born and raised in the steel belt urban center of Cleveland. Sure, I had seen cornfields in Ohio before, but I hadn’t ever been to a place where as far as the eye could see are cornfields and soy bean fields, almost without interruption. On and on I drove, on a ribbon of highway that cut a narrow canyon between endless fields of seven-foot tall leafy green, golden-tasseled stalks of corn. And all the while, I imagined what harvest must be like here. What incredible abundance, growing all around me, which is but a corner of the enormous breadbasket of our nation. And 14
all “from Thy bounty,” as we say at grace before meals. It was enough to give me a new-found respect for the men and women who farm for a living, raising crops for sale on the market, crops which would eventually feed untold numbers of humans and livestock. Men and women who give their lives to farm the fields and tend the crops with a yield that could feed the world. Now I don’t know much at all about farming, but, I do realize that my life in the Jesuits has not been all that different from the world of tilling and farming. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says to his disciples, “Come with me into the fields where the harvest is plenty but laborers are few (Matthew 9:37). In my years as a Jesuit high school teacher, I found myself tending not tender crops in a cornfield, but young souls in a classroom, adolescents in their growing years. And in my present work as director of Jesuit formation for the Chicago-Detroit and Wisconsin Provinces, I find myself tending the formation of young Jesuits, men whose leading desire is to minister to God’s people, to “help souls,” as the Institute of the Society of Jesus puts it. So, in a sense, all of us Jesuits are farmers, called by God into His fields to tend souls. Of course, without the generous help of friends and benefactors of the Society
of Jesus—the sun and the rain that are so necessary for young crops to grow—none of God’s abundant yield would be possible. While the numbers of Jesuits in formation may not seem a “bumper crop” in terms of numbers, the sheer quality of these men in formation gives me tremendous hope for the future. Sure, we must always pray for more vocations to the religious life and to the priesthood. Indeed, the harvest is plenty, and laborers are few. But we must also pray in thanksgiving for the ones who so have already generously responded to God’s call to serve as Jesuits. As priests and brothers in training, these are the men who only want to follow Jesus’ into the fields and vineyards to tend souls, bringing to bear their God-given intellect, creativity, and talent to help God yield an abundant harvest of love and mercy for God’s beloved people. This season of Thanksgiving comes, appropriately enough, at harvest time. For, when we see such abundant harvest that is the crop of talented, faith-filled, and generous Jesuits in formation, how can we not be truly grateful? n Fr. Raymond Guiao, SJ, is the provincial assistant for formation for the Midwest Jesuits.
V O C AT I O N S
Reading the Writing on the Heart By Damian Torres-Botello, SJ
has Christ written on your heart? For these new college students it could be anything from caring for their health, playing on a sports team, and even why they chose the major they desire to study. For me, in my recently asked this question to a room full of freshmen honors business students heart, a little over a year ago on those last days of the Exercises, I recalled writing: A at Loyola University Chicago. On this Love of People. The things I chose to do particular day I found myself in a course in my life, to fill my days, to wake me up designed to acclimate first-year students in the morning, whether it was a job or my to the academic and social life of college. career, all centered on people. Getting to As I was preparing this talk, filling it with know people, serving with people, working a fancy PowerPoint presentation and witty for people . . . people, people, people. one-liners, I had a moment of reflection. Two years prior to taking vows I had No, actually, I would say it was a moment a flourishing career as a playwright and of recollection. I thought to myself, “I have sometimes actor/director in Kansas City had so many jobs, one career, but never a and Chicago. I had worked countless jobs vocation . . . until now.” to supplement my meager artist’s income— This past August–August 9 at 9:00 am as an administrative assistant at a couple of to be exact–I pronounced vows of poverty, universities, a one-time pre-school teacher, chastity, and obedience in the Society of a brief stint as a waiter, and finally an event Jesus. Leading up to this moment was planner. All offered okay money for bits nothing less than a challenge, nothing more of my time, but they all involved working than divine, and everything like excitewith people and serving people in one way ment and joy. And inside all that, someor another. And on August 9 I found myself thing I have come to understand in my awake and aware, on my knees, vowing my 36 years of breathing—that moment, that life to the church, to Jesus, and the Society very moment, I was dedicating my life to that bears his name, taking what has been something that moved my heart and sets it written on my heart and making it real. ablaze: the people of God. Explaining to the students in class, I say: An exercise during this University 101 “A job gives you money in exchange for class involved writing down what you your time, a career gives you money in exunderstood to be written on your heart, change for your time doing something you that is to say, things that are more than just love to do, but a vocation is something that something you like to do but rather the root fits you perfectly because it fulfills all those as to why you like to do them. This was an things written on your heart.” exercise I did during the Spiritual Exercises And that is what I am discovering more to begin contemplating the question: What and more deeply, each day, these past few weeks, as a vowed man in the Society of Jesus. As a firstyear Scholastic, I am among the people, taking on the mission of studying and serving. I am accompanying students and fellow Scholastics, walking with them through Damian accompanies Creighton University students on a Service and Justice Trip for spring break at Chicago’s White Rose Catholic Worker. subjects that
“What are the differences between a job, a career, and a vocation?”
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are loved and subjects that are . . . less than loved. I am right where they are as a student myself. And I am being filled, and I am falling in love and staying in love, as Pedro Arrupe advises, and I see nothing but smiles from God and feel nothing but warmth in my heart. n Mr. Damian Torres-Botello, SJ, is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. He earned a BA in theater from the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas, and is an accomplished playwright and monologist who has worked with theater companies from Detroit to Georgia. Damian entered the Jesuits in 2012 and last August he professed First Vows after completing two years of study at the Jesuit Novitiate in the Twin Cities. He is currently in First Studies at Loyola University Chicago.
Messages of Encouragement received for Damian Torres-Botello, SJ, in response to his “A Heart on Fire” email sent to Jesuit Partners in July 2014. “Your passion and love for being that Servant Leader we all strive for gives others a glimpse into the cross and Jesus’ way. Please continue your way and pray for all of us. God Bless.” — Timothy Dwyer “Hello, to all of you in formation. Just wanted to give you some words of encouragement, as a “late vocation” to the Adrian Dominican Sisters. I applaud you for having the courage to listen to God speaking in your hearts and to obey that call. I pray that God will continue to gift you with a generous, listening heart—and will give you the gift of perseverance to follow wherever you are called. The world is in great need of men like you who love God and care about humanity. May God continue to bless you in the years ahead.” — Sr. Barbara Kelley, OP “I really like your life story and what what your calling is and how you found out about it. A good, late friend of mine, Fr. Will Prospero, SJ, always stated that the heart, heart of Jesus, is what counts and gives us the means to follow, understand and help.” — James J. Blochowiak “While I should be sending a message of encouragement to you, your story was encouraging to me—thank you!” — Robert Newman
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ON N LL II N N EE
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Midwest Jesuits Unveil New Website
www.jesuitsmidwest.org As the Wisconsin and Chicago-Detroit Provinces work toward unification as one province, we’re pleased to announce our shared website. Built by Adventure Studios of Omaha, NE, the site is mobile-ready, and features integration with the other US Jesuit provinces. Join us at jesuitsmidwest.org
Help us to spread The Word by encouraging others to visit www.jesuitprayer.org to read daily scripture, Ignatian Reflection, and Ignatian Prayer. Submit a prayer request, or download a prayer card. Visitors can subscribe to our daily eNewsletter or download our free App for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Join us at JesuitPrayer.org
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pursues us in the routines of our home and work life, and in the hopes and fears of life’s challenges. Our prayer site offers daily scripture, Ignatian reflection, and prayer to anchor your day and strengthen your resolve to remember what truly matters.
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Visit our photo galleries at midwestjesuits.smugmug.com
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A D VA N C E M E N T
Artwork Benefits the Jesuit Mission At age 92, Br. Jim Small, SJ, was missioned from Loyola Academy to Colombiere Center to pray for the Church and the Society. Since then, Br. Small has kept busy painting his signature portraits to benefit Loyola Academy’s annual Ramble event. His works have been known to raise upwards of $45,000 annually for the school. And, he has painted several dozen new pieces to benefit events at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House (Bloomfield Hills, MI) and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School. Brother Small’s paintings are featured in the Midwest Jesuits greeting card collection in 2014–15. n
Pilgrimage to Eastern Africa Save the date: June 16–30, 2015
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ilgrimage led by Fr. Justin Daffron, SJ, (USA Central and Southern Province). Fr. Daffron serves as vice president for advancement at Loyola University Chicago. To find out more, contact: Jeff Smart at jsmart@jesuits.org | 800-922-5327
“For it is in giving that we receive” —St. Francis of Assisi
There are many ways you can help the Midwest Jesuits The resources on our planned giving website can help you save on taxes today and increase your income through a variety of lifetime plans.
Discover the benefits of planned giving today! Visit jesuitmagisgift.org or call 1-800-537-3736
HONOR ROLL
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he 2013–2014 Honor Roll for Companions of the Chicago-Detroit Province is online. Visit the “Support Us” page at www.jesuitsmidwest.org. n
Lay Leadership Continued from page 10
and guests—as all come thirsting to know and leave inspired by the work happening here. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to lead Nativity Jesuit, and excited to help realize the full potential of our mission, as we serve more students and deepen the quality of our outcomes.” “At a fundamental level, Jesuit education is about freedom,” said Stith. “We provide freedom in many ways with different stakeholders. For the students and their families, it is most apparent. They bring unique gifts to the table and find the ways and means to transcend circumstances and glorify God with those gifts. For benefactors, too, it is a freeing thing to see their wealth—the gifts they’ve been given— making a difference, having a meaningful impact on others.” “If Cristo Rey can offer freedom to those who believe in its mission, then God’s truth, love and work become more apparent in our world. I feel privileged to be part of this great work and am excited to see Cristo Rey Jesuit become reality in Milwaukee,” he added. It is such understanding of and commitment to Jesuit traditions and values among lay leaders that led Fr. Joe Daoust, SJ, then general counselor at the Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome to tell Province Days attendees, “Some of our children—our schools and other ministries—can grow up and do okay without us. Lay leaders allow us to remain flexible to go where the need is greatest.” Fr. Paulson agreed. “If the mission at a given Jesuit institution is so fragile that it will fall apart without Jesuits, we haven’t done it a great service,” he explained. “We are blessed with colleagues like Andy and Melodie who represent the human, spiritual capital of our ministries.” n 17
Can you see it?
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id you catch something different in this issue? We are becoming the Midwest Jesuits! In this issue and in future correspondence, you should note that the return address for us may list our Milwaukee office or it may list our Chicago office. But regardless of whether it says Milwaukee or Chicago, we are the Midwest Jesuits, comprised of the Wisconsin Province and the Chicago-Detroit Province. AMDG!
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Columbus, WI Permit No. 73
Society of Jesus 2050 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60614
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the Date – Lenten Mornings of Reflection 2015 Ray Guiao, SJ Brad Schaeffer, SJ
Tim Kesicki, SJ
Wednesday, February 18 – Naples Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club 851 Gulf Shore Blvd. North Naples, Florida Speaker: Brad Schaeffer, SJ
Sunday March 15 – Chicago Loyola Academy 1100 Laramie Avenue Wilmette, Illinois Speaker: Tom Regan, SJ
Sunday, March 1 – Cleveland St. Ignatius High School 1911 West 30th Street Cleveland, Ohio Speaker: Ray Guiao, SJ
Sunday, February 15 – Palm Beach Gardens PBG DoubleTree, 4431 PGA Blvd. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Speaker: Brad Schaeffer, SJ
Larry Gillick, SJ
Sunday, February 22 – Phoenix St. Francis Xavier School 4715 N. Central Avenue Phoenix, Arizona Speaker: Tim Kesicki, SJ Walter Deye, SJ
Tom Regan, SJ
Saturday, March 7 – Minneapolis/St. Paul St. Patrick’s Catholic Church 6820 St. Patrick’s Lane Edina, Minnesota Speaker: Larry Gillick, SJ
John Schlegel, SJ
Sunday, March 8 – Cincinnati St. Xavier High School 600 W. North Bend Road Cincinnati, Ohio Speaker: Walter Deye, SJ Eric Sundrup, SJ
Sunday, March 15 – Milwaukee Marquette University Chapel of the Holy Family Alumni Memorial Union 1442 W. Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin Speaker: John Schlegel, SJ Sunday, March 22 – Detroit The Dearborn Inn 20301 Oakwood Blvd. Dearborn, Michigan Speaker: Eric Sundrup, SJ
S T E WA R D S H I P
See page 2
Gratitude: The Foundation for Our Stewardship By Howard Craig
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t has been said that if there were a patron saint for the holiday of Thanksgiving, St. Ignatius would be the likely candidate. In this issue of Partners, we have reviewed the many works of the Society through that lens which St. Ignatius so often used: the deep sense of gratitude to God and his
benefactors for all the many blessings he had received. As faithful partners and stewards of all that God has given us, we are also called to respond in gratitude for his daily blessings on our lives. As you review this issue of Partners, pause and consider: what wonderful blessings have I received from God through the lives of these men and the mission they have followed? How am I blessed by St. Ignatius and his band of
brothers? Then take a moment to consider this thought: as I have been blessed, so too must I be a blessing. How can I show my gratitude for all that God has given me? How can I “pay forward” to others? What gift may I return to the Society of Jesus for all that I have received? n Howard Craig is the provincial assistant for advancement for the Midwest Jesuits.