Jesuit Scholastics: Formed at Prep, Freer to Serve the World Chojnacki. Grimes. Mullin. Burgaleta. Benz. Arabia. Riordan. And on and on. This is a short list of the many Jesuit scholastics who have served Saint Peter’s Prep as Jesuit regents. Like me, each of my Jesuit companions were missioned by their provincial to spend two or three years of apostolic training and testing in Jersey City. Together, our missions collectively emphasize the centrality of the classroom, the setting where year after year Prep students teach Jesuit regents to be: open to growth, intellectually competent, religious, selflessly loving and caring, and committed to doing justice. While the Jesuit scholastic remains a “student” during regency, he is not a graduate student of philosophy and theology as is the norm during first studies. A regent who flourishes enters more fully into his role as an active member of the Society of Jesus; for many of my Jesuit companions formed at Prep during regency they are now freer to serve the world under the banner of the cross. Like Prep students, Jesuits are tested and examined well beyond the novitiate. Regency as a stage in Jesuit formation is rooted in the Society of Jesus’ Constitutions and their Complementary Norms, dating back to the founding of the Society by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. Regency empowers the Jesuit scholastic to reach beyond himself, to embody the apostolic generosity profoundly articulated by Ignatius in his Suscipe Prayer and Prayer for Generosity. As I return home to Prep, where I completed my Jesuit novitiate long experiment in 2007, I am mindful of the students I will serve, and grateful for the many colleagues whom I know personally and now call friends. I also value the promise of returning to 180 Grand Street, where I shared meals at table with Fathers Dinneen, Mullin, Benz, Oppido, O’Brien and Reiser. Beyond the professional and communitarian aspects of regency come the responsibility of integrating and developing a spiritual life. At the heart of my mission to Prep must be my personal prayer! For me, regency is a time to pray with others, to pray with my students, and my colleagues, it is a time to be aware of all of God’s children who seek to so readily find God in all things. Therefore, the context of regency in Jesuit formation and the significance of a regent in the life of Prep include the very breadth and depth of graces of the Spiritual Exercises. The graces of the Spiritual Exercises guide the young Jesuit as he demonstrates growth in formation for apostolic life and mission. This fall, as I begin my regency, I am mindful of the Jesuits who walked the halls of Mulry, who called Shalloe a home, who worked with Fathers Ray Balduf, Joe Parkes and Jim Keenan. However, I am mostly aware of the Prep students and our lay colleagues who shaped the lives of these Jesuit companions. Without Prep students, without Prep families, without Prep colleagues and collaborators we cannot have Prep. No Jesuit formed at Prep is free to serve the world without first singing “Pride & Glory” with the students he loves and cares for – so together let us sing: “It is a story of gladness, with no shadow of sadness: Our years spent with you, Saint Peter’s so true.”
A.M.D.G. Ben Brenkert, S.J. Jesuit Scholastic