F R OM T H E P R E S I D E N T
Dear Parents, Friends and Sons of Xavier:
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Ultimately, our work, the work of Xavier, is to be an Easter people. It is not a call to only be good individuals, but a call to be in community, connected to the common good, anchored in faith and rooted in mission.
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XAVIER MAGAZINE
I am delighted to be writing you during the great season of Easter. Easter presents a great challenge to Christians, and by extension, to all people of faith and goodwill. While Advent and Lent invite us into preparation and the Triduum into accompaniment, Jesus is doing the hard work being born, engaging in public ministry, suffering, dying and rising. In the Easter season, it is time for us to do some work. The work of building community; the work of being church. To be an Easter people, people living in the love of God and the joy of the resurrection, is on us. It goes to who we are and how we are. We are certainly not on our own. Christ is with us. God sends God’s spirit, but this work cannot be done without us. Ultimately, our work, the work of Xavier, is to be an Easter people. It is not a call to only be good individuals, but a call to be in community, connected to the common good, anchored in faith and rooted in mission. The Easter readings from Acts remind us again and again how to be church and how to build community. We are invited each day to be a “community of believers of one heart and mind, and with great power to bear witness to the resurrection.” This is certainly no easy task. It’s not easy today, and it was not easy over 2,000 years ago when Christ was crucified and rose again. We do this work of being church by teaching and learning, worship and prayer, fellowship and community. This is what it means to be church. This is what it means to be an Easter people. This magazine is a glimpse of us being church. It is important, accurate and true, yet incomplete. It covers a lot of ground from Asia to 16th Street; from current students to our oldest alums; from the impact of our alumni building the church in the Philippines to three young alumni living their own vocations as Jesuits; from students supporting Ukraine to stories from Xavier’s Sons near and far. Sean Hagerty, S.J. ’02 offers us a nice primer
on Catholic social teaching. This teaching is essential to who we are as church, and we look forward to exploring other foundations of our faith in future issues. Joseph Parkes, S.J. illustrates the history of the Xavier Jesuits who served in the Philippines, building the province and rebuilding the country after the devastation of World War II. I am grateful to him for researching and writing about such a distinctive part of Xavier’s history. As we journey through our 175th anniversary year, we hope the anniversary is an ongoing invitation to each of us to make community real, to be church. Our 175th Anniversary Conversation and Lecture Series presents opportunities for students, alumni and parents to engage in teaching and learning. Our conversations with Dermot Shea ’86, Jim Martin, S.J., Greg Boyle, S.J., William Barr, and Dr. Jim Morgan ’82 P’12 have all invited us to see things in new ways, clarify our thinking and beliefs, and ask questions about how we live our faith. Opportunities for fellowship abound through our New York Tour, our summer receptions and our pilgrimage opportunities in partnership with America Media. The fall will bring great opportunities for celebration as well with the opening of our 175th anniversary exhibition on September 8 and our Mass and gala on December 3. I look forward to building and being church with all of you in the days ahead. An old friend, Fr. Tom Smith, S.J., served for many years in Micronesia and on the provincial staff here in New York. Tom would sign off, “Keep the faith, and the joy that goes with it.” As we journey through our anniversary year, these are wise words to follow. Keep the faith, and the joy that goes with it. Sincerely, Jack Raslowsky President
