Society of Jesus makes a vocation out of service
Sean Powers
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Commentary
November is Jesuit Vocation Promotion Month. This month was purposefully chosen because it coincides with the Catholic feast day on Nov. 5, celebrating the Society of Jesus' 50 canonized Saints and 137 Blesseds. Among those 187 Jesuits were men not afraid to think big: Ignatius Loyola, the pilgrim of Europe and founder of the Jesuits, Francis Xavier, missionary to India and Japan, and Peter Claver, the self-proclaimed "slave of the slaves" in Cartagena, Colombia, to name just a few.
This past semester you may have noticed the electronic advertisements in the Busch Student Center of cartoon Jesuits with the subtitle, "Think big! Be a Jesuit." The chronicles of Jesuit history abound with men who saw the big picture of life with all its beauty and curses, and engaged it to the end. While Claver tended to slaves and Aloysius Gonzaga aided plague victims, Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote of God's Grandeur and Matteo Ricci attended court in China's Forbidden City.
In 2009, the Jesuits are still thinking big. In Chicago, Fr. John Foley leads the Cristo Rey Network made of 22 high schools that serve 5,000 underprivileged students to earn a college prep education. In Los Angeles, Fr. Greg Boyle leads Homeboy Industries, which removes thousands of ex-convicts from the streets and puts them behind the counter of a store. In Nogales, Arizona, Fr. Sean Carroll and a few other Jesuits start up the Kino Border Initiative which aims to give mercy to the millions of new immigrants and to give justice to their cause.
"Think big! Be a Jesuit!" In a world full of mediocrity and contentment, the 18,000 Jesuits worldwide are crying for something more-the magis. As a Catholic, Jesuit school, we are undeniably connected to those same struggles and desires for the magis. As a campus, how are we thinking big? Are we asking the hard questions and seeking the deeper truth, or are we skimming along, content with what we see on the surface? Are we meeting our daily call to justice, and at the same time orienting our vocations to the needs of the least and most vulnerable among us?
This past semester you may have noticed the electronic advertisements in the Busch Student Center of cartoon Jesuits with the subtitle, "Think big! Be a Jesuit." The chronicles of Jesuit history abound with men who saw the big picture of life with all its beauty and curses, and engaged it to the end. While Claver tended to slaves and Aloysius Gonzaga aided plague victims, Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote of God's Grandeur and Matteo Ricci attended court in China's Forbidden City.
In 2009, the Jesuits are still thinking big. In Chicago, Fr. John Foley leads the Cristo Rey Network made of 22 high schools that serve 5,000 underprivileged students to earn a college prep education. In Los Angeles, Fr. Greg Boyle leads Homeboy Industries, which removes thousands of ex-convicts from the streets and puts them behind the counter of a store. In Nogales, Arizona, Fr. Sean Carroll and a few other Jesuits start up the Kino Border Initiative which aims to give mercy to the millions of new immigrants and to give justice to their cause.
"Think big! Be a Jesuit!" In a world full of mediocrity and contentment, the 18,000 Jesuits worldwide are crying for something more-the magis. As a Catholic, Jesuit school, we are undeniably connected to those same struggles and desires for the magis. As a campus, how are we thinking big? Are we asking the hard questions and seeking the deeper truth, or are we skimming along, content with what we see on the surface? Are we meeting our daily call to justice, and at the same time orienting our vocations to the needs of the least and most vulnerable among us?
Be the first to comment on this story