It's All God's (and Jeremy Irons') Fault
Sharon asks, “Of all the religious orders you could have joined, what drew you to the Jesuits?”
As I’m guessing the answer “God,” though probably perhaps the most accurate answer, won’t be enough here, let me try to answer more personally.
My road to the Jesuits is somewhat inexplicable (often a sure sign that God’s involved), as I had never actually met a Jesuit prior to contacting the Jesuit vocation director. However, by that point (April 1996), I had somehow arrived at the conviction that if I ever did decide to become a priest (I had thought of the possibility off and on for a few years, but never pursued it seriously), I would be a Jesuit. I’m a bit of a movie fanatic, so I suspect this had something to do with my love for the movie, “The Mission.” It also had something to do with my interest in higher education. The Jesuits, I knew, had a long and noble tradition of being educators and scholars. Add to that the fact that in August 1995, I traveled to New Orleans to train as a facilitator for the Loyola (NO) University Institute for Ministry’s extension program. While there, I imbued some of the Jesuit spirit inherent in the program, and also stealthily made my way to Loyola’s campus to anonymously pick up a couple of pamphlets on the Jesuits from the campus ministry pamphlet rack. When I arrived home, I read them and then quickly relegated them to a file drawer, where they sat for about eight months.
A reference to Saint Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises had somehow imprinted itself on my mind. As part of my work as youth ministry coordinator in a parish, I attended a Youth 2000 retreat in April 1996. Little did Father Bob Lombardo, CFR, know when he gave a witness talk about his priesthood that day, that God was working through him to add to the numbers of the Jesuits! As I listened to Father Bob speak, I heard a voice in my mind asking, “How come you’re not doing that?” It kind of freaked me out. So, at my first opportunity, I left the retreat. My first thought was, I need to get a copy of The Spiritual Exercises. I searched a few bookstores, but came up empty. However, that night I pulled that pamphlet on the Jesuits out of the file drawer, and called the number. A couple of days later, I found myself in contact with the vocation director. A few days after that, a box of books and information about the Jesuits and discerning a vocation arrived in the mail. As I devoured the information, I felt as if I’d arrived home. My intuition was validated. The life of St. Ignatius, Jesuit spirituality, and Jesuit life with its talk of being “contemplatives in action,” seemed a perfect fit. And as I read about the heroic lives of Jesuits of the past, I felt a kinship. I made a pretense of looking into other orders (I knew I wasn’t called to the diocesan priesthood), but I’d already found the one. If I was going to be a priest, this was how I was going to do it!
As I began to seriously pursue discernment of my vocation some other more practical considerations also helped affirm my choice. The Jesuits, while decreasing in number, were clearly in no danger of becoming extinct. And, as I began visiting Jesuits and attending Jesuit events, I saw that this was a group of men who truly cared about each other, their ministry, and were sincerely happy with the life choice they’d made, something I hadn’t seen in a lot of the diocesan priests I knew.
I am now in my eighth year as a Jesuit, and it has become so much a part of my identity, that I can’t imagine being anything else!
But, still, it’s all God’s fault!
As I’m guessing the answer “God,” though probably perhaps the most accurate answer, won’t be enough here, let me try to answer more personally.
My road to the Jesuits is somewhat inexplicable (often a sure sign that God’s involved), as I had never actually met a Jesuit prior to contacting the Jesuit vocation director. However, by that point (April 1996), I had somehow arrived at the conviction that if I ever did decide to become a priest (I had thought of the possibility off and on for a few years, but never pursued it seriously), I would be a Jesuit. I’m a bit of a movie fanatic, so I suspect this had something to do with my love for the movie, “The Mission.” It also had something to do with my interest in higher education. The Jesuits, I knew, had a long and noble tradition of being educators and scholars. Add to that the fact that in August 1995, I traveled to New Orleans to train as a facilitator for the Loyola (NO) University Institute for Ministry’s extension program. While there, I imbued some of the Jesuit spirit inherent in the program, and also stealthily made my way to Loyola’s campus to anonymously pick up a couple of pamphlets on the Jesuits from the campus ministry pamphlet rack. When I arrived home, I read them and then quickly relegated them to a file drawer, where they sat for about eight months.
A reference to Saint Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises had somehow imprinted itself on my mind. As part of my work as youth ministry coordinator in a parish, I attended a Youth 2000 retreat in April 1996. Little did Father Bob Lombardo, CFR, know when he gave a witness talk about his priesthood that day, that God was working through him to add to the numbers of the Jesuits! As I listened to Father Bob speak, I heard a voice in my mind asking, “How come you’re not doing that?” It kind of freaked me out. So, at my first opportunity, I left the retreat. My first thought was, I need to get a copy of The Spiritual Exercises. I searched a few bookstores, but came up empty. However, that night I pulled that pamphlet on the Jesuits out of the file drawer, and called the number. A couple of days later, I found myself in contact with the vocation director. A few days after that, a box of books and information about the Jesuits and discerning a vocation arrived in the mail. As I devoured the information, I felt as if I’d arrived home. My intuition was validated. The life of St. Ignatius, Jesuit spirituality, and Jesuit life with its talk of being “contemplatives in action,” seemed a perfect fit. And as I read about the heroic lives of Jesuits of the past, I felt a kinship. I made a pretense of looking into other orders (I knew I wasn’t called to the diocesan priesthood), but I’d already found the one. If I was going to be a priest, this was how I was going to do it!
As I began to seriously pursue discernment of my vocation some other more practical considerations also helped affirm my choice. The Jesuits, while decreasing in number, were clearly in no danger of becoming extinct. And, as I began visiting Jesuits and attending Jesuit events, I saw that this was a group of men who truly cared about each other, their ministry, and were sincerely happy with the life choice they’d made, something I hadn’t seen in a lot of the diocesan priests I knew.
I am now in my eighth year as a Jesuit, and it has become so much a part of my identity, that I can’t imagine being anything else!
But, still, it’s all God’s fault!
posted by Mark Mossa, SJ at 12:37 AM
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