a holy boldness

A Holy Boldness 1www.nysj.org

A Holy BoldnessNEW YORK PROVINCE JESUITS AND OUR COLLEAGUES . SPRING 2010

The Pastoral Ministries of Jesuits

2 Spring 2010 www.nysj.org

Father Provincial’s Message

9 Jesuits in Pastoral Ministry

15 Ignatian Spirituality

20 Ignatian Service in New York

Cover photos [clockwise from upper left]: Fr.Gil Gentile, SJ; Fr. Gerald Blazczack, SJ; Fr. Rocco Danzi, SJ; Fr. George Witt, SJ

A Holy Boldness is prepared by the Development Office of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus which is solely responsible for its content.

39 East 83rd Street, New York NY 10028 |212.774.5500 | [email protected] | www. nysj.org

Publisher: Fr. James F. Keenan, SJ | Publications Assistant: Fr. John Garvey, SJ | Staff Writer: Mr. Peter Feuerherd

David S. Ciancimino, S.J.Provincial

Gratefully in our Lord,

17 “Teach Me to Serve”

Dear Friends of the Jesuits,

Living and laboring for “the greater glory of God” is every Jesuit’s desire. It’s why we do what we do. We serve as parish priests, chaplains in prisons and hospitals, and retreat directors. Many are teachers or administrators, others en-gage in direct social action. Our numbers include artists and playwrights, photographers and musicians, architects and authors. Yet, for every one of us, the goal of our lives is the same: living and laboring for the greater glory of God.

When we consider Jesuits in pastoral ministry, we think first of our full-time parish priests, chaplains and retreat directors. In this issue of A Holy Boldness, we expand on this understanding to include those many Jesuits who serve the pastoral needs of God’s people in a variety of settings.

For example, when not engaged in their classrooms and offices at Fordham Univer-sity, the Jesuits there regularly assist in local parishes where they preside at Sunday liturgies and involve themselves in the spiritual lives of the people – baptizing, of-ficiating at weddings, offering the sacrament of reconciliation. On the other side of the country, in San Diego, Fr. Gil Gentile, S.J., works with homeless persons there and the poorest of the poor at Casa de los Pobres in Tijuana. A little closer to home, Fr. Gerald Blaszczak, S.J., serving as University Chaplain at Fairfield, promotes ecu-menical efforts with Jewish, Muslim and Protestant communities on campus and in the larger Fairfield area.

Fr. Edward Quinnan, S.J., my assistant for pastoral ministry, represents the province to The Jesuit Collaborative, a relatively new effort of the east coast Jesuit provinces, which was founded to provide formation in Ignatian spirituality, especially The Spiri-tual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Our pastoral ministry certainly includes our work for vocations. Vocation awareness days are held in our province high schools and colleges. The Vocation Roundtable at Regis High School sustains the vocation focus throughout the school year. For nine years now, Fr. John Bucki, S.J., Campus Minister at Canisius College in Buffalo, has brought young men and women on a service trip to New York City during their Christmas vacation. Their primary goal is immersion among the poor, yet there is another dimension as well. As Fr. Bucki put it, “if there are vocations in the Church, it will be from people like this.”

Working and praying for vocations is a central responsibility of every Jesuit and we really need you to help us with this, too.

As I wish you a very happy and blessed Easter season, I thank you once again for your prayers and generous support for our many Jesuit endeavors. Together let us continue living and laboring for the greater glory of God.


Congratulations

Fr. Gil Gentile, SJ, a former Associate Pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church

in Manhattan, is a bi-lingual therapist and intern supervisor at St. Vincent De Paul Village for homeless persons in San Diego, CA. He also ministers as chaplain for the San Diego Catholic Worker, the Cursillo, and Casa de los Pobres in Tijuana, Mexico.

Fr. Gentile was honored for his decades of service to the poor at the 7th annu-al Mama Dee “Angels in Service” Gala. The event, benefiting the Sister Dolores Social Outreach Program at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Chula Vista, CA, was held last November. St. Rose of Lima Parish has maintained a social outreach program since 1975 when Monsignor Charles Young and Sister Dolores Molina began offering a community food pantry and clothes closet serving local neighbors.

Sister Dolores, affectionately known as “Mama Dee,” was also well known for her ministry to the poor in Tecate and Tijua-na. One of her greatest passions was co-

ordinating the collection and distribution of food, clothing, medicines, blankets and basic household items for the poorest co-lonias and orphanages in Tijuana. Follow-ing her death in 2001, St. Rose of Lima Parish established the Social Outreach Program in honor of her love and dedi-cation to the poor.

The annual Gala recognizes those in the community who serve the poor and vulnerable. Fr. Gentile received the Mon-signor Young Award in recognition for his work with the poor at St. Vincent De Paul Village and Casa de Los Pobres.

[For more on Fr. Gentile and his min-istry, please turn to p. 13.]

An Angel in Service to the Poor and Vulnerable

Fr.Gil Gentile, SJ, speaks at the Mama Dee “Angels in Service” Gala.

Canisius College in Buffalo has cre-ated the Rev. Vincent M. Cooke,

SJ, Endowed Chair in Ethics. Established with a generous lead gift from John K. Castle HON ’04, the Chair in Ethics is named for Canisius President Rev. Vin-cent M. Cooke, SJ, who will retire at the end of this academic year following 17 years of leadership at the college.

The Chair in Ethics was cre-ated to foster a more vibrant dia-logue on ethical issues across campus. “I am tremendously grateful for John’s friendship and support of Canisius Col-lege,” says Father Cooke, who is a well-

regarded scholar of philosophy. “His investment in our faculty through the creation of this endowed chair will pay dividends many times over.”

The college seeks to fully endow the Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, SJ, Chair in Eth-ics with contributions that total $2 mil-lion. Once fully funded, Canisius will begin a national search for an appointed Chair in Ethics. The individual will be a nationally or internationally renowned scholar whose research and teaching promote the robust examination of ethics and its theological, philosophical and ap-plied perspectives. The Chair will actively contribute to the academic community through scholarship and publications. He or she will also help guide the teaching of ethics to students, and develop programs on ethics for the greater community.Fr.Vincent Cooke, SJ

Ethics Chair Named in Jesuit’s Honor


Father John J. Leonard, SJ, entered the Society of Jesus in 1937. He was

assigned to the Fordham Prep faculty in 1944 as a teacher of Latin, English, Reli-gion and Mathematics.

He also worked with the Prep Dramat-ics Society. Before he entered the Jesuit novitiate, he worked as a set designer on Broadway and also served as an electri-cian in the seminary. Because of this un-usual skill set, Fr. Leonard was asked to revive Fordham University’s Mimes and Mummers, a campus theater company that dates to 1855 and that had been shut down during World War II.

Fr. Leonard was ordained at Wood-stock, Maryland, in 1950 and returned to the Prep in September of 1952.

Students from Fr. Leonard’s teaching years have fond memories. Dan Geno-vese, `72, writes, “I was enrolled in an accelerated three-year program that in-cluded the option of attending Fordham University and graduating in three years. The Dean of the program was Fr. Leon-ard. He ran it as he did everything - with superb competence. He made certain that all of us participated in the full scope of what Fordham Prep offered at the time, even though we were often isolated in the classroom.”

Nick Leshi, `88, writes: “There would be no theater at Fordham Prep (or argu-ably at Fordham University either) with-

out the pioneering work and dedication that Fr. Leonard brought over the years. Whether he was producing or directing a show, building sets, designing programs, assembling a business staff, or any other of a long list of responsibilities he shoul-dered year after year, he was the bedrock upon which all the casts and crews built those terrific shows from the classics to contemporary hits.”

Few people know the impact that his efforts had on Jesuit theater programs. Until the early 1960s, Jesuit high schools could cast only boys in their productions. Fr. Leonard petitioned the Society of Je-sus in Rome for permission to include girls. The ruling in favor of girls extend-ed to all Jesuit schools throughout North America.

“There was another side as well to Fr. Leonard,” says Jack Friery, `63. “He of-fered Mass every Sunday morning at the Fordham Veterans Hospital. In my senior year, I volunteered to be his altar boy. I was always impressed by the grateful looks and expressions from the bedrid-den, disabled, and very old vets. I’m sure not many people knew of Fr. Leonard’s compassion and love for these guys.”

In addition to his Rose Hill duties, Fr. Leonard celebrated Mass every weekend for nearly 30 years at Saint Denis Church and Saint Columba Church in Hopewell Junction, NY. In 1974, he started the En-gaged Encounter program in the Archdi-ocese of New York.

Rev. John J. Leonard, SJFordham Prep Faculty since 1944

Fr.John Leonard, SJ, distributes communion at a Fordham Prep Mass. [From the Fordham Prep Alumni Office]

Congratulations

Fordham Prep2009

Hall of HonorFr. John Leonard, SJ, Norbert Sander, James Kane, Fr. Kenneth Boller, SJ, President,

Fr. Mallick Fitzpatrick, SJ, and Joseph Moglia


“Much like the giant redwoods of California, which he often refers to when talking about his many trips across the country visiting colleges, Fitz has always stood tall, reaching for greater vibrancy and solidity within the life of each boy at the Prep. He has shown the way and has encouraged us to develop our educational efforts holistically. At times, again like the redwoods, his passion for total education has been unyielding, even stubborn, and he has always been true to the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis.”

[From the citation of Fr. Mallick J. Fitzpatrick, SJ, when he received his first Bene Merenti medal in 1979]

Father Mallick Fitzpatrick, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1947 and,

from 1954 to 1957, taught Latin, Greek and English at Fordham Prep. He also coached freshman basketball and began his long involvement with the track team. He then studied theology at Woodstock College, Maryland, and was ordained in 1960.

While completing his Jesuit formation in Europe, he spent three months serving as a U.S. Army Chaplain in Heidelberg. Father said that his experience made him “more interested in the person.” It pro-vided him with the skills that he honed in his role as a student counselor to genera-tions of grateful Prep students.

Fr. Fitzpatrick returned to the Prep in 1962 as head of the Counseling Depart-ment and made lasting changes to the college selection process. In a precedent-breaking move, he opened the application process to include non-Catholic colleges. He began visiting campuses so that he could see for himself what colleges were offering and gain an impression of each school’s character.

Dan Genovese, `72, writes, “When I graduated, Fr. Fitzpatrick was the guid-ance department. He was the writer, ed-itor, director and producer of each and every Prep graduate. He single-handedly wrote college recommendations for each student. He liked to say that there was a lot of editing and a lot of material left on the cutting room floor. When he was fin-ished packaging you, you were a star.”

In the late 1960’s, Fr. Fitzpatrick helped to create a group guidance program that included a retreat away. Father said that leaving campus allowed a feeling of com-munity to develop among the students. In the 1970’s, the college counseling program was recognized by the National Association of College Admission Coun-selors as an exemplary program.

Fr. Fitzpatrick has said of his philoso-phy for counseling seniors: “I promote the development of the whole person, encouraging a senior to develop his own full potential and to take advantage of opportunities to grow and to give. In particular, the chance to make a first im-portant decision (about college) helps a senior become a decisive person, one who can trust his judgement and his ability to make decisions in the future. I help a person live with his past, enjoy the

challenges and satisfactions of the pres-ent, and focus on the future intelligently, confidently, and heartily.”

In light of Fr. Fitzpatrick’s singular ac-complishments in the field of guidance, it is easy to overlook his coaching duties. But those who were on his teams remem-ber. He was inducted into the Fordham Prep Track Hall of Fame in March 2009. “Great coaches, like great teachers, instill something of themselves into the athletes - something that lasts a long time but is never easy to define or put into words. Father was that kind of coach,” says Steve Dunne `61.

Fr. Fitzpatrick completed his fiftieth year of service at the Prep in 2009. He remains active in college counseling and teaches the Advanced Placement Art His-tory class.

Rev. Mallick Fitzpatrick, SJFordham Prep Faculty since 1954

Fr.Mallick Fitzgerald, SJ, teaches the Advanced Placement Art History class.

[From the Fordham Prep Alumni Office]


Congratulations

The idea was always there: The old storage room was small, but just big enough, and the natural light

that came through the restored stained-glass windows was perfect. The only thing missing at the St. Augustine’s Schol-ars Program School located on Buffalo’s East Side was the completed project—a chapel.

Just as the idea of a chapel in the all-boys Jesuit middle school was growing stale, Ryan Bogdan, now a sophomore at Canisius High School in Buffalo, was pon-dering ideas for his Eagle Scout Project. One day last year, he approached Father Frederick Betti, SJ, Canisius’ Campus Minister, for advice on what to do for the project. A light bulb went on in both their heads: Bogdan would construct the chapel in St. Augustine’s. Finally, the idea would become a reality.

“I was amazed that Ryan was going to do something so bold for an Eagle Scout project,” said Father Edward Durkin, SJ, director of the St. Augustine’s Scholars Program. “I don’t think I was dubious that he could do such a good job, but I was amazed that a young man going into his sophomore year [of high school] was

going to make my dream come true—and he did.”

First, Bogdan and his family had to move everything out of the cluttered storage room. “The first time Father Betti and I went to see the room, we could not get in because of how much junk there was [inside],” said Bogdan. “We had to take stuff out to get in.” Ac-cording to Fr. Betti, what was left of the

storage room was not in the best shape. “The walls and ceiling needed to be re-paired and painted,” he said, “and the floor needed a carpet. New lighting was needed, too.”

While Bogdan says that the entire proj-ect was fun, there was one part in par-ticular that he enjoyed: “My favorite part was when the Scouts [from Troop 659] came to my house and helped me build

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A New Light Shines

“It is beautiful beyond what I expected.”

Alexander VilardoCanisius High School Class of 2010 7th graders Alexander and Christopher share the Scriptures in the chapel.

Photo of Fr. Durkin and Ryan Bogdan

[Note: St. Augustine’s School for boys and St. Monica’s School for girls are now the Nativity/Miguel School of Buffalo.]

Ryan Bogdan and Fr. Edward Durkin, SJ, in the new chapel.


[the furniture],” he said. “All the furni-ture was handmade.”

According to Fr. Durkin, the transfor-mation of the storage room into a chapel was nothing less than a miracle. “I had a sign on the door [of the room] that read, ‘site of our future chapel,’” he said, “and that sign was there for two years. Out of nowhere, Ryan came with his family and made my dream come true.” But it didn’t take long for Father Durkin’s dream to come true once the construction started. “The entire project took a week to fin-ish,” Bogdan said, “and we worked about six hours each day. My family and the Scouts helped during that week.”

The finished product is what continues to amaze Father Durkin. “The chapel,” he said, “with the sun shining through the windows made by Father [Richard] Zano-ni, SJ, along with the decals Ryan put up, adds a mystical dimension to the part of the school that it is in. It is beautiful be-yond what I expected. I want the boys to start loving the chapel and the best way to have them love it is to have them use it and see the light shining in.”

It does not seem that Father Durkin has to work too hard to get his students to

love the chapel. “There are always kids wanting to clean [the chapel] or dust the Tabernacle,” Fr. Durkin said, “and they are always wanting to help and make it better.” Along with caring for the chapel, some of the students use it for their own sake. “There are actually kids who go in there on their own,” added Father Dur-kin. “One of my plans is to bring groups [of students] in there and catechize them,

but even before I’ve done that, I see kids—most of whom are not Catholic—in there by themselves.”

“If I am not feeling well or my day is not going well,” said Chris Dargan, a 7th grader at St. Augustine’s, “I go in the chapel to pray.” Both 6th grader Jaylen Cyrus-Small and 7th grader Alexander Sanchez agreed that they use the chapel to calm themselves from the stresses of everyday life.

Just as each of these three students has his own use for the chapel, each has his own favorite part. For example, Jaylen Cyrus-Small likes the Bible because in it he can “look up any Scripture.”

“My favorite part is in the middle of the chapel because I can see all the plants from there,” said Sanchez.

“I like the banner of St. Ann [teaching the Blessed Mother],” said Dargan, “be-cause it reminds me of Father Durkin…he is my mentor.”

Fr. Durkin has his own favorite part of the chapel, too. “I never realized until it was done,” he said, “how amazing the natural sunlight is. It physically and spiri-tually brightens up the school.”

Light gives us hope. It teaches us cour-age. This year a new light shines in St. Augustine’s.

6th grader Jaylen Cyrus-Small visits the chapel to read the Bible.


Discovering What Lies Within

From the Director’s Desk

Rev. James F. Keenan, SJDirector of Development

can also read of Fr. Rich McAuliff, SJ’s, excitement over the new student center at Xavier High School on Chuuk. The center serves several good purposes, one of them being a place for Xavier students to tutor children from the local elemen-tary school. It is their way, perhaps, to let their own best selves shine as they help the children of Chuuk to discover what lies within.

Two of our New York Province Je-suit novices spent this past January and February working with Fr. McAuliff at Xavier. As part of their second year novi-tiate program, Ricardo Avila and Patrick Nolan were missioned there to experi-ence Jesuit ministry as they prepare to pronounce their first vows as Jesuits this August.

Your prayers and financial support en-able Fr. Durkin and Fr. McAuliff to con-tinue their work with students in very

Fr. Edward Durkin, SJ, has a rock on his Principal’s desk at the Nativity/Miguel School in Buffalo. “It’s a regular looking rock,” he says, “but on one side there is a little quartz crystal in a cavity.” He tells students and parents that this is why they exist at the school. “One side of the rock is hard – how the streets want you to be. But the other side is shiny and bright. I tell the students, ‘That is the real, true you.’”

Ryan Bogdan, a sophomore at Cani-sius High School, found a way to help Fr. Durkin’s students discover the crystal within them. His Eagle Scout project was to convert a storeroom in St. Augustine School into a student chapel. Taking a moment there to allow God’s light into their lives will be a sure way for those youngsters to let their inner self shine.

You can read about Ryan and Fr. Dur-kin in this issue of A Holy Boldness. You

different parts of the world – yet similar work. Ricardo Avila and Patrick Nolan look to you as well. You are providing the funds the Jesuits need to prepare them for a life of service to the Church. Also, I encourage you to take the time to notice and encourage young men and women who may be apt candidates for religious life.

As we look forward with joy to the presence of new Jesuits in our lives, we are saddened by the death of Fr. Gerry Braun, SJ, who was a Jesuit for over 76 years. When he returned from 15 years of dedicated service in the Philippines, he expanded the Mission Bureau’s efforts to assist misssionaries not only in the Philip-pines, but in Micronesia, Ghana and Ni-geria as well. No request was too big or too small. Please turn to page 22 for our tribute in grateful remembrance for all that Fr. Braun did for us.

Easter is the season of hope. May the risen Jesus enliven anew his own hopes that lie within you.

Gratefully in the risen Lord,

Mass and Enrollment CardsOfferings received for our Mass and Enrollment cards support our many works and assist with the care of our elderly and infirm Jesuits. Cards are available for the living and deceased as well as special occasions. Here are a few of the many cards that are available:

Enrollment CardsMass Cards

Our entire collection of cards can be viewed at www.nysj.org. To place an order, please visit our website, email your request to [email protected] or call us at 212.774.5500.Perpetual Enrollment

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Father Joseph Koterski, SJ, is an as-sociate professor of philosophy; Father Claudio Burgaleta, SJ, is an

assistant professor of theology; and Fa-ther Edward Dowling, SJ, is a professor of economics.

Yet, like so many of Fordham Univer-sity’s Jesuits, first and foremost they are Catholic priests. They celebrate Mass and assist the spiritual lives of parishioners with the sacraments: baptism, matrimo-ny, reconciliation, anointing of the sick.

That is why, when calls for assistance come from surrounding Bronx neighbor-hoods and beyond, Fordham’s Jesuits an-swer them.

Some 20 of Fordham’s Jesuit priests regularly celebrate Masses in parish churches and other religious communities off campus. The jobs are rarely assigned

tasks; they are, many of them say, tasks of the heart, and a privilege that keeps them connected to the world beyond the leafy confines of academia.

“We are priests first of all, and this is what our mission is,” said Fr. Koterski, who celebrates Mass at the Sisters of Life convent in Throgs Neck and at the Missionaries of Charity convent on East 145th Street in the Bronx. “We can be of great support to our fellow priests and to our dioceses. And people in the pews like a little variety in their sermons. The learning and spirituality that the Jesuits bring can be valuable.”

At Holy Cross Parish in Clason Point in the Bronx, the clientele is largely low-er-middle income and of mixed ethnicity. “They needed a Spanish Mass five times a week, so that’s where I started,” Fr. Dowling said. While he claims he is not fluent, he has been actively celebrating

Mass in Spanish “on and off ” for 10 years. He also assists at the Carmelite Sisters convent twice a week.

“I enjoy it to no end,” said the full-time economics professor. “I can celebrate Mass in the morning and teach classes in the afternoon.”

Pastoral Ministries

A Taste of Life from Cradle to Grave

Janet Faller Sassi

Fr. Edward Dowling, SJ

Fr. Nicholas Lombardi, SJ, with parishioners at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Parish


Father Nicholas Lombardi, SJ, associate director of online services for Fordham’s Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, has celebrated Mass at St. Jane Frances de Chantal Church for 25 years and has seen the parish in transition from Irish and Italian working class families to Caribbean working class families. And since 2001, Fr. Burgaleta has been cel-ebrating Mass in Spanish there.

This ministry triggers a connection to Fr. Burgaleta’s own roots. “I get far more from the people than I give—and that’s not just a pious cliché,” he said. “These

parishioners really believe in the power of prayer and the power of the sacra-ments. When I leave the University com-munity, where much of the time we live inside of our heads, it opens up a whole different slice of life.”

Fr. Lombardi agrees. Besides his work at the Throgs Neck parish, he has for 30 years been a volunteer priest at St. Pat-rick’s Home for the Aged and Infirm on Van Cortlandt Park South. “When you go into another milieu you realize that the things that academics take as very impor-tant don’t matter to some people at all,”

he said. “To get out and to move among the sick, to do baptisms, to work with the young religious, it all gives you a taste of life from cradle to grave. It keeps you very much alive.”

Some of the sisters have had few oppor-tunities for higher education, so Fr. Kot-erski also offers philosophy classes once a week to the Missionaries of Charity and the Sisters of Life. “They work so hard and live so simply that they appreciate the chance to learn new things,” he said.

Father Mark Mossa, SJ, a newcomer to Fordham’s Jesuit community and a teach-er of religious history, has been celebrat-ing Mass in two languages at Our Lady of

Mercy Parish. “We see what the situation is in parishes today, so it’s good for us to get out there,” he said.

This community outreach does not mean that liturgies on campus are ig-nored. The Jesuits also provide some 24 Masses each week at the university. Celebrating Mass in the local commu-nities, however, is an experience few of the Fordham Jesuits would want to do without.

“Life is a little bit bigger than Rose Hill,” Fr. Burgaleta said.

Janet Faller Sassi is a Staff Writer for the News and Media Relations Bureau of Fordham University.

Fr. Claudio Burgaleta, SJ, administers the Sacrament of the Sick.

Fr. Joseph Koterski, SJ

Fr. Mark Mossa, SJ, teaches a class at Fordham University.


During my years of doctoral stud-ies in art history at the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley, I

used to joke that I had entered the Soci-ety of Jesus called to public ministry but that, like our Lord, I was living the “hid-den life” well into my thirties! I itched to emerge into that mission “in the world” for which I had been preparing.

As I now settle into a new teaching po-sition at Fordham University, I see clearly that my so-called hidden years were any-thing but. Time and time again, pastoral duties called me away from the hushed precincts of a library. Rather than distrac-tions from my full-time mission of study, these activities provided precious outlets for my desire to minister to God’s people and alternative ways to live my Jesuit and priestly vocation.

I ministered for four years at the parish of St. Mary-St. Francis de Sales in Berke-ley, CA. There, honoring and uniting four distinct constituencies - Anglo, African-American, Vietnamese and Filipino - put a challenging but always gratifying spin on my efforts as celebrant, preacher, con-fessor and fellow Christian.

Moving to Rome to do research for my dissertation, I assumed my pasto-ral activities would drop off consider-ably. Yet within days

I was taking my turn with others from the Jesuit community celebrating both daily and Sunday Masses in the Church of the Gesù. I also began hearing confes-sions at the Gesù.

Then one day I got a call from a pro-ducer at CBS asking me to work as a news analyst. This was in the latter days of John Paul II’s pontificate. I found myself standing in the cold in the middle of the night in front of a tele-vision camera. The pope had been rushed to the hospital. Over the next few weeks, I appeared on both the national news and local affiliate broadcasts.

The work was certainly public. Gradu-ally I also came to appreciate it as minis-try, a ministry of the word, directed to a vast, unseen congregation of viewers.

Today, my ministerial life might eas-ily look hidden again. I teach art his-tory courses mainly to undergraduates at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The weekly cycle of classes, meet-ings, lesson preps and grading can quickly become routine. It all promotes an inevi-table intensity of focus that turns the uni-versity into a world of its own.

But there are always worlds within worlds. I lecture students on art and now, increasingly, engage them via new forms of technology. Fortunately, I also encoun-ter them in more personal settings. Given my subject, I often accompany them on outings to museum exhibitions, or I fall into conversation before and after uni-versity liturgies, where I take turns pre-siding. These occasions can lead to deeper revelations by students and then to hum-bling opportunities for me as a minister to comfort, reassure and affirm.

So is this the “public ministry” that I thought I wanted (and had all along)? Ab-solutely. “Finding God in all things” and “the manner is ordinary” are two typically Jesuit sayings. They not only sum up an ideal but also indicate how to make the ideal a reality. In front of a television camera or one-on-one with a student, I am never hidden from God. And if I look prayerfully, neither is God hidden from me. He reveals himself in his people and in the austere beauties of ordinary expe-rience.

Fr. Gregory Waldrop, SJProfessor of Art History Fordham University

Never Hiddenfrom God

Pastoral Ministries

Fr. Gregory Waldrop, SJ, teaches art history at Fordham University.

Fr. Waldrop, SJ, provided news analysis for CBS.

“Neither is God hidden from me.”


Father Gerald Blaszczak, SJ, has sought ways to address and cel-ebrate religious, racial and social-

economic diversity through the lens of his new office. While Father Michael Doody, SJ, the Director of Campus Ministry, primarily serves the needs of students, Fr. Blaszczak, as University Chaplian, is a kind of pastor for the entire Univer-sity - from staff and faculty, to the Board of Trustees, alumni, benefactors and neighbors. He coordinates explorations of faiths on campus, and participates in ecumenical outreach with the local Christian, Jewish and Muslim communi-ties. “You could say I’m the parish priest of Fairfield University,” he said.

Fr. Blaszczak and his family lived in Dallas, Texas, for a time in the turbulent late 1960s. His parents enrolled him in Dallas Jesuit Prep, the only integrated high school in the entire city. The Jesuits took great pains - sometimes at great risk - to make sure their students recognized both the rich Mexican culture around them and the issues facing their African-American peers.

“They were guided by an inclusive vi-sion and a vision of social justice that was humane,” said Fr. Blaszczak, who remem-bers crossing picket lines and walking behind the school banner in civil rights marches.

His time at Dallas Prep had a profound effect on him. “People there were very supportive of our growing up as young men,” he said. “Struggle and doubt didn’t mean a lack of faith; they meant engagement in faith.” The Jesuit idea of cura person-alis, or care of the whole person, became very real.

Fr. Blaszczak entered the Society of Jesus in 1967 and was ordained in 1979. He began his ministry as an instructor of religious stud-ies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, moving on to academic posts at He-kima College in Nairobi, Kenya, and Fordham. He also served as Director of Novices for the Maryland

and New York Provinces. And in 2005, he became pastor of the Jesuit parish, St. Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan.

Fairfield’s President Father Jeffrey von Arx, SJ, who has been a friend for 40 years, said of Fr. Blaszczak, “He has tremendous skills and experience as a university chaplain. He has always been someone for whom I’ve had real admira-tion and respect.”

Fr. Blaszczak hopes to enter into con-versation with the wider campus commu-nity. He is working with Judaic Studies to develop a Jewish text study group and he hopes to offer similar programming about Muslim and Protestant spiritual-ity. He plans on joining local ecumenical groups to be sure Fairfield has a presence there.

Fr. Blaszczak said he is excited to be a part of the Fairfield community at a time when the focus is on creating educated, ethical, global citizens, which he believes is firmly in line with Jesuit values. “The Jesuit approach to ministry is affirming, compassionate, understanding, smart and reflective,” he said. “It gives me the mean-ing and the path, and with whatever years I have, it is what I want to be about.”

Pastoral Ministries

Creating Educated, Ethical, Global Citizens

The focus is firmly in line with Jesuit values.

Meredith GuinnessAssistant Director of Academic Marketing and Communications, Fairfield University

[Excerpted with permission from Fairfield Now, Winter 2009]Fr. Blaszczak, SJ, with Fr. Jeffrey von Arx, SJ

Fr. Blaszczak, SJ, welcomes prospective students from the Bronx and Brooklyn.

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After a busy morning that includ-ed celebrating a Mass in Tijuana, Mexico, Father Gil Gentile, SJ,

is on the phone in his office at St. Vin-cent de Paul Village in San Diego. He is making arrangements for a woman who has recently been paroled to move into transitional housing at the Village.

During the work week, Fr. Gentile is a bilingual therapist and intern supervisor at St. Vincent de Paul Village, where he serves on the chaplaincy staff as well. He also spends time at Casa de los Pobres in Tijuana, an urban relief center for the poorest of the poor, where he is a chap-lain and helps with fundraising.

In between those responsibilities, “If he can do something for someone, he does it,” said Father Matthew Spahr, pastor of The Immaculata Parish in San Diego.

A New York Province Jesuit priest or-dained in 1978, Fr. Gentile has served the poor for 42 years. He was an Associ-ate Pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan from 1979 to 1991. His outreach today touches countless lives throughout the San Diego region.

He is the assisting priest at Queen of Angels in Alpine and St. Joseph Cathedral in San Diego.

Father is also a board member of the

San Diego Catholic Worker, the San Di-ego Health & Faith Alliance, the Nativ-ity College Prep School and the Ignatian Volunteer Corps.

He is assisting priest for the Cursillo retreat movement, and founding member of the Christus Institute, part of the Je-suit International Institute for Family Life providing faith-based psychotherapy.

“Fr. Gil is the most selfless priest I know,” said Fr. Spahr. “Even the things he says he does for himself, like cooking, are for others. He has a tremen-dous generosity of self.”

In 1990, Fa-ther Gentile earned a mas-ter’s degree in social work (with a concen-tration in men-tal health) from San Diego State Uni-versity. He continued his education and in 1994 became a licensed clinical social worker.

In the calm of his office, lit by the sub-

tle glow of two desk lamps, examples of Fr. Gentile’s dedication to others, love of God and thirst for knowledge fill the walls and spill from bookshelves. The be-spectacled priest, who doesn’t know the meaning of “no,” says it is his life’s pur-pose to serve.

“Every act of kindness, every act of ser-vice is a prayer in itself and act of God,” he said.

[The story on Fr. Gentile’s Monsignor Young Award is on page 3.]

Pastoral Ministries

Patricia Walsh reports for The Southern Cross. Reprinted with permission.

“The most selfless priest I know.”

Patricia M. Walsh

Every act of service is a prayer in itself.

Fr. Gil Gentile, SJ, in his office at St. Vincent de Paul Village in San Diego

Sr. Espinoza, the Mother General of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Peace, with Fr. Gentile, SJ, in the bodega at Casa de los Pobres


To be relatively young and a Jesuit priest at this point in history is to be blessed with opportunity,

Father George Witt, SJ, notes as he talks from the pastor’s office at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan.

St. Ignatius bustles with activity, and not just on Sunday. On a typical weekday afternoon, sounds from the practicing children’s choir fill the parish offices and the waiting room is packed with those seeking counseling and advice from the pastoral associates on staff. The parish

bulletin is filled with news about the church’s famous choirs, its St. Vincent de Paul Society, bereavement ministry, a food drive, and vigils and discussions on hot-button topics such as the death pen-alty, violence in art, and immigration.

Fr. Witt, a former high school teacher who learned sign lan-guage and worked in ministry to the deaf, feels fortunate to be the pastor at such a booming place, totaling 3,700 registered families. Another 300 new parishioners joined last year alone. “I’m enjoying the administrative part of it, discovering tal-ents and interests I didn’t know were there,” he says.

The biggest challenge of the job is the continual shifting of gears: one moment

working on putting togeth-er a budget, overseeing a personnel issue the next, and then being called upon to preach or counsel.

“The challenges are very diverse,” he says. “Being at a dying person’s bedside and balancing a budget require different skills.”

In his bulletin essay on the weekend of his instal-lation Mass as pastor last fall, Fr. Witt talked of Je-suit theologian Karl Rah-ner’s vision of parish life as the concrete reality of the universal Church lived out in a particular place. The

theologian described the parish as the highest degree of actuality of the univer-sal church. So it is at St. Ignatius.

Many parishioners at St. Ignatius are well-educated and enjoy successful ca-reers. At the same time, says Fr. Witt,

A Vision of Parish

they “love the church” and “have high expectations and are willing to be gen-erous with their own time, talent and treasure.”

Many parishioners come from outside the immediate neighborhood, seeking out the parish for its liturgies and opportuni-ties for service, traveling from the outer boroughs and even from New Jersey. “People are really longing for community. We do a good job of fostering that here,” he says.

He is joined by three Jesuit associate pastors, Fathers William J. Bergen, James L. Dugan and Ugo R. Nacciarone.

Parishioners get a glimpse of the wider world through lectures and programs. Among recent speakers at St. Ignatius have been Father John O’Malley, SJ, who spoke on the impact of Vatican II; Imacu-lee Ilibagiza, the best-selling author who has written about her experiences during the Rwandan genocide; and Father Greg Boyle, SJ, a priest famous for working with gangs in Los Angeles.

“Rahner’s vision of parish is being lived out at St. Ignatius,” says Fr. Witt, who notes the parish offers “a broad spectrum of activities and programs for people to invest in. They are fed by them and have ways to contribute themselves.”

Fr. George Witt, SJ, greets a father and his child.

Fr. Witt elevates the Book of the Gospels.

Pastoral Ministries

The universal Church lived out in a particular place.

Peter Feuerherd


What does this ethnically di-verse, techno-savvy and often religiously adrift gen-

eration need?That’s the big-picture question posed

by Father Edward J. Quinnan, SJ, the New York Province Assistant for Pastoral Ministry and the Province representative to the Jesuit Collaborative.

The title is a long one, in two related parts. As Assistant for Pastoral Ministry, Fr. Quinnan’s task is to assure that Igna-tian spirituality is kept alive in the work of the New York Province’s retreat houses and parishes. The Jesuit Collaborative is a joint venture of the three Eastern sea-board provinces of Maryland, New Eng-land and New York. “We want to make sure we’re training people for the next generation,” he says. As a result, the Prov-inces are looking at new ways to promote the Spiritual Exercises not only in pastoral ministries but also at Jesuit high schools, colleges and other apostolates.

Keeping Ignatian spirituality thriving is the focus of Fr. Quinnan’s work as he visits parishes. He is finding that the dy-namic of the Exercises is being kept alive in a diversity of settings.

For example, St. Anthony’s Church in Oceanside, NY, has many families with

small children, so there is a strong fo-cus on Ignatian religious education. St. Mary’s, Staten Island, has a large Mexi-can population, so the Jesuit tradition of working with immigrants is at the fore-front. Jesuit sacramental ministry is the hallmark of busy St. Michael’s Church in Buffalo, where there is a strong outreach to downtown office workers who attend Mass and seek confession on weekdays.

As the former director of Mt. Man-resa Jesuit Retreat House on Staten Is-

land, retreat ministry is something he is familiar with. The retreat houses, says Fr. Quinnan, “are strong in programming but the finances are problematic.” Be-sides Mt. Manresa, these houses include Loyola House of Retreats in Morristown, NJ; St. Ignatius Jesuit Retreat House in Manhasset, NY; Jogues Retreat in Corn-wall, NY; and the Jesuit Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, NY. All five are popular yet are having trouble paying for the services they provide to their retreatants, who

Spirituality for a New Generation

Fr. Rocco Danzi, SJ, engages the new generation at a Theology on Tap session in New Jersey.

Peter Feuerherd

Fr. Edward Quinnan, SJ

Pastoral Ministries

The dynamic of the Spiritual Exercises is being kept alive in a diversity of settings.


often need to be lodged and fed during weekend retreats. “They combine spiri-tual programs with hotel and restaurant services. This is a hard thing to do,” says Fr. Quinnan.

And then there is the broader ques-tion, the challenge of meeting the needs of a new generation that is on the move 24/7. Traditionally, experiencing Igna-tian spirituality involved long periods of solitude with one-on-one guidance from a spiritual director. That model may have to be adjusted for younger generations of American Catholics.

Then again, American Latinos come from a different culture and exposure to

Jesuit ministry. They tend to be younger and are from countries where Jesuits have been relatively unknown outside the sphere of education. Still, there is a desire for Ignatian spirituality. This need was apparent at The Jesuit Collaborative conference held last summer at Fordham University that included a Spanish-lan-guage track that attracted hundreds. Fr. Quinnan says that younger Latinos are more at ease learning in groups and that the Collaborative approach is taking that into account.

In general, Fr. Quinnan notes, “we are not seeing the 20-30 year old group in the Church pews. They seem to be more

culturally Catholic than religiously Cath-olic.” In addition, the cultural dynamic has shifted. The idea of an entire weekend retreat is foreign to many young Catho-lics. “We have to give them appetizers in-stead of entrees,” says Fr. Quinnan. Short meetings, focused on discussions around a film, followed by a social, can be attrac-tive to younger people seeking meaning in their lives. An example is The Collab-orative-sponsored Contemplative Leaders in Action that brings together young Catho-lic professionals for short discussions. Be-gun in Manhattan, it is now expanding to Boston and Philadelphia.

Fr. Quinnan believes that young people are attracted to Ignatian spirituality, par-ticularly its emphasis on discernment. “It is about making decisions. That is some-thing they resonate with,” he says.

They are also seeking community, find-ing ways to go beyond Facebook, with its extensive network of connections, into something more meaningful. Technology offers a wide array of relationships, but young people long for depth and meaning in friendships, says Fr. Quinnan.

He remains convinced that Ignatian spirituality, developed by a young 16th-century Spaniard seeking meaning and conversion, still speaks to a new genera-tion. Finding ways to communicate that in the 21st century remains the challenge.Fr. Quinnan, SJ, meets with Bob Cunningham, Chief Advancement Officer of The Jesuit

Collaborative, and Sr. Clare Walsh, M.H.S.H., at the Fordham conference last summer.

The JesuitCollaborative

The Jesuit Collaborative of the Maryland, New England and New York Provinces promotes the

application of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola in all Jesuit ministries. Father James R. Conroy, SJ, was appointed Executive Director last year and has travelled extensively since then giving presentations for Advent and Lent meditations based on contemplations from the Exercises. The Collaborative will sponsor an Ignatian Leadership for Mission retreat in June at Campion Center in Weston, MA. For more information, please visit www.jesuit-collaborative.org.Fr. James Conroy, SJ, gave an Advent presentation in New York City.


“Teach me to serve...”

Nurturing the Jesuit Vocation Spirit

Jesuit Vocations

The Regis High School students listened intently as John W. Peck and Sam Z. Conedera, Jesuit students in phi-losophy at Fordham University, told the story of Igna-

tius Loyola and other heroes of the Society, all the while gently inviting them to consider a Jesuit vocation.

At an assembly and at two informal luncheon sessions held in November, the students indicated that the invitation was at least being considered. The proof was in the details they wanted, and they peppered the duo with questions:

When did you decide to enter the Society of Jesus? Where do you see yourself working as a Jesuit priest? How old do you have to be to enter? How does one know he has a religious vocation? How tough is it to get through a 30-day silent retreat? What languages are Jesuits sup-posed to learn? Are you allowed contact with the outside world during novitiate?

Prayer of St. Ignatius Loyola

Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ, above, at Cristo Rey NY High School and Mr. Sam Conedera, SJ, at Regis High School

A worldwide Jesuit emphasis on vocation promotion

Peter Feuerherd


Conedera, 29, emphasized how Igna-tius Loyola was “not a pious nice young man.” Rather, he said, the founder of the Jesuits spent much of his youth in pursuit of pleasure and fame. He described the saint’s conversion process, the prayerful solitude at Manresa and the reorientation of his life towards God and service.

Peck, also 29, focused on the witness of Jesuit heroes such as Father Walter Ciszek, SJ, an American missionary who was imprisoned by the Soviets during World War II. Fr. Ciszek, noted Peck, was “a model of missionary zeal” willing to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. The residence for Jesuits in studies near Ford-ham where Peck and Conedera reside is named Ciszek Hall.

They also told their own stories: Peck was studying for the diocesan priesthood at the Gregorian University in Rome. The Jesuit professors there inspired him to enter the Society. Conedera encountered the Jesuits in his undergraduate years at St. Louis University. He was inspired to make the commitment to religious life in a call he felt through prayer.

They emphasized that a Jesuit’s willing-ness to serve wherever sent in the service of the Gospel marks the ideal of the Soci-ety. Conedera observed that “God moves and God speaks first. We must acquire a habit of listening.”

Those involved concluded that the meeting with the Regis students was a fruitful one. The students came to the presentations on vocations well prepared, noted Conedera. “They asked good ques-tions,” he said. “Our hope is that the Holy Spirit moves their hearts.”

The day was part of a worldwide Je-suit emphasis on vocation promotion each year during November, the month that includes the feast of All Saints and Blesseds of the Society of Jesus. Jesuit novices from St. Andrew Hall, Syracuse, and scholastics from Ciszek Hall in the Bronx, visited high schools and colleges thoughout the provinces of Maryland, New England and New York.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,before you were born I dedicated you,a prophet to the nations I appointed you.“Ah, Lord God!” I said,“I know not how to speak; I am too young.”But the Lord answered me,Say not, “I am too young.”To whomever I send you, you shall go;whatever I command you, you shall speak.Have no fear before them,because I am with you to deliver you,says the Lord. Jeremiah 1:5-8

Mr. John Peck, SJ, above, speaks with students at Regis High School and Mr. Timothy O’Brien, nSJ, addresses a class at Scranton Prep.

St. Ignatius Loyola


Regis High School’s Vocations Round-table is led by Father Anthony An-

dreassi, CO, a priest of the Brooklyn Oratory of St. Philip Neri and a history teacher, Father Philip G. Judge, SJ, presi-dent of Regis, and Mr. James Donovan, SJ, a scholastic who teaches science. The Roundtable is an effort to acquaint Re-gis students with religious vocations. In

Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ, presided at the Xavier High School Mass on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, and spoke an vocations. He was joined by Jesuit Fathers Louis Garaventa, John Replogle, Rocco Danzi, Joseph Lux, James Van Dyke and Ralph Rivera.

VocationRoundtable

addition to attending the Vocations Day presentations, students previously heard a talk from a Regis grad who is a dioc-esan priest, they visited Ciszek Hall, and participated in discussions about prayer and vocation discernment. Now in its third year, the Vocations Roundtable at-tracts six to eight students to its meetings which are held about every six weeks.

Mr. James Donovan, SJ, left, and Fr. Philip Judge, SJ, meet at the Vocation Roundtable with Regis students Neil Hannon and Robert Hausen.


College students spending Christ-mas break in the Big Apple might be expected to enjoy a

few nightclubs, Broadway shows, or a museum or two.

But for 54 students from Canisius Col-lege in Buffalo, Christmas break in New York entailed listening to a dying cancer patient at a Bronx hospital, chatting with and delivering food to the homeless in Penn Station, and playing volleyball with Huntington’s Disease patients on the Up-per East Side.

It was, in many re-spects, a one-week view of a side of the city that few tour-ists see. It was also a glimpse into Jesuit community and ser-vice, including pizza parties, group reflec-tion and prayer about their experiences.

They lived in small communities around the city, including the Xavier Jesuit Community in Chelsea, and left

each morning for service work among the poor, those suffering from financial, physical and spiritual deprivation.

“I wish this were longer,” said Anyi Ihiasota, who worked with Huntington’s patients at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center.

Gratitude was a frequent response. “It was eye-opening for me,” explained An-drew Creighton, who came away from his work with Huntington’s patients grateful for the gift of health.

T.J. Rogers and Mike Robb said their work with a homeless outreach project exposed them to the deep religious faith of many of those living on New York’s streets, where prayer is one of the few things felt in abundance. “Thank you, Je-sus” was a frequent response to the food they offered to the homeless huddled in the city’s January cold snap.

Nathan Olszewski and Ray Kleinfelder,

A Wider Understanding

of VocationCanisius students experience

Ignatian service in New York City

Peter Feuerherd

Fr. John Bucki, SJ, and students at Xavier Jesuit Community

Fr. Ralph Rivera, SJ, speaks with Michael Robb.

Ignatian Service


pre-med students, learned about pastoral care at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. The focus of the Catholic chaplaincy there is on “treating the patient, not the disease,” said Olszewski.

Others took away lessons that will ex-tend beyond their New York City stay.

“I’ve learned to become more aware of the world around me,” said Joshua Cole-man. When he arrived in New York he came through Penn Sta-tion, not noticing the homeless people who live there. When he returned just a few days later offering food, he realized how much he had missed.

“Sometimes I can have tunnel vision. This helped me to take the blinders off and see the world in front of me,” he said.

This was the second Christ-mas service trip for Chauncey Syposs, a Canisius College alumnus. A depressed woman Chauncey met last year at the Cardinal Cooke Center was, on this visit, feeling better. “That she wanted to talk to me was affirming,” he said.

Ryan Campagna said the group’s visit with severely handicapped children at the Cooke Center was a challenge to all the students. “It is going out of your comfort zone,” he said. “But I’m glad it was some-thing we did.”

Hunter Dudkiewicz, a philosophy and religious studies major who is explor-ing a Jesuit vocation, worked with the

homeless. He learned the truth, he said, of the comment of theologian Father Jon Sobrino, SJ, that “there is something mys-terious in seeing the struggle of the poor to survive.” He said that living with the Xavier Community Jesuits for the week offered a glimpse of religious life, “the sharing with the community of the highs and lows of the day.”

Father John Bucki, SJ, campus minister at Canisius and moderator for the project, noted that service work and introducing students to religious community will contribute to their wider understanding of vocation.

“If there will be vocations in the Church, it will be from people like this,” he said. A few of the Canisius students will gravitate towards the Jesuits or other religious groups; others will find the ex-perience influencing their futures as doc-tors, teachers, business people and social workers.

“They will do all this out of Catholic Christian principles. They can see how powerful service is. God’s call comes out of such experiences,” Fr. Bucki said. “It captures their imagination and they start doing things.”

Chris Mekelburg speaks with Fr. Jeff Chojnacki, SJ, Rector of the Xavier Jesuit Community.

Students gather for a reflection session in Hurtado Hall at Xavier Parish.


In Grateful Remembrance

Availability, Hospitality, Solidarity - those are the admirable traits remembered most by Jesuits and

colleagues who knew and loved Father Gerard Braun, SJ.

In his homily at the funeral Mass for Fr. Braun, Fr. James Joyce, SJ, Superior of the Jesuit Community at Murray-Weigel Hall, recalled the courtesy and hospitality with which Fr. Braun always welcomed visiting Jesuits from overseas as well as parents of Jesuit missionaries.

Father Pasquale Giordano, SJ, who represented the Philippine Province at the Mass, emphasized how grateful those Jesuits were for Fr. Braun’s kindness – even to the smallest points of knowing neck sizes for shirts for visitors, or in his choice of Christmas gifts for the families of Jesuits and benefactors.

Carol Keefe, Administrative Assistant at the Province Development Office, re-members how “Fr. Braun was unfailingly courteous to the people who wrote to him and those who worked with him. He was available to whoever came in to see him, whether they interrupted his schedule or not. I really had to admire that – how he seemed not to cast his

plans for the day in concrete!”

“Fr. Braun was the prime example of collaboration,” commented Antoi-nette McCormick, the Development Office Assistant for Planned Giving. Fr. Braun returned to New York af-ter working in the Philippines for 15 years as a priest. But, “his heart was there.”

Father Matthew Roche, SJ, who worked in the Of-

fice for several years, concurs. “The Philippines had a real claim on his heart. Gerry would visit different Jesuit high schools and universities to collect dupli-cates of useful textbooks. Then he would send huge shipping containers for use in Filipino educational apostolates. He did so quietly for many years without seeking any acclaim.”

Fr. Joyce focused on solidarity as Fr. Braun’s way of collaborating. “The Lord blessed Gerry Braun with the virtue of solidarity. Gandhi spoke of how helpful it is, when acting on behalf of others, to be able to picture, in one’s mind, the face of a person who is being affected by pov-erty or exploitation. The time Fr. Braun was privileged to spend in Tuguegarao and Davao allowed him to see the faces of those whom he would actively help for years to come. His solidarity included joining the Province, to be a Philippine Jesuit.”

In the gospel passage read at the funeral Mass, Jesus said: “Go to the people of all nations. Teach them to be my disciples.” Fr. Braun not only heard Jesus’ words, he also committed his life as a Jesuit to mak-ing the Lord’s desire come true.

Fr. John Garvey, SJ

Father Gerard Braun, SJ1915 - 2010

Fr. Gerard Braun, SJ, prepares a shipment of books for the Philippines.

Fr. Braun, SJ, enjoys lunch on the sun deck at Murray-Weigel Hall.

“The Philippines had a real claim on his heart.”


Focus on Faith

The Birth of Forgiving Love

Peter and John had seen the empty tomb, and then Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, and

went to report this to the others. But by evening of that same day, the little group was still locked behind closed doors, in fear. They feared they had no future.

And with good rea-son. If found, they would suffer the same fate Jesus had. They may even have feared Jesus himself. If it were true that he was some-how alive again, could they take his disappointment at their not defending him when he was arrested?

Fear is a potent force. Its icy grip freezes the heart and shatters cherished dreams of what might have been. In Gen-esis, we read of God’s dream of harmo-ny and friendship with the finest of his creatures, the man and the woman: they would walk together in the evening in the cool of the garden. Then came that fateful moment when the couple were seduced into thinking they could be God’s equal, and they wanted freedom from doing things God’s way. And that evening, when God came to walk with them, they hid themselves because they were afraid.

Fear is a potent force.

“Shalom!” was Jesus’ first word to his fear-filled, sin-separated, dream-shat-tered friends. Shalom! Our English trans-lation, Peace be with you, cannot capture the essence of shalom. It is a Jewish form of greeting and farewell. But its much deeper significance is an expression of

harmony and communion with God that was the seal of the covenant in which God claimed us as His own. Jesus’ first word is the assurance of salvation. We are once again at one with with our creator and with all of creation. Shalom! is the end of fear and sin-separation.

Shalom is the birth of forgiveness. God’s forgiving love is made clear to us in the life, death and resurrection of Je-sus. God’s forgiving love overcomes the sin-separation caused by our pride. God’s forgiving love urges us to turn to one an-other and heal whatever sin-separation divides us. Jesus welcomes Thomas – with all his doubts – and never accuses him in any way.

The case for forgiveness is overwhelm-ingly persuasive. Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another’s control. If one does not forgive, then one is controlled by the

other’s initiatives and is locked into a sequence of outrage and revenge, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and de-voured by the past.

Forgiveness is not an impulse that is much in favor in our world. The prevalent style today runs more to the hard, cold eye of the avenger. When the news today is that one side in a war or argument has bested the other, we all know

the cycle of revenge that tomorrow will bring.

Forgiveness is a mysterious and sublime idea in many ways. Forgiveness is not in our nature. Forgiveness is super-nature.

In the creation story, God breathed his own spirit into the man and the woman and gave birth to their being human. The risen Jesus breathed his spirit upon those fear-filled men and women and gave birth in them to God’s forgiving love, God’s shalom. They – we – are even more truly human because we can choose to over-come nature, we can choose to forgive.

“As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Go! Be shalom! Be the end of fear and di-vision! Be the birth of forgiving love!

Fr. John Garvey, SJPublications Assistant

Easter Shalom:


Notes from Micronesia

Xavier High School in Micro-nesia is unique for several reasons. While its entire co-

educational enrollment is only 170 stu-dents, it draws its student population from three different countries, six dif-ferent cultural and language groups, and from a geographical area that covers 4.5 million square miles of the central Pacif-ic Ocean. Three alumni are or have been presidents of their countries, and at least eight have been ambassadors to foreign countries and the United Nations. In July, 2008, while walking around

the campus with two of our alumnae, we passed our former chapel building, and I asked them “What are we going to

do with this place?” And almost without thinking, they both blurted out, “Make it a student center.” “A student center? Why?” And they looked at me as if it should be so obvious, “Because there’s no place on campus for boys and girls to spend time together.”

That short conversation was the gen-

Fr. Rich McAuliff, SJDirector, Xavier High School, Chuuk

Living Out Our Mission

Students engage in school work and relax together in the new student center.

esis of the new student center at Xavi-er High School. Funded by a Japanese Grassroots Grant and matched by alumni contributions, and with a floor plan de-signed by one of our students, Michael Kigimnang, the student center was for-mally dedicated as part of our Xavier Day activities this past December. Hav-ing a common gathering space for all of our students has helped us to live out our motto at Xavier, “That All May Be One.”

Even more importantly, the new stu-dent center has been designed to help us live out the mission of Xavier High School which is to “develop competent, conscientious and compassionate leaders whose lives are guided by the Christian call to service.”

In addition to the large public area

where students can gather and work on small group projects, sit and read books and play board games, the center fea-tures multiple internet-connected com-puter stations where students can do re-search for papers and get connected to the larger world. The center also houses a Student Body Government office and a Tutoring Center, where Xavier students practice their compassionate leadership by tutoring students from our neigh-

borhood elementary school in English, math and computer skills.

Xavier High School is extremely grateful to the government and people of Japan for their extraordinary gift, and to the “Friends of Xavier Communities” for providing Xavier students another opportunity to live out our mission.

“Part of Xavier’s Mission statement says that Xavier will educate competent leaders whose lives are guided by the Christian call to service. I believe that we, Xavier students, have only tasted a sample of the real world where our competence and our leadership will matter most. However, with this refurnished Student Center, we hope to better understand our world—to learn how to adopt from foreign cultures what will be beneficial to our diverse cultures here in Micronesia, as well as how to evade harmful aspects from the outside world that continuously threaten to further decay our cultures.”

Michael Kigimnang, Student Body Government PresidentFrom his speech at the dedication of the Student Center

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