Ignatian
IMPRINTS
A publication of the Maryland Province Jesuits Spring 2010 | Vol. 4 No. 3
FORGIVENESS:
Gratitude to a compassionate God Page 3
MAGIS:
Seeking something more Page 10
Letters from a Saint Page 15 | With a Listening Heart Page 7
Ignatian
IMPRINTS Ignatian Imprints is a
publication of the Maryland province of the Society of
Jesus. Now published as an
insert to Company magazine,
Ignatian Imprints is designed to highlight the works and
people of the province engaged in spreading the Ignatian goal of forming “men and women
for others.� Published quarterly, the magazine endeavors to
inform, teach and spread the Good News.
James M. Shea, SJ Provincial Mary K. Tilghman Editor and Designer Ed Plocha Director of Advancement Betty Shenk Advancement Assistant Amanda Knittle Development Assistant Joe Young Web Editor Please send subscription
requests, letters to the editor
and other correspondence to:
Ignatian Imprints
6800 LaSalle Road, Suite 620 Towson, MD 21286 443-921-1310 www.mdsj.org
AID FOR CHILE When an 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile, the Maryland Province Jesuits responded quickly to set up a fund to aid the country where Maryland Jesuits have served for more than 50 years. Help is already on its way.
The Maryland Province has set up a fund to aid victims of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake which struck Chile Feb. 27. Funds sent to the Maryland Province’s Chile Relief Fund will be wired directly to the Province of Chile to be used by two Jesuitdirected organizations, Hogar de Cristo and Un Techo para Chile. Hogar de Cristo (Home of Christ) founded by St. Alberto Hurtado, SJ, is a comprehensive aid organization that is working with the National Emergency Office (Chile’s FEMA) to provide food, blankets, diapers and charcoal throughout the country. Hogar de Cristo has served the poorest of the poor since 1944 working with children and youth, community centers, the elderly, hospices, health and social issues. Un Techo Para Chile (A Roof For Chile), a Habitat for Humanity style organization which specializes in building emergency homes. In coordination with the schools, Christian Life Communities, Alberto Hurtado University and Infocap school, it is working with volunteers to clear rubble, rebuild houses and construct somne30,000 temporary one-room shelters. These mediaguas are rising quickly in devastated areas. “Already, response from friends of the Maryland Province has been generous,” noted Ed Plocha, the province’s director of advancement. “But needs there are great — and will be for many years — and we are committed to offering help for as long as is necessary.” The Maryland Province has had a long-standing relationship with Chile since the first Maryland Jesuits went to work in Chile 51 years ago. The Maryland and Chilean provinces formalized their relationship with a twinning agreement. (See Ignatian Imprints, SumPhotos courtesy Province of Chile
mer 2009.) around the province Two Maryland Jesuits, Eugene Rooney, As bad as the devastation is, SJ, and Eugene Barber, SJ, still Fr. Valenzuela has turned his atserving in Chile were there at the tention to the remarkable stories of time of the earthquake and are caring and hope as Jesuits, students safe. Fr. Rooney was in Santiago to of Jesuit schools and countless volexperience the fierce rumbling that shook the residence, crum• Updates on efforts to help bled plaster and broke glass. Fr. Barber was on the annual retreat earthquake victims are at with Chilean Jesuits. The retreat www.jesuitchileaid.blogspot. was cut short as the men atcom. tempted to hurry back to their • On-line donations can be made at schools and parishes to assess www.mdsj.org. the damage. Some 800 people were reported killed by the earthquake and unteers come to the aid of their tsunami which followed. Damage neighbors. estimates ran as high as $30 billion Summaries of his reports are with the loss of 500,000 homes as posted on the Maryland Province well as public buildings, bridges, blog at www.jesuitchileaid.com. roads and ports. To make a donation, send your Eugenio Valenzuela, SJ, Chilcheck, made payable to “Maryland ean provincial, continues to send Province Jesuits Fund” to Maryreports to William C. Rickle, SJ, land Province Jesuits Fund, P.O. the Maryland provincial assistant Box 64818, Baltimore, MD 21264. for Latino migration and ministry, To make a donation online, go to providing updates on what is being www.mdsj.org and click on the done to help the earthquake and Chile Relief Fund link. tsunami victims.
Paul Rourke, SJ, one of three to be ordained at Fordham
Paul K. Rourke, SJ, will be ordained to the priesthood, along with two New York Province Jesuits, John P. Mulreany, SJ, and Robert J. Pecoraro, SJ. Ordination is set for Saturday, June 12, at Fordham University Church in the Bronx. The Rev. Mr. Rourke, a St. Louis, Mo., native, has been studying in Rome, first at the Pontifical Georgian University and more recently at the Augustinianum. He spent his regency at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.
Mark Fusco, SJ, ordained a deacon Mark A. Fusco, SJ, was or-
dained a deacon by Most Rev. Peter J Hundt, auxiliary bishop of Toronto, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Toronto, Ontario, on April 10. He is a doctoral student in theology at Regis College in Toronto.
Maryland Jesuits contribute to book marking Year of the Priest Two Maryland Jesuits have contributed to a new book marking the Year of the Priest. A collection of essays, A Priest’s Life: The Calling, The Cost, The Joy, edited by Patricia Mitchell, includes the writing of John Dear and Frank Moan, SJ. Fr. Dear’s essay is entitled “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace.” The title of Fr. Moan’s piece is “In Praise of Horizontal Prayer.” Their works are among 30 essays, including the work of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Bishop Victor Galeone and two other Jesuits, Daniel Harrington, SJ, and Jim Martin, SJ. Baltimore’s Archbishop Edwin O’Brien wrote the preface. A Priest’s Life was issued in March by Word Among Us Press. For information, go to www.wau.org. 2 | SPRING 2010
around the province A new dean for Loyola
Loyola University Maryland has named James J. Miracky, SJ, currently associate dean for faculty development at the College of the Holy Cross, the dean of Loyola College, Loyola’s school of arts and sciences. Fr. Miracky will assume his new duties on July 1, 2010. A Jesuit since 1977, Fr. Miracky taught 20th century British fiction, Shakespeare and modern drama at Holy Cross.
New leader at Wheeling
An interim president has been named at Wheeling Jesuit University. Sister Francis Marie Thrailkill, OSU, is Wheeling’s first female leader. She arrived on campus Feb. 8. She was previously president of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1987 to 2008. Sr. Francis succeeds Davitt McAteer who assumed the temporary role of interim president in August.
Ignatian Leadership for Mission retreat registration open
Space is still available for two upcoming sessions of the Ignatian Leadership for Mission retreats. The five-day silent retreats based on the key graces of the Spiritual Exercises are open for Jesuits and lay colleagues of the Maryland New York and New England Provinces. The next retreat is June 20-25 at the Campion Renewal Center in West, Mass. A retreat is also scheduled for Jan 17-22 at St. Ignatius Retreat House in Manhasset, N.Y. Go to www.mdsj.org/ilm for details. For details on structuring a charitable gift arrangement or other giving options in support of the Maryland Province Jesuits contact The Advancement Office, The Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, 8600 La Salle Road, Towson, MD 21286 443-921-1332 • Email: advancment@mdsj.org
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, For his love endures forever. —Psalm 118
Grateful reflections on the forgiveness of God God is all love and only love By James L. Connor, SJ
Photo by Jennifer Carter
When I
was pastor at
Holy Trinity
parish
in
Washington, D.C., some years ago, I got to know a witty young woman fairly well.
After she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she came
to see me almost weekly. At one point she said, “You know, the Catholic Church ought to have a motto like Hallmark
greeting cards. And I think it ought to be ‘When in doubt give guilt, the gift that keeps on giving!’ ”
We can laugh about it — as she and I did — but it
pinpoints something very sad. A lot of us needlessly suffer from feelings of guilt. We feel that God is really unhappy with us, and even that God is occasionally punishing us. This makes us guarded in our relationship with God and uncomfortable in his presence. The truth of the matter is that God is ALL love and ONLY love. God is all FOR us and never against us. This is clear in many beautiful scripture passages: God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him…. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:9-18) For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) But isn’t it also true that there are many scripture passages which describe God’s rage boiling over at the sinful behavior of certain people, even including his own Covenanted People? And don’t we see in the parables of Jesus some “master” or “king” — representing God — meting out terrible punishments upon people who disobeyed or disappointed him? As examples look at these two, one from the Old Testament, the other from the New Testament. Then the LORD rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and the whole Plain, together with the inhabitants of the cities and the produce 4 | SPRING 2010
of the soil. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. (Exodus 19:24-26) A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. … What (then) will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. (Mark 12: 1-11) These scripture passages certainly look like divine revelation of the fact that God can not only get angry with us, but is ready to express his anger with severe punishment, perhaps even death. And that seems to be the message of the Letter to the Hebrews when it says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) The argument goes that God is loving, of course, but that God is also just, and in his justice he must punish the sinner, even as he rewards the virtuous person with his love. How do we reconcile these two sets of citations? My answer is that “We are not punished by God for our sins; rather, we are punished by our sins.” When I lie, when I cheat, when I break my promises, when I humiliate a person publicly or when I erupt in rage, the damage to me, to others and to a web of social interrelationships can be devastating. If this kind of behavior becomes consistent, I will destroy my character, my sensibilities, and my “touch”
with reality. It is personal expressed than in the and social suicide. Sin is action of joining us God stands ready to assist its own punishment. We in our misery!! And are punished by our sins. through the rest of us in the struggle and, when In his love God the Spiritual Exercises we fall, to continue loving respects our choices. We Ignatius guides us in are therefore punished BY accompanying Jesus and forgiving us. our sins. It is not God who on his journey through punishes us FOR our sins. boyhood, adulthood, We don’t need to “fear” public ministry, God. We need to fear persecution by religious Satan, the Power of Evil, and civil leaders, and our own weakness in arrest, mock trial, succumbing to temptation. death by crucifixion But God stands ready to as a criminal, and assist us in the struggle and, resurrection. when we fall, to continue The moment when loving and forgiving Jesus most fully reveals us. God is our true and to us his relationship abiding friend, through as the Father’s Son thick and thin, in good and his love for us is times and in bad. (When when he says, from scripture exhorts us to the cross, while people Photo by Jennifer Carter “fear” God the meaning is are taunting, reviling, “to reverence God, to stand and assaulting him, in awe of God, and to admire God for God’s great “Father, FORGIVE THEM for they know not what love and wisdom and power.) they do.” His whole life had been an expression of concern, care, and love for his fellow humans in an St. Ignatius Loyola depicts God’s effort to lift them from individual and national selfcompassionate and forgiving love for us in his preoccupation to respect, openness, and love of one meditation on the Incarnation in his Spiritual another. Exercises (SpEx #101 ff.). He asks us to see the Three “I come not to be served, but to serve and to give Persons of the Blessed Trinity looking down upon the my life for others.” whole expanse of the world, filled with human beings. “The greatest of all is the one who serves all the Some are white, some black, some at war, others at rest.” peace, some laughing, others weeping — all in great That’s what he preached to us and that’s what he blindness going down to hell. We hear the Father, did himself. And his forgiveness from the cross is the Son, and Spirit speaking to one another, wondering fullest possible expression of his love and forgiveness what they can do to remedy this terrible situation, unto death. pondering various options, and finally reaching a But there is something else that is revealed to us decision. One of them shall join the human race in here and it is very important. As we strive through its misery, become a human, and do his very best to life to respond to God’s love for us and to join with lead the human family to freedom. Finally, we see and the living Lord in serving others, we are going to hear the angel Gabriel appear to a young girl in the experience pain and suffering just as Jesus did in the backwoods town of Nazareth, and we hear her saying, course of his ministry. We will face ambiguity about “Be it done unto me according to your word,” and how we should behave with others and respond to with great wonder we feel the Word become flesh — critical situations. We may even wonder whether God to dwell amongst us. is punishing us for our lack of generosity, for our own Elsewhere in the Exercises Ignatius says “Love sins and continuing sinfulness, or for our ineptitude expresses itself better in action than in word” (SpEx in ministry. When we feel depressed or anxious in 230). It is unimaginable that the compassionate, our relations with others, we will wonder whether it is forgiving love of God could have been more fully punishment from an angry God. ignatian imprints | 5
It is just then that it is good to remember that Jesus felt exactly the same way in his own life of ministry. The Letter to the Hebrews tells us, that Jesus was like us in all things, sin alone excepted. Son though he was, he had to learn obedience from what he suffered! We can see that in his Agony in the Garden when he literally sweated blood. He never had a moment’s doubt about his Father’s love for him and all the rest of us. It was simply the price that he needed to pay in expressing his love and forgiveness that made him break into a bloody sweat. ‘Love expresses In his first appearance to itself better in action the full group than in word.’ of apostles Jesus —St. Ignatius Loyola grants them forgiveness and then sends them off on his mission of forgiveness of others. It is a beautiful passage: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” ( John 20:19-23) The apostles are terrified, ready to cut and run when the path is safe. But when Jesus appeared they are even more terrified — for they all deserted him to a man during his arrest and crucifixion. Women had stuck with Jesus, but not the apostles. So, Jesus’ greeting of “peace” was basically his expression of forgiveness to them. It was also an act of reconciliation and community-building with Jesus and with one another. And it is as a community that he sends them forth by breathing into them the gift of the Holy Spirit and in sending them off on his and now their 6 | SPRING 2010
ignatian spirituality mission of forgiveness. The parallelism of bindingand-losing expresses full authority, given by Christ, to offer forgiveness to others. A final question is: Why didn’t God see to it that Christ’s redemptive self-sacrifice on the Cross simply destroyed sin in the world? Why did God decide to tolerate that Satan, the Power of Evil, should continue to roam the world and that we humans would be subject to temptation and would succumb by sinning, sometimes in very serious and socially destructive ways? Just look around us at all the hostility and hatred in our war-torn world. Couldn’t God simply have abolished sin and sinfulness from the face of the earth? Perhaps so, but in the process he would have eliminated human freedom! We humans were and are made in the image and likeness of God himself — free and loving. We are his children — in the sense that we have his “existential DNA.” God wants us to enjoy loving relationships in freedom. And that means we also have the freedom to sin. St. Thomas Aquinas and many great theologians postulate that God envisioned a much more vigorous, committed, and saintly humanity, once our achievements also included our personal triumph — with God’s grace — over temptation. Moreover, the greatest saints are the ones who most fully acknowledge their sinfulness. Their recognition of their sinfulness makes them ever so much more grateful to our forgiving God. Let’s close with the Song of Praise sung by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, which we say everyday in the Morning Prayer of the Breviary. It is from the Gospel of St. Luke (1:76-79). Zechariah addresses John as he begins: And you, my child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, In the tender compassion of our God The dawn from on high shall break upon us, To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, And to guide our feet into the way of peace. Amen. Fr. Connor is assistant for mission and renewal for the Maryland Province.
With a listening heart Fr. Frederico guides men as they discern whether they are called to life as a Jesuit
BY MARY K. TILGHMAN When Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ, expects to be home on Saturday night, he posts a sign at the community residence where he lives with 15 Jesuits in New York City on Friday. He’s announcing he’ll be making dinner and he knows he’ll have most, if not all, of his fellow Jesuits joining him for dinner. He doesn’t post a menu but prefers to decide what to cook when he sees what’s fresh at the grocery store on Saturday. You can bet there will be pasta. “There’s nothing like a good bowl of pasta,” he said with a ready smile. And there’s nothing like Fr. Frederico’s cooking. Before he was a Jesuit, he was trained as a chef at the Culinary Institute of America — based at the former Jesuit novitiate in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. And his speciality is Italian. He uses updated recipes handed down to him from his own family. That spirit of hospitality comes in handy when Fr. Frederico is handling the responsibilities of his job as vocations director for both the Maryland and New York provinces. Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ, pauses in the garden outside his office in Manhattan. Photo by Wendell Laurent
As vocations director, Fr. Frederico accompanies men on their journey toward becoming Jesuits, from a man’s first inquiry until he hands over a file to the provincial asking for approval. He gets to know men as they discern what God is calling them to do — and it’s a tough job, Fr. Frederico admitted. “There are a lot of highs and lows,” he said. Not only does he try to have a listening heart to help potential Jesuits as they decide their futures, he tries to remember he’s not alone.
“I take every opportunity to teach the Examen. It empowers [students] to be free to listen to God and not to think they are guiding their own ship.” —Fr. Frederico “It’s not just you who’s doing the job,” he reminds himself. Jesuits have to be approachable, he explained. “We can’t assume guys are going to be able to come to this without any guidance.” So when a young man expresses an interest in Jesuit life, Fr. Frederico welcomes him warmly. He keeps in contact with encouragement, reminding them they aren’t alone as they discern their future — not only is Fr. Frederico there for guidance, so is the Holy Spirit. Fr. Frederico succeeded Br. Chris Derby, SJ, as vocations director last July, moving to his office in New York from Loyola University Maryland where he was in campus ministry.
First stop the colleges
He decided early on to make colleges his priority and since he wasn’t familiar with campuses in the New York Province, he started at LeMoyne, Canisius and Fordham. Rocco Danzi, SJ, a New York Jesuit and vocation promoter for the province, started making visits to high schools in the Maryland Province. Fr. Frederico has visited many of the Maryland Province universities, as well, along with parishes from Buffalo to North Carolina. He left a visit to a North Carolina parish where he offered all the Masses exhausted but energized. “This is an open field of opportunity for vocation promotion,” he said. It wasn’t long before he decided he needed help from Jesuits throughout the two provinces. Focusing mostly on university communities — 8 | SPRING 2010
where potential new Jesuits would most likely come from — he is asking his fellow priests to encourage vocations on a local level. “I’m trying to encourage regional events,” he said. He’s met with the superiors of communities and visited with communities throughout the two provinces. “This is not something we can sit back and hope will happen on its own,” he said. Already he’s seeing results: a Philadelphia gettogether, a guided meditation in New York, plus plans for other gatherings. An important tool in his work has been the Examen, the Jesuits’ five-step daily review of their day and prayer for tomorrow. “I take every opportunity to teach the Examen,” he said, explaining that the simple steps help the person praying to pay attention to God’s plan for him — and whether he is called to life as a Jesuit — as he develops a personal relationship with God. He’s taught the Examen to individuals, in high school religion classes, or through homilies at Mass on college campuses. “It empowers them to be free to listen to God and not to think they are guiding their own ship,” Fr. Frederico added.
From kitchen to priesthood
Fr. Frederico, who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, had always wanted to be a chef. He worked in the kitchens of local restaurants and as
JESUIT FORMATION Fr. Frederico decided soon after he became vocations director for the two provinces that he needed to visit students at colleges and universities in the New York Province. One of his first stops, Fordham University in the Bronx.
soon as he finished high school headed to the CIA for an Associates degree.
Jesuit connections
Although the CIA has taken over the old Jesuit novitiate, they’ve retained stained glass windows and the original buildings—and the Jesuit cemetery. “It still very much as the feeling of the Jesuits there,” he said. He remembers feeling a connection when he saw a stained glass window with St. Aloysius Gonzaga receiving Holy Communion from St. Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of his home parish. Another connection was made when he discovered Teilhard de Chardin, about whom he had studied, was buried in the cemetery. But the young chef continued on with his future, applying to three colleges to finish his college studies in food marketing. He ended up at the Jesuit-run Saint Joseph’s University in his native Philadelphia. The connections with Jesuit life continued. His favorite professors taught his hardest classes and brought new insights. “They had a perspective on life bigger than I’d ever seen before,” Fr. Frederico said. It wasn’t long before he realized he wasn’t going to spend much time in the kitchen — he already When you leave a bequest to the Maryland Province Jesuits in your will, you have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your hard-earned asset will be distributed according to your wishes…
knew how difficult the restaurant business was with its late hours and constant turnover. Then he went to Naples for a semester, met another influential Jesuit and came home with new questions. His own discernment led him to the Jesuits 15 years ago, where he discovered “passionate experiences of grace in areas I never expected to be in.” Where once the kitchen was his stage, he soon found himself standing in front of an algebra class at Scranton Preparatory School. “I fell in love,” he said, and it confirmed he was doing the right thing. Further encouragement came when he saw 35 of his students from Scranton in the back of LeMoyne Chapel for his profession of First Vows. “Something bigger than me is happening here,” he recalled thinking. And every time Fr. Frederico reached new crossroads, people were there to affirm his next step. Just as Fr. Vincent Genovesi, SJ, had encouraged him when he was discerning his future at Saint Joseph’s University, his family, teachers and students — even students he wasn’t aware he’d made an impression on — were in the congregation at his ordination at Fordham University Church. “That was so powerful for me,” he said. During his ordination to the priesthood, as the Litany of Saints was sung, he recalled all the people who had graced his life up to that point. “It wasn’t a solo project,” he said. That’s a lesson he’s kept in his heart throughout his ministry. ignatian imprints | 9
MAGIS:
Seeking something more
All photos by Jennifer Carter
MAGIS, the Latin word for more, means something, well, more, to Jesuits. The priests and brothers have always been exhorted since the days of St. Ignatius Loyola to work, as their motto states, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (for the greater glory of God), they have been encouraged always to seek more, to choose activities that will achieve the greater good, to engage in their ministry with a spirit of generous excellence. Magis, in the Maryland Province and soon in the New York Province, also refers to an 18-month program for lay people working in On the cover, the porch at Wernersville offers a quiet place for participants to read, reflect and pray during Magis weekends. Fr. James L. Connor, SJ, below, offers the homily during Mass at the final session at Loyola Retreat House, in Faulkner, Md. At right, Lilliam Collmann lights a candle during the missioning ceremony which ends the 18-month Magis program.
The first Magis session took place at the Jesuit Center at Wernersville, Pa., where Kathryn Quinter, a teacher at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, posed with the statue of St. Ignatius.
Jesuit-sponsored institutions. Participants attend four seminars and a retreat, along with completing regular reading, personal reflection and prayer. Since 2004, more than 30 lay men and women from Jesuit-sponsored institutions have participated in To learn more about the the Magis progam. Magis program, go to A new www.mdsj.org/magis session will begin later this year. Registration is open for the 2010-2012 session. Contact Pam McGinnis at pmcginnis@mdsj.org.
ignatian imprints | 11
Stephanie Galeota, of the Jesuit Volunteers International, at right, reads during Mass. In photo below, Bob Wassman of Washington Jesuit Academy, Jeff Collmann of Georgetown University, Lilliam Colemann of Holy Trinity School, and Karen Botto of the University of Scranton, listen to a presentation during the final session at Faulkner.
Fr. Jim Conroy, SJ, at right, discusses “Further Thoughts on Partnership” at the last session. At far right, Jill Gershutz addresses a session on “Ignatius the Layman.” Ms. Gershutz, now a presenter, was a member of the first cohort, or group.
Meeting in small group are Donna Pfeufer, John Donohue, Kristin Lionetti, Ibis Centeneo, Luke Browning, Bob Wagner and Brian McDermott, SJ.
12 | SPRING 2010
THE CLASS OF 2010
Pictured, from left, are the members of the newest graduating class of Magis, known as a “cohort.” Matt Fitzgibbons St. Joseph Preparatory School Pam McGinnis coordinator of Magis Mark Howell Gonzaga College High School Joe Powers Washington Jesuit Academy Tom Howarth McKenna Center, St. Aloysius Paris Kristin Lionetti Jesuit Volunteers International Fred Eckert St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Parish Luke Browning St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Parish Mary Jo Methena St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Parish Stew Barbera St. Joseph Preparatory School, Magis Planning Team Lilliam Collmann Holy Trinity School
Please remember the Maryland Province Jesuits in your will and estate planning. For additional information call the Province Advancement Office at 443-921-1332 or email: advancement@mdsj.org.
Fr. James L. Connor, SJ provincial assistant for mission and renewal, Magis PlanningTeam Bob Wagner Gonzaga College High School Jennifer Carter Gonzaga College High School Jeff Collmann Georgetown University Kathryn Quinter St. Joseph’s Preparatory School Also in the class but not pictured are: Karin Botto St. Joseph’s University Ibis Centeno St. Therese Church John Donohue St. Therese Church Stephanie Galeota Jesuit Volunteers International Mark Murphy University of Scranton Donna Pfeufer St. Therese Catholic Church Elizabeth Rozelle University of Scranton Also on the Magis Planning Team: Kate Haser Jesuit Volunteer Corps Sr. Pat McDermott Loyola Retreat House
ignatian imprints | 13
Now what?
After MAGIS, Bob Wassman took on role of Ignatian spirituality coordinator at Jesuit middle school the committee determined in Now what? the months as Mr. Wassman As a MAGIS class finishes was completing the MAGIS its time together, this is one of program. the questions everyone asks. At first, he said, the comBob Wassman remembers mittee hoped for a Jesuit to thinking it. be assigned to the school. He had already taken a But no one was available. Mr. huge new step when he started Wassman remembers looking the MAGIS program. In 2002, around at the faculty and staff he had left 30 years of teachtrying to figure out who could ing in Montgomery County, serve as chaplain. Md., public schools to go to Finally, he realized as a brand new Jesuit school for MAGIS ended and he began disadvantaged middle schoolquestioning the next step that age boys in Washington, D.C. Bob Wassman stops to speak with Jaziah Washington Jesuit Academy Morse (left) and Malik Harvey at dinner time he had one more candidate to consider. Himself. was a brand new venture, un- at Washington Jesuit Academy. “Maybe this is what I’m der the auspices of the Jesuits supposed to be doing,” he said. He agreed to cut back — who he knew only as the priests who ran the high on teaching so he could take on the role of Ignatian school his son planned to attend. spirituality coordinator. And he got to work immeAlthough his colleagues were surprised, to Mr. diately, starting with a survey of students, parents, Wassman it was a “no-brainer” to go to teach at faculty and the board to see where people were spiriWJA. The father of five, ages 12 to 32, wasn’t ready to tually and what they needed. Jeff Chang, SJ, who was retire. He hadn’t even planned on leaving the public on sabbatical, arrived in time to help him analyze the schools. Until he heard about WJA. results. First, they decided, the staff needed its own “It was pretty obvious this was where I needed retreat. to be,” he said. Now in his second year, Mr. Wassman fills the And it was. He soon found himself surrounded days with Ignatian prayer and thought: morning by middle school boys, about half non-Catholic, in prayer, prayer services, retreats for students, days of an atmosphere faithful to the Jesuit philosophy. Bit reflection for parents and alumni parents, a robust by bit Mr. Wassman learned about Jesuit values — service program to teach the boys to be men for othbeing “men for others,” striving for excellence — and ers. soon he found he wanted more. And John Langan, SJ, rector of the Georgetown MAGIS. University Community, has been instrumental in The timing seemed perfect. arranging for Jesuits to come to the school to offer Although WJA is sponsored by the Maryland Mass. Province Jesuits, there were no Jesuits on the staff. Last summer, Mr. Wassman realized there was As part of the school’s strategic planning, an Ignaone more thing to do to help him in his new role. tian identity committee had been formed and Mr. With his wife Mary’s encouragement, he went on a Wassman had joined it. 30 day retreat to make the Spiritual Exercises. “We were coasting,” he recalled. The school had “It put everything together for me as to why I’m in place some activities to reinforce Jesuit spirituality, doing this,” he said. “I was Ignatian all my life. I just including a retreat program for students. didn’t know it.” But more was needed — a chaplain was needed, 14 | SPRING 2010
St. Peter Canisius’ signature
Photo courtesy Fr. Paul Begheyn, SJ
Letters from a saint Just by luck, Fr. Collins discovered lost correspondence written by St. Peter Canisius
David Collins, SJ, a historian from Georgetown University, had a feeling he was looking at something important when a colleague showed him letters between St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Peter Canisius. As it turned out, a collection of letters from the famous Dutch saint had been lost for more than a century. “It was a spectacular St. Peter Canisius’ discovery,” Fr. Paul feast day is April 27. Begheyn, SJ, archivist of the Netherlands province, said in an email. Fr. Begheyn, who has been working on a new book about Canisius, the first Dutch Jesuit who was renowned for his preaching and his prolific writing, said Fr. Collins’ discovery provided “a marvelous addition” to his project. A serendipitous find From 2007 to 2009, Fr. Collins had taken leave from Georgetown to go to Munich ito conduct research for a new book. A historian specializing in medieval and early modern history, he was interested in the relationship between learned magic — alchemy, divination and astrology, for instance — and science. These subjects, he explained, require a degree of learning
because they rely on math and experimentation — and, in fact, developed equipment and methods of experimentation before these were even part of university research. Day after day, he spent hours poring over old manuscripts in a German library. He’d developed a routine: coming as soon as the library opened; taking his assigned seat among the desks populated by historians from around the world and getting to work carefully going through stacks of books. “It’s a lot of hours looking for a needle in a haystack,” he said. As he worked, he got to know the historian who sat next to him. They stopped for coffee breaks at the same time and learned they were both studying 15th century university life. Fr. Collins was looking at Cologne; his neighbor was studying the University at Ingolstadt. While Fr. Collins was looking through books, the German historian was going through gray boxes of documents piled on a library cart — boxes that are usually kept in archives, not libraries. “They’re in the wrong place,” Fr. Collins said, given to the library by an eminent librarian who had saved them at the time of the Suppression of the Society in the 18th Century. ignatian imprints | 15
One day, the historian, a definitive judgment,” knowing Fr. Collins was he said. Comparing a Jesuit, asked him if he each letter with the had ever seen St. Ignatius’ Braunsberger books is signature. Although he had, a tedious project and Fr. Collins was intrigued by one Fr. Collins wasn’t what his fellow researcher prepared to do. was looking at. There were He contacted Tom several letters between McCoog, SJ, director the two saints, including of the Biblioteca Series a letter from Rome to of the Jesuit Historical Canisius reporting on the Institute in Rome, first Jesuit martyr. “It was who advised him to moving to read the report,” contact a Dutch Jesuit Fr. Collins said. working on a new The letters were book on Canisius. handwritten with black Fr. Begheyn ink on heavy white paper. was most definitely Creases from where the interested. He went letters had been folded to Munich to spend remained, as did bits of the an afternoon looking original wax used to seal through the letters them. Letters were written with Fr. Collins. on pages of varying sizes “He took a look and and some remained loose decided he needed to while others had been look more carefully,” bound together. Fr. Collins said. Although Fr. Collins David Collins, SJ, is back in his office and in the classWhen he returned wasn’t even studying room at Georgetown University. the following spring, Canisius he knew these might be significant. Fr. Begheyn copied 40 letters. The majority, Fr. Begheyn said, were letters written to Canisius between Prolific letter writer 1549 and 1552. But there were also personal notes St. Peter Canisius went to Ingolstadt, a university by Canisius, for instance, about his input during the town north of Munich, after his profession as a Jesuit Council of Trent. Fr. Begheyn also found, for instance, in November 1549. The Jesuits were invited to fill a letter from Derick Kanis to his cousin Peter Canisius faculty seats in the theology department. Canisius not written in the local dialect. only taught theology at the university, but was a well Fr. Begheyn explained in an email that the librarian known and prolific writer and preacher whose letters A.F. von Oefele, a former student of the Jesuit college in had been collected in many volumes in the late 19th Munich, collected the letters at the suppression of the and early 20th centuries by Otto Braunsberger, SJ. “It’s Society of Jesus. He gave them to the Munich library no wonder some were lost,” Fr. Collins said. where Fr. Collins was working, the Staatsbibliothek, Jesuits typically mailed one letter and saved a copy where they have remained. so it’s possible for letters to be filed twice. But Fr. Collins “The letters of Peter Canisius or written to him wondered if these might be part of the Braunsberger have not been brought together into one collection. volumes. These letters may not be accounted for, he They are to be found all over the world in public and said. private collections,” he said. At the end of the day, Fr. Collins decided to flip Fr. Begheyn said he expects to use all the letters through the letters. “Could this be more interesting from this collection in a book of unpublished letters to than it seems?” he wondered. He tracked down Fr. and from Canisius, which he expects will be ready for Braunsberger’s books and found that some of these publication in about five years. letters hadn’t been included. “For me,” Fr. Collins said, “It was neat. And then it “Because it’s out of my field, I didn’t want to make was important. Fr. Begheyn determined that.” 16 | SPRING 2010
Albert H. Jenemann, SJ, professor, VP at St. Joseph’s Univ.
Albert H. Jenemann, SJ, a professor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Saint Joseph’s University, died March 16. A Jesuit for 62 years and a priest for 49, he was 82. The Philadelphia native entered the Society Sept. 7, 1947 and pronounced his First Vows on Sept. 8, 1949. As a Jesuit scholastic, Fr. Jenemann taught mathematics and religion at Loyola High School. He was ordained a priest on June 18, 1960. Fr. Jenemann began his priestly ministry as professor of philosophy at Loyola College (now University) in Baltimore, and then at Wheeling Jesuit University. After earning a Ph. D. in philosophy at the Gregorian University in Rome, he returned to Wheeling Jesuit University as professor of philosophy. Fr. Jenemann then went to Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia where he was professor of philosophy and chairman of the philosophy department, Director of the Faith and Justice Institute, Dean of Students, and Vice President at Saint Joseph’s University as well as professor of philosophy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and assistant Tertian Director of the Maryland Province. In 2009 he was transferred to Manresa Hall.
James V. Keogh, SJ, early Jamshedpur missionary
James V. Keogh, SJ, one of the first Jesuits from the Maryland Province Jesuits to go to India to establish the Jamshedpur mission, died Jan. 29 in Wernersville, Pa. Fr. Keogh, who was 89, was a Jesuit for 67 years and a priest for 57. The New York native entered the Society of Jesus Aug. 14, 1942, and took his first vows Aug. 15, 1944. He was ordained a priest Nov. 21, 1952, and remained in India for the next 40 years. Fr. Keogh served as a teacher of English and religion; he was a pastor and he was twice the socius to the provincial of Jamshedpur. He was a professor of ethics and student counselor at Loyola College, Madras, professor and prefect of resident students at Xavier Labour Relations Institute in Jamshedpur. In 1998, Fr. Keogh wrote a history of the
in memoriam
Jamshedpur Mission to mark the 50th anniversary, Surprised by Grace. Fr. Keogh returned to the United States and served as parochial vicar at St. Theresa’s Church in Mooresville, N.C., until he was transferred to the Jesuit Center at Wernersville, Pa., in 2009.
John W. Witek, SJ, professor at Georgetown
John W. Witek, SJ, internationally renowned scholar of East Asian history, died on January 31, at Georgetown University Hospital. He was 76. The Chicago native entered the Society of Jesus on September 1, 1952. Fr. Witek earned an M.A. in East Asian History from Loyola University Chicago in 1964, embarking on a subject that he studied for the rest of his life. Fr. Witek was ordained on June 10, 1965. He earned his Ph.D. from Georgetown University in 1973. After teaching briefly at Xavier University, he returned to Georgetown where he taught in the department of history until his death. Fr. Witek authored and edited many important books and articles about the history of East Asia.
Joseph J. McGovern, SJ, professor, retreat director
Joseph James McGovern, SJ, at died March 15. A Jesuit for 74 years and a priest for 61, Fr. McGovern was 92. The Philadelphia native entered the Society of Jesus on Sept. 17, 1935, and pronounced his first vows there on September 18,1937.As a Jesuit scholastic he returned to his alma mater, St. Joseph’s Prep, to teach English. He was ordained a priest June 28, 1948. He returned to St. Joseph’s Prep, followed by assignments at Georgetown University and Wheeling Jesuit University. While in Wheeling he was also a retreat director of the Province Mission Band before going to Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pittsburgh as pastor. After study at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, Calif., Fr. McGovern again took up the apostolate of the Spiritual Exercises as a retreat director at St. Pius X Retreat House in Blackwood, N.J., and at the Jesuit House of Prayer, Hot Springs, N.C. In 2004, Fr. McGovern returned to Philadelphia where he served as a pastoral minister at Old St. Joseph’s Church until his death. ignatian imprints | 17
“As my predecessors have often told you, the Church needs you, counts on you, and continues to turn to you with confidence, particularly to reach the geographical and spiritual places where others do not reach or find it difficult to reach.” His Holiness Benedict XVI Address to the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, February 2008
Jesuit scholasticTravis Stoops celebrates Vow Day with his parents.
Does someone you know have a Jesuit vocation? Responding to the Call of Christ. The Society of Jesus in the United States ® Jesuit.org