Journeys of Faith

Last year, the Society of Jesus announced a major initiative in support of Jesuit vocations. “We need people with a passion for the Gospel and a love of Jesus, a flexibility to go anywhere, an interior freedom like that of St. Ignatius and of St. Francis Xavier, Superior General Arturo Sosa, S.J. said at the time. From 16th Street to Arizona, the Bronx, and Boston, three young Xavier alumni are answering that call. By NICK BARONE ’16

KEEPING HIS EYES ON CHRIST

Kieran Halloran, S.J. ’10 finds nothing but joy in being a Jesuit. Now in the regency stage of his formation, he is fully embedded in the apostolic work and community life of the Society of Jesus.

Ministry and service are in his blood. Thanks to his parents and his time on 16th Street, he feels a burning desire to give back to society.

When Halloran was just 9 years old, his father was among the hundreds of brave New York City firefighters killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001. The next few years were difficult—but his time on 16th Street changed his trajectory.

“Through and outside of Xavier, I came to enjoy life again and get something out of it,” Halloran reflected. “I saw this as God giving me life after a few years of experiencing this tragedy.”

A silent retreat at Xavier during his senior year sparked his initial thoughts about vocation, but he backed away relatively quickly.

It was, admittedly, too much for the 17-year-old to handle—he wanted to give college a shot and see where he landed. He matriculated at Georgetown University, where he studied international development, strengthening his desire to serve the underserved.

Much of Halloran’s time at Georgetown was spent in campus ministry, being in community with others who cared about faith and service as much as he did. An immersion trip to El Salvador during his freshman year brought back thoughts of vocation.

Hearing stories about the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador was a turning point for him. Halloran recalled his reaction: “Wow, I can see myself doing the work these Jesuits were doing.”

The following years saw Halloran continuing to discern and spending a great deal of time reflecting on the gifts he had received from and beyond Xavier. Following his graduation from Georgetown, he entered the Society of Jesus.

As a novice, he spent time taking classes on the history of the Society and Ignatian spirituality, volunteering at a soup kitchen and a grammar school, and working at the Nativity School of Worcester.

Halloran spent 30 days on retreat as a novice, completing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius and using his time to discern as he looked toward taking his first vows.

The first part of his regency was spent at Saint Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, where he worked in campus ministry. Today, Halloran is contributing his gifts in Arizona with the Kino Border Initiative, a Jesuit ministry that assists migrants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

He spends his days engaging with the migrant community at the border, sometimes sharing meals and participating in a myriad of activities with them—such as watching movies, playing soccer with children, doing crafts with families, and teaching literacy and math to the young children.

When it comes to spending time with this community, Halloran associates the same feeling he does with being a Jesuit—joy.

Roughly eight years into his formation, he continues to live by the words instilled in him by his former Xavier religion teacher Ralph Rivera, S.J. years ago: “Just keep your eyes on Christ.”

“Being a Jesuit is to invite others into discernment,” Halloran said. “It’s about looking for and following where God is calling us in our lives.”

Journeys of Faith

Courtesy of The University of Scranton

BEING WHO GOD CALLED HIM TO BE

Nicholas Colalella, S.J. ’08 was a sophomore at Xavier when he first felt a call to religious life.

The young Colalella was enthralled with languages and classics, and he felt inspired to devote himself to those subjects—and to the possibility of a Jesuit journey—by the late Dr. Phil Caliendo.

“He was able to form us as gentlemen, Christians, and young men ready to serve others,” Colalella recalled. “He taught us because he knew we were worth it. He was at Xavier to serve—it was a ministry for him. That very much affected me and a lot of people.”

Colalella recalls an image of St. Ignatius in La Storta, a town in Italy, in Caliendo’s classroom. St. Ignatius had a vision of the Holy Trinity in the town—one in which God asked him to serve. Colalella viewed this image as a personal invitation to serve, and it sparked his first thoughts about vocation.

Following his graduation from Xavier, Colalella joined a formation program at Cathedral Seminary in Douglaston, Queens. He resided in the seminary while earning his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. John’s University.

Next, he was sent to Rome to study theology. He lived at the Pontifical North American College and studied at Gregorian University, where he was able to rediscover the seed of his call to religious life.

Colalella was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2015 and continued his studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He fell in love with the Jesuits and in particular their community life during a semester he spent in Jerusalem. He examined the way he stood before God in a way he hadn’t before. A vocation retreat gave him time to pray the Scriptures in the way St. Ignatius recommends—further affirming his vocation.

And so his Jesuit journey began. Colalella applied to join the Jesuits and started as a novice in August 2021.

In January, he embarked on a 30-day retreat, completing the Spiritual Exercises and experiencing intense moments of prayer. He recently worked with Friends of the Poor, an organization sponsored by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

During his time in the Electric City, he found himself doing tasks he describes as “ordinary”—zipping across Scranton, accompanying others to pack up food and redistribute it to those who need it most. The group also worked to distribute furniture, clothing, toys, and baby products, and at times helped pay their bills. Some days saw him working with children and responding to their needs through afterschool programs.

Now at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, he serves the needs of the sick as an orderly.

His Jesuit journey has only just begun, but Colalella already encapsulates the Jesuit mission and everything he felt called toward on 16th Street.

“Being Jesuit is a call to be holistic—to be who God called you to be,” he said. “It calls for the manifestation of prayerful disposition in whatever work or service I am missioned to do; to emulate Ignatius as one who strives to be contemplativus simul in actione.”

FOLLOWING A WINDING ROAD TO HIS VOCATION

Sean Hagerty, S.J. ’02 lives a life of happiness as a Jesuit, but his vocation wasn’t always in sight.

At Xavier, he began to take his Catholic faith more seriously as he was exposed to members of the community who strengthened that faith—late college counselor Bill McGowan, S.J. and former headmaster David Ciancimino, S.J. ’77 (who later accepted him into the Society of Jesus in 2012) among them.

Life on 16th Street was relatively ordinary for the young Hagerty. His days were filled with the Regiment, cross country and swim meets, and yearbook. Then New York—and the nation—were attacked.

Following 9/11, life in the Army seemed inevitable for Hagerty. His JROTC background and experiencing the attacks as a high school senior seemed to point him in that direction. And they did, temporarily.

Hagerty matriculated at Fordham University in 2002, riding on a full ROTC scholarship. At the time, vocation was an afterthought. Defending his country was his primary concern.

A Kairos retreat during his junior year at Xavier was his first encounter with God, Hagerty recalled, but it wasn’t until he embarked on a silent retreat—also called Kairos—during his sophomore year in college that he felt called to religious life.

“It shifted the ground under my feet and I started to take my faith a lot more seriously,” he reflected. “I had thoughts about becoming a Jesuit in college but thought I was crazy.”

In 2006, he graduated from Fordham and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army, serving in Alaska and Iraq.

In Iraq, he served as a fire support officer and soon became the executive officer of one of the companies. He then became second in command of an infantry company.

“I loved my time in the Army and was a good officer, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue that career,” Hagerty said.

In 2010, he resigned his commission. Thoughts about Jesuit life began to resurface, but God pulled him toward something else— Budweiser.

He spent under a year as a night warehouse manager in the Bronx, then landed a position with Anheuser-Busch’s warehousing distribution operation in Los Angeles. But as he climbed the corporate ladder, he began to realize that corporate life had little appeal for him.

“I realized I was more attracted to a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience,” he laughed. “So I had to pause to see why that was attractive to me.”

In August 2012, he entered the Society of Jesus—and he hasn’t had a second thought since.

His last few years have been infused with theology studies. He compares his days at the School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College to a “typical graduate student lifestyle.” Most of his time was spent studying ethics, systematics, Scripture, social teaching, and pastoral aspects of ministry in preparation for ordination as a priest.

In June, he will be ordained into the priesthood at Fordham University Church.

What does being a Jesuit mean to him?

“It means being a family,” he said.