Jesuit Bullet inspring/summer 2011

jjesuit

Celebrating Ordinations

2 Jesuit Bulletin

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ

This year the Alum Service Corps (ASC) celebrates its 20th anniversary as an apostolate of the Missouri Province. The program offers Jesuit high school alums the opportunity to give a year of service at a Jesuit high school after they earn a college degree. Established in 1991 under the leadership of Fr. Frank Reale, who was assistant for secondary education at the time, the program is the old-est of its kind in the United States. Sean Agniel, assistant for secondary and pre-secondary education, is the current director.

ASC volunteers work full-time as faculty members in Jesuit schools during their year of ser-vice. The many ways they serve include teaching classes, doing academic counseling, tutoring, pastoral activities, service pro-grams, coaching, athletic train-ing, student government projects, fine arts, school publications, lab moderators, and however else they might be helpful in a school environment.

Volunteers receive housing, a community car and gas, health insurance, and a modest monthly stipend from the participating school. They gather weekly with their school’s Jesuit community for Mass and din-ner, and enjoy the support of the community throughout the year. Volunteers are encouraged to grow spiritually through their service as they live in community and maintain a simple lifestyle. Their year begins with an ori-entation the last two weeks of July and is marked by three retreats throughout the year.

“The program has had innumerable good effects with-in each of the province schools,” Agniel notes. “Alumni of the program serve as faculty members and administrators

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at every domestic school in the province. But perhaps more remarkable are the many stories I hear as I interview candidates for the ASC. They tell me about how ASC vol-unteers made a difference in their high school experience and inspired within them a desire to serve in the Ignatian tradition.”

The post-college service program is a joint venture of the Missouri Province and six participating schools: Arrupe Jesuit High School and Regis Jesuit High School

ASC volunteers in St. Louis: Clint Mohs (SLUH alum, teaching English at De Smet), Tim Sauer (Regis Alum, teaching music at De Smet), Bob Becker (De Smet alum, teaching English at SLUH), Bill Winfrey (SLUH Alum, teaching religion at Loyola Academy), Tim Huether (SLUH alum, teaching English at SLUH).

Alum service Corps Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Jesuit Bulletin XC v Number 2 v Spring/Summer 2011

Editor .................................... Thomas M. Rochford SJExecutive Editor ......................................Robert BurnsArt Director ............................................Tracy GrammEditorial Staff ....................................Mary Ann Foppe

Photo Credits: Vincent A. Orlando SJ: Cover. Thomas M. Rochford SJ: page 2, ordination portraits page 8-14. Don Doll SJ: page 14.

The Jesuit Bulletin is published and distributed by the Jesuits of the

Missouri Province. v All communications about editorial matter should be

addressed to the editor at: 3601 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393.

v All communications about change of address, memberships, burses, and

requests should be addressed to Mr. Thom M. Digman, Advancement Office

of the Jesuits of the Missouri Province, 4511 West Pine Boulevard, St. Louis,

Missouri 63108-2191. v See our website: www.jesuitsmissouri.org.

(Girls and Boys Division) in Denver; Rockhurst Jesuit High School in Kansas City; St. Louis University High School, De Smet Jesuit High School and Loyola Academy in St. Louis. There are 14 ASC volunteers serving this year. Today similar programs exist in Jesuit high schools throughout the United States.

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Fr. Gene Martens Retires fromAdvancement Office

Fr. L. Gene Martens will retire from the advancement office after 20 years as an associate director. For many donors, he has been the Jesuit presence in the office. Other Jesuits have shared this role, but none have been there longer. The advancement office raises funds for the training of Jesuits, international works and ministries, the care of Jesuits who are aged or infirm, the sharing of Ignatian spirituality and lay partnerships, and other areas of province need. Fr. Martens began his work in 1990, the year the office was established by the merging of the Jesuit

Mission Bureau and the Jesuit Seminary Association, both of which had engaged separately in province fundraising for many decades.

As he reflects on his advancement work, Fr. Martens cherishes the personal contact he has had with many donors. He has particularly enjoyed visiting parishes through the office’s participation in the Missionary Cooperation Appeal Programs of several dioceses and archdioceses. This has afforded him hundreds of oppor-tunities to celebrate parish Masses, preach Scripture, and talk about Jesuit ministries in Belize and Honduras. He could speak with authority on this subject, because for several years he made annual visits to Jesuit ministries in these two countries, and even served three months as assistant pastor in a Belize parish during a time of transi-tion between pastors. Fr. Martens also initiated days of recollection for supporters. These were given by him, “as a gift of gratitude on the part of the province to people who have given generously,” he said. For the past ten years, he has offered these days of prayer biannually in the cities of Denver, Kansas City, Tulsa and Wichita.

Having had a few major surgeries over the past few years, Fr. Martens hopes—during a sabbatical year—to regain the energy he needs to continue to serve the prov-ince where it can best use his ministry. He hopes, too, to fulfill a longtime desire to write a book on the Eucharist.

In addition to his many years in the advancement office, Fr. Martens was a teacher at Rockhurst High School and a pastor in rural Missouri and in Pueblo, Colorado. He also worked for seven years in spiritual ministry to the Bishop and clergy in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, and has preached many retreats at White House Retreat and elsewhere. For three years he was director of Fusz Pavilion.

Many of Fr. David Fleming’s admirers who attended his funeral or who have read his obituary will already be familiar with his many good works: as provincial, superior, formation director, editor, author, homilist, celebrant, friend. Those of us in the offices of the Jesuit Bulletin and Review for Religious, who worked with and befriended him, were blessed by his gentle care, humility, and generosity. We were inspired by the mutually supportive environment he fos-tered, and by his encouragement of our professional and personal growth. No matter how busy we were, he was the calm center of our office community. We carry in our hearts memories of shared accomplishments and trials, and of many celebrations, great and small, of the blessings in our life and work. For him all was sacrament—a visible sign of God’s grace.

A Farewell to Father David L. Fleming

Spring/Summer 2011 5

Fr. Kevin Cullen has been appointed as treasurer of the Missouri Province and province assistant for higher edu-cation. He will assume both posts on July 1, 2011. Fr. Daniel White, in addition to his work as assistant novice direc-tor in Grand Coteau, will serve as provincial assis-tant for pastoral and spiritual ministries. Fr. Paul Stark has been appointed vice president of mission and

Newsmaker sministry for Saint Louis University.

Thomas Flowers SJ, a scholastic in first stud-ies at Bellarmine House, has had his second book published. Called God’s Invitation: Meditations on a Covenant Relationship, it is published by Paulist Press.

Fr. Michael Harter, editor of Review for Religious, attended a semi-nar in Rome sponsored by superiors general of men and women’s religious orders. The theme of the conference was “The Theology of Consecrated Life: Identity and Significance of Apostolic Consecrated Life Today.” Review for Religious is a Jesuit-sponsored journal that publishes on themes of spirituality and religious life.

Br. William Rehg traveled to Kenya and Tanzania in February to present workshops on the brother’s vocation to Jesuit brothers at Mwangaza Spirituality Center in Nairobi and to second-year Jesuit novices in Arusha.

At the Jesuit Conference meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, in February, Fr. Thomas Rochford, along with Alice Poltorick, direc-tor of communications for the New England Province, presented a plan to guide com-

munications directors and the assistancy as it implements the commu-nications dimension of national strategic plan-ning in regards to the reorganization of the provinces.

Fr. Matthew Ruhl received a Distinguished Service Award from the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation in Jefferson City, Mo., for his work with Catholic Charities and the Cycling for Change Program. These awards are given to men and

women who promote cycling and walking in Missouri for the sake of health and environment.

Fathers Casey Baumier, Louis McCabe, Thomas Rochford, Richard Buhler, James Goeke, James Knapp, and Deacon Joseph Laramie served as visiting retreat directors this season at White House Retreat in St. Louis.

Fr. Donald Highberger of Regis University, who has been teaching classes online to students in the Kakuma and Dzaleka refugee camps in Africa as part of the Jesuit Commons project, has produced a short video featuring the teachers of these courses.

Kevin Cullen

Ordination events and Masses of thanksgivingAndrew R. Kirchman, Joseph W. Laramie, and Paul H. Vu of the Missouri Province will be ordained at St. Francis

Xavier “College” Church in St. Louis on Saturday, June 11, 2011, at 10:00 a.m., Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis, presiding. There will be a reception following Mass at Cook Hall on the campus of Saint Louis University.

Johnathan L. Brown, J. Patrick Hough, Jeffrey C. Johnson, and Aaron D. Pidel of the New Orleans Province will be ordained at Most Holy Name Church in New Orleans on Saturday, June 4, 2011, at 10:00 a.m., Most Rev. Roger P. Morin, Bishop of Biloxi, presiding. There will be a reception following Mass at the Dana Centre on the campus Loyola University New Orleans.

Matthew Ruhl

Bill Rehg

Masses of Thanksgiving of the new ordinands:

Johnathan Brown: St. Anthony of Padua Church in Eunice, La., Sunday, June 5, 10:00 a.m.

Patrick Hough: Immaculate Conception Church in New Orleans, Sunday, June 5, 11:00 a.m; Cathedral of the Oakland Diocese, Sunday, June 19, 10:00 a.m.; St. Rita’s Church in Dallas, Sunday, July 2, 5:30 p.m.; Boys’ Chapel at Stonyhurst College, Saturday, July 9, 5:30 p.m.

Jeffrey Johnson: Immaculate Conception in New Orleans, Sunday, June 19, 11:00 a.m., and later in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.

Andrew Kirchman: St. Francis Xavier “College” Church in St. Louis, Sunday, June 12, 10:30 a.m.; St. John the Evangelist Church in St. Louis, Sunday, June 19, 10:30 a.m.

Joseph laramie: Sacred Heart Church in Florissant, Mo., Sunday, June 12, 10:30 a.m.; Regis Jesuit High School Chapel in Denver, Sunday, July 31, 10:30 a.m.

Andrew Pidel: Jesuit High School Chapel in New Orleans, Sunday, June 5, 9:00 a.m.; Most Holy Trinity Church in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, June 12, 12:30 p.m.

Paul Vu: DeSmet Jesuit High School Chapel, Sunday, June 12, 10:00 a.m.; Vietnamese Martyrs Catholic Church in Houston, Saturday, June 18, 6:00 p.m.

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1961Papacy of John XXIII continues until 1963.

Jan. 15 – Fr. James M. Short ordained at St. Marys, Kansas.

Jan. 16 – St. Louis Archbiship Joseph E. Ritter elevated to Cardinal.

Jan. 20 – John F. Kennedy inaugurated president.

Jan. 25 – JFK delivers first live televised presidential news conference.

March 1 – JFK establishes Peace Corps.

May 4 – Freedom Riders begin bus rides across country to test new Supreme Court integration decision.

Aug. 13 – Berlin wall built.

Dec. 11 –American pres-ence in Vietnam begins with arrival of American helicopters in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.

1962Oct. 11 – Second Vatican Council begins under Pope John XXIII.

1963 – 1978 Papacy of Pope Paul VI

1965May 22 – General Congregation 31 elects Fr. Pedro Arrupe 28th Superior General of the Society.

1967 – Theologate moves from St. Marys, Kansas, to St. Louis.

Dec. 8 – Second Vatican Council closes under Pope Paul VI.

1971 – St. Stanislaus Seminary closes after 148 years, the longest contin-uously operated seminary in the United States.

– Computer engineer Ray Tomlinson sends first email over ARPANET network.

1973 – U.S. military ceases involvement in Vietnam war.

1960

s

1970

s

80 Years in the Society of JesusWilliam B. Faherty

70 Years in the Society of JesusRobert R. DeRouenJohn F. Snyder (Wisconsin)John J. StochlJames D. Wheeler

in the Society50Years

60 Years in the Society of JesusMartin J. BredeckRobert T. CostelloRichard F. CostiganDonald M. CunninghamDonald L. Gelpi (New Orleans)Eugene E. GrollmesDavid L. KoestererLouis J. OldaniJohn J. Waters

25 Years in the Society of JesusE. Glenn Kerfoot

J. Richard BurtschiJames B. GuyerMichael G. HarterGerhardt B. LehmkuhlJohn L. MaherThomas J. MelanconGlenn R. Mueller

novices of 1961

Michael G. Harter

thomas J. Melancon

Glenn R. Mueller

1975 – General Congregation 32 affirms the “mission of the Society of Jesus today is the service of faith of which the promo-tion of justice is an absolute requirement.”

April 30 – Saigon falls to North Vietnamese.

1976 – Ministry Training Services established in Denver.

1977 – March 12: Father Rutilio Grande assassi-nated in El Salvador.

1978 – Papacy of John Paul I (Aug. 26 – Sept. 28)

1978 – 2005 Papacy of John Paul II

1979 – Honduran mission becomes part of Central American Province.

1980 – March 24: Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero assassinated.

1981 – After Fr. Arrupe suffers stroke, Pope John Paul II appoints Fr. Paolo Dezza as his per-sonal delegate to rule the Society.

Sept. 21 – Belize becomes independent nation.

1982 – Twinning agree-ment between Central American and Missouri Provinces signed.

1983 – Sept. 13: General Congregation 33 elects Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach Superior General of the Society.

1989 – Berlin Wall falls.

– Tim Werner invents World Wide Web.

2001 – Sept. 11: Terrorists attack U.S. targets.

2005 – Papacy of Pope Benedict XVI begins.

2008 – Jan. 19: General Congregation 35 elects Fr. Adolfo Nicholas Superior General of the Society.

1980

s

2000

s

Jubilarians 2011

in the Priesthood50Years

James M. Short

25 Years in the PriesthoodKevin F. BurkeKevin L. CullenDouglas W. Marcouiller

Michael G. Harter

James M. short

James M. short

John l. Maher1975 Mass in st. Francis College Church

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Johnathan L. Brown SJJohnathan Brown, 35, comes from the

southern Louisiana town of Eunice, where his parents have a rice and crawfish farm. The 10th of 12 children, he enjoyed farm life, but was also aware of his artistic talent. At age 18, he moved to Houston to study art and graphic

design at a community college. After a time building websites, he became a project manager, supervising graphic artists and computer programmers.

Hearing news from Rwanda about genocide and war nur-tured a growing desire to make the world a better place. He investigated the possibility of a vocation, and after making a Jesuit discernment retreat, he started having dinner and Mass with the Jesuits of the Strake

Jesuit High School community in Houston. He entered the novitiate of the New Orleans province at Grand Coteau, La., in 2002, at the age of 25, working at his job up to the very time of his entrance.

As a novice, he did experiments in Belize and Tampa, and worked at Hope House in New Orleans in the St. Thomas Housing proj-ect. While in philosophy studies at Saint Louis University, he earned a bachelors degree, worked in campus ministry, did service trips with students, was involved with the campus RCIA program, and learned Spanish. In 2004, he worked near Villahermosa, Mexico, where he became fluent in Spanish as he served in

the San Jose Parish and visited and coordinated the youth groups at its 52 satellite chapels.

John taught theology and coached foot-ball at Jesuit High School in Tampa during regency. He was also moderator of several clubs, including the Agmen Christi sodality.

At Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, he earned a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology. This summer he will serve at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in San Antonio. His assignment in the fall will be at Sacred Heart parish in El Paso.

J. Patrick Hough SJPatrick Hough, 36, has lived within the

world of Jesuits his whole life, since his father manages a dairy farm on the 400-year-old Jesuit estate of Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England. It was the first English-speaking Jesuit school, and remains the best-known Jesuit secondary school in England.

Patrick attended grade school and high school at Stonyhurst; along with his academics, he developed his talents as a singer, conduc-tor, organist and athlete. After graduation, his interest in teaching led him to participate in a yearlong “gap” program between high school and college, where he taught geography and math, coached tennis and was active in the music program at St. Ignatius High School in Sidney, Australia.

After earning an undergraduate degree at Leeds University, he studied philosophy

by Robert Burns

Our Shared FutureSeven from New Orleans and Missouri Provinces to be Ordained

Seven Jesuits from the New Orleans and Missouri Provinces will be ordained to the priesthood in June 2011. As the two provinces continue the process of merging, the men to be ordained represent our shared future. Andrew Kirschman, Joseph Laramie, and Paul Vu from the Missouri Province, and J. Patrick Hough, Johnathan Brown, Jeffrey Johnson, and Aaron Pidel from the New Orleans—all come from diverse backgrounds and distant shores. Each has uniquely received and responded to a call to reli-gious life and priestly ministry, a call that has been tested and confirmed throughout their formation. Here are their stories.

Spring/Summer 2011 9

and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome as a seminarian for the Leeds diocese. He became friends with Jesuit scholastics from the New Orleans province while study-ing an additional year at the Pontifical Angelicum University. He accepted an invitation to the ordination in New Orleans of his friend Richard Hermes, and played the organ at his first Mass. The joy and the sense of fellowship he felt sparked his desire to become a Jesuit.

Patrick entered the novitiate in the New Orleans Province in 2002 and saw his world expand. He worked at Sacred Heart Parish in El Paso and taught at Strake Jesuit High School in Houston for his long novitiate experiment.

During philosophy studies at Fordham University, Patrick also earned a master’s degree in medieval history. He was music director of the Sunday evening student Mass at St. Paul Church on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, and took classes in orchestral conducting and singing at the Juilliard School, which is also located at Lincoln Center.

For regency Patrick taught at Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, and was head coach of the rowing team. There were only 15 students on the team during his first year as coach, and 50 by the time he left three years later.

While doing theology studies in Berkeley at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, he served as assistant coach of the freshman rowing team at the University of California at Berkeley. He received his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the end of the academic year. He will begin his first year as a priest serving at Immaculate Conception Parish in Albuquerque.

The freshman rowing team at UC Berkeley pay tribute to Patrick Hough, center, their assistant coach, at his diaconate ordination in Oakland.

Foreground to the left: Joseph Laramie, Jeffrey Johnson, and Johnathan Brown at their diaconate ordination in Boston.

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Jeffrey C. Johnson Jeffrey Johnson, 40, served as a naval

officer before becoming a Jesuit. He was born in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, in the Chattanooga area, where his parents are the third genera-tion to run the family flower business.

In 1989 Jeff attended Vanderbilt University on a Naval ROTC scholarship. After earning a bachelors degree in English in 1993, he served as a naval officer — at different times responsible for ordi-nance, engineering and navi-gation — for five years on a navy frigate that shipped out of Jacksonville. 

Jeff felt a call to a religious vocation as far back as his college days; after leaving the navy, he entered the seminary under the spon-sorship of the diocese of Nashville. He was acquainted with Jesuits, and he saw in Jesuit life and ministries a path he wanted to follow. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 2001 in the New Orleans Province.

While doing philosophy studies at Fordham University, he also earned a masters degree in English literature and creative writ-ing. In 2005, two years out of the novitiate, he responded to a bulletin board invitation asking for ideas on how to celebrate the Jesuit Jubilee Year 2006. His idea was to do a documentary film on St. Francis Xavier. After receiving per-mission from his provincial, he raised money, wrote the script, rented equipment and trav-eled to Paris, Rome, India, Spain, Portugal, and England with fellow Jesuit Jeremy Zipple as cinematographer. The result was the hour-long film Xavier, narrated by actor Liam Neeson, which was shown nationally on PBS and distributed to Jesuit schools throughout the United States.

Jeff taught English for three years at Jesuit High School in Tampa for his regen-cy. He started the school’s first Advanced Placement course in English Language and Composition. He was also chaplain of the baseball and soccer teams and moderator of the school newspaper. 

Jeff earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Boston at the end of this aca-demic term. He will serve at Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church in New Orleans after his ordination.

Andrew R. Kirschman Andrew Kirschman, 37, credits his fam-

ily with being a strong example and source of inspiration to be a person of service to the world. Drew’s parents, along with their fam-ily of six children, were active in parish life, first at Transfiguration Church in the north county suburbs of St. Louis, and later at St. Justin Martyr Parish.

Throughout his high school and college years, Drew and his brother Phillip worked at the parish doing odd jobs in the sum-mer. They also participated in volunteer pro-grams. They served one summer on a Native American Reservation in South Dakota, and another in Harlem, in New York City, working at a children’s bible camp.

After graduating from Vianney High School, Drew earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy and letters at Saint Louis University. He then taught theology for three years at Chaminade Preparatory High School, and coached cross-country, basket-ball, and track.

In 2000, Drew entered the Jesuit novitiate in St. Paul, Minn. He returned to Saint Louis University for philosophy studies, and also earned a master’s degree in public policy and urban affairs. His work helped shape the way he saw social issues and the role Jesuit institutions and apostolates could engage these issues.

For the first year of his regency at the Universidad Centroamerica in San Salvador, El Salvador, Drew helped in the law school while learning Spanish. For the next two years he taught sociology and political science at the university, worked with the youth group at the par-ish of Las Palmas and participat-ed in its sacramental life.

Drew did theology studies in Berkeley. His apostolic work included ministry to those incar-

Spring/Summer 2011 11

cerated at juvenile and women’s correctional facilities. He received his Master of Divinity at the end of this academic year.

For the last three years Drew has assisted Sean Agniel in the spiritual formation of par-ticipants in the Alum Service Corps (ASC), a volunteer program in Missouri Province high schools. He accompanies the volun-teers as a leader of the ASC summer boot camp and serves as spiritual guide of the ASC retreats throughout the year. This fall Drew will become a member of the faculty of Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver, and will continue working with the ASC.

Joseph W. LaramieJoe Laramie, 33, grew up in Sacred Heart

Parish in Florissant, Mo. His mother taught art at the parish school for 25 years and

was one of Joe’s teachers. He first considered a religious voca-tion during his student years at St. Louis U High School. He was inspired by the example of the Jesuits who taught there, and by his experi-ence as a retreat

leader in his junior year during the school’s first Kairos retreat.

After entering the seminary with the St. Louis Archdiocese, he studied philosophy at Saint Louis University. He befriended the Jesuit scholastics who were his classmates; they invited him to dine with them and to participate, at different times, in their com-munity life at Bellarmine House of Studies. He saw how they worked and prayed together, and was drawn by their goodness, holiness and brotherhood.

He entered the Jesuit novitiate in St. Paul in August 2000. During his long experiment at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, he assisted teachers, taught classes and helped on service projects and retreats. In philoso-

Fostering a Relationship with Godby Jeffrey C. Johnson SJ

Priesthood, for me, means assisting people in their relation-ship with God. Depending on the situation, people are in a variety of places in their relationship with God. I can best serve when helping people discover how they can deepen that relationship and come to rely upon God through Jesus.

In my ten years of formation, I have been placed in many different situations with many different people who all have a similar question regarding their relationship with God. The ques-tion is, namely, how do I deepen my relationship with God and how do I live my life out of that relationship?

Sometimes the situations have been difficult. Last summer I did a chaplaincy training program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Many times I was called upon to enter the hospital room of a person in critical condition. Often the person was dying and was surrounded by their families and loved ones. At moments like these, the big questions of life seem to surface. Often questions of faith, religion, and God came up. I was there not as the answer-man, but as a minister. There is a big difference between the two. The answer-man comes in with answers to all the questions that rightfully belong to God to answer. The minister helps the person find how God is answering their deepest, most intimate, questions. As a priest, I hope to be a good and faithful minister for God, not the guy who has all the answers.

Fortunately not all of ministry is done in such grave circum-stances. While working at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill, Mass., I’ve had the opportunity to preside at several baptisms of children. This is a joyous time in the lives of the parents, godpar-ents, and families. Baptism marks the beginning of a child’s deepening relationship with God through Jesus. The parents clearly see this as a beginning of something truly extraordinary, and the church is filled with happiness and joy.

But most often, being a minister for God means accompa-nying people in their everyday experiences. I have been privi-leged to accompany two people this year as they make their way through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. They are making the yearlong retreat in the midst of their everyday lives. Here God shows up in a quieter, more subtle way than God does at the deathbed or the baptismal font. For most, God is a steady, reliable presence, a gentle source of strength and cour-age. Sometimes, God invites these people to live more deeply in Christ. In all that I have done and look forward to doing, I hope I am a priest who helps people find God.

A P E R S O N A L R E F L E C T I O N

12 Jesuit Bulletin

phy studies at Loyola University Chicago, he studied theology and Spanish, and even took classes in improv with the Second City the-ater program. He continued special studies at Saint Louis University, earning a master’s in communications in 2005.

For regency at Regis Jesuit High School in Denver, he taught public speaking, jour-nalism and spirituality classes, and was mod-erator of the improv club and the school newspaper.

Joe’s interest in pro-life work takes him to Washington, D.C., every January to serve as a group leader for the March for Life. In 2008 he was master of ceremonies for the Ignatian Spirituality Conference in St. Louis, and he will do so again for the conference in July this year. He earned his Master of Divinity this spring in Boston, and will return to Boston in the fall to finish work toward his Licentiate in Sacred Theology.

Aaron D. PidelAaron Pidel, 32, along with his brother

and sister, grew up within the Alleluia Community, a Christian charismatic group in Augusta, Ga., and attended the group’s grade school and high school. He earned his

undergraduate degree in humanities and Catholic culture from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. He found at the school an environment that presented the religious vocation as an honorable and worthy pursuit.

After making an eight-day Ignatian retreat that confirmed his love of Jesuit spirituality, and then attending a Jesuit ordi-nation, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in the New Orleans Province. The most transforma-

tive experiences of his formation as a Jesuit occurred during his novitiate. He worked with the L’Arche Community in Mobile, Ala., and then with a parish youth group in El

Your bequest, which is a gift you designate in your will, offers a number of benefits.

It allows you to remember loved ones in a special way.

It perpetuates your values.

It may be restricted to keep your gift exclusively for our men in formation.

Bequests give people control of their assets until their death, and they avoid federal estate taxes, which can devour up to 48% of an estate.

This issue of the Jesuit Bulletin features men who are just starting their Jesuit

lives as novices and others who are beginning their service to the Church as

priests. In them lies our future. It costs the province about $40,000 a year to

train each of the men who are in their formation years as priests or brothers.

That represents a significant investment each year in the future of the Church.

Another way you can help support young Jesuits in formation is by using this envelope to make a gift. You can also go online and contribute by credit card: www.jesuitsmissouri.org/you/support.cfm

A bequest to the Missouri Province Jesuits may be the most meaningful charitable gift you will ever make.

Support the Future of Our Jesuits

Spring/Summer 2011 13

In God’s Handsby Paul H. Vu SJ

Fr. Pedro Arrupe once wrote, “More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experi-ence to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.” This prayer is one of my favorite prayers, not only because of my great affection for Fr. Arrupe, but also because it reminds me of my own vocation and calling. It is a simple and yet profound prayer that begins as discovery and ends as trust. It is about obedience, trust, and responding to God’s call, even when confronted with personal doubts or fear of the unknown.

Looking back at my own formation, I have seen how some people walk beside us for only a few steps while others share the same road with us for a long time. No matter how short or how long, each of these encoun-ters has added immeasurable richness to my own life. Sometimes I have traveled a great distance to discover the people and Jesuits who helped me to learn about myself, who strengthened me to love others and shared their joy and sorrow, and who encouraged me to be loved in return. The journey of the past ten years has been filled with unexpected surprises: the joy of teaching psychology to Jesuits in Vietnam and English as a Second Language (ESL) to Thai children near Chiangmai; difficulties—my mother and Fr. David Fleming being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; and wonders—the Spiritual Exercises. I am reminded in these encounters of one of my favorite Vietnamese proverbs: “Whenever there is success and joy, we all benefit; whenever there is pain and sorrow, we all share.”

I am grateful for the marginalization that I’ve expe-rienced as a Vietnamese American. In my search for my own cultural and religious identity, I have a greater understanding of what it feels like to be misunderstood, and of being uncertain of who I am in the midst of my bicultural ambiguity. I also have a greater appreciation for the growing pains of self-discovery—a humbling

A P E R S O N A L R E F L E C T I O N

process which transforms me from tourist to traveler on a journey with fellow travelers. The amazing grace is that throughout my formation years, with the love and support of fellow Jesuit brothers, family, and friends, I’ve come to see myself not primarily as a person with a specific cultural identity, but as a person made in the image and likeness of my loving Creator.

I believe that the loving God who knows my deepest fears, emptiness, and struggles, called to me as a young man. In my weaknesses and imperfect holiness, I am truly humbled that I am still being called to the priest-hood. Mercy, grace and compassion are wonderful gifts from God to receive, and as I receive these gifts, I seek to enter a life of faithful, humble, and generous service.

Finally, the graces of the Spiritual Exercises remain “at work” in me, urging me on to a great passion for life and for sharing that Gospel life with others. Since professing my perpetual vows ten years ago, I continue to pray for the grace to live my vows faithfully. In return, I have been blessed with supportive companions on a shared journey to discern and be formed by God’s will and love, a recognition of my helplessness and limitations, and a freedom to be completely dependent on God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in the hands of God.

Paul Vu teaching English to school children in Thailand.

happy, after three generations, to have a priest in the family once again.

Paul spent most of his elementary school years in Costa Mesa, Calif., before the family moved to Houston in 1983 to open a res-taurant and seafood market. Paul gradu-ated from St. Thomas High School, and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Texas, earning a bachelor’s degree in psychol-ogy in 1993. After graduating, he received a full scholarship to the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., earning a master’s and doctoral degree in counseling psychology.

In 1997 he attended World Youth Day in Paris with his sister. It became a place of conversion for him where he heard what he was ready to hear. He never forgot the words Cardinal John O’Connor spoke, “God wants to reach out to others through your hands, he wants to speak to others through your lips, and God wants others to look into your eyes and see Him. Give God permission.” He received his Ph.D. in May 2000, and entered the Jesuit novitiate in St. Paul, Minn., three months later.

Paul did his philosophate studies in St. Louis, and his regency at Regis University in Denver. He served his first year as a coun-selor on campus, and in his second and third year taught part time and coordinated the university CLC program.

Paul is completing theology studies in Berkeley. He is also a pastoral minister at San Francisco General Hospital. He will serve this summer at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kansas City and will return to Berkeley this fall to finish his Licentiate in Sacred Theology.

14 Jesuit Bulletin

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Salvador. These experiments, he says, began to wean him from his addiction to success and the need to impress.

In philosophy studies at Fordham University, he came to more deeply under-stand and articulate the harmony of faith and reason, “the reasonableness of faith.” During this time he took an intensive summer course in classical Greek, having in mind, and hon-oring, the mastery of Latin and Greek in the traditional formation of Jesuits.

For regency, Aaron taught classics (Latin and Greek), coached soccer, and ran the retreat program at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005, he spent a semester with his New Orleans’ students at Strake Jesuit High School in Houston where he taught senior physics. It wasn’t his field of expertise, and he scrambled to keep a chapter ahead of his students. Again, he learned important lessons in not being too attached to success.

Aaron will receive his Master of Divinity and Licentiate in Theology in Boston. After ordination, he will teach and offer spiritual direction this summer for diocesan seminar-ians at the Institute of Priestly Formation at Creighton University in Omaha. In the fall he will work as assistant pastor at the Gesu Parish in Miami. During the coming year he will be applying for doctoral programs in theology.

Paul H. VuLike thousands of others,

Paul Vu’s family tried to flee Vietnam on April 30, 1975, the day Saigon fell. The five-year old Paul, his mother, and a brother and sister—separated in the melee from the rest of the fam-ily—made it out of the country. Five years later, his father and two sisters were killed at sea when they tried to escape. The rest of the family came to the United States over time. Paul’s mother, Maria Hoan Vu, lives in Houston, and his seven remaining siblings, have blessed the family with nineteen chil-dren. They are “extremely” Catholic and very

Paul Vu with Father General Adolfo Nicolás during a visit to the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley in February 2009.

Spring/Summer 2011 15

here is nothing so difficult to predict as the past,” said Jesuit historian Fr. John Padberg, as he sat in the library of the Institute of Jesuit Sources (IJS). Little did Fr. George Ganss know, when he founded the Institute 50 years ago, what an impact it would have in how English-speaking Jesuits understood their own past. “We know the past only through the work of historians and researchers,” Padberg noted. “The way they interpret material from the past—and the way their interpretation changes over decades—influences the way in which we non-researchers know the past.”

For most English-speaking Jesuits and commentators, relatively little material from the early days of the Society of Jesus was available to inform their historical interpreta-tion before the Institute started doing its work. “When I entered the Society in 1944 there was only one document from the original writings in English of St. Ignatius: the Spiritual Exercises,” Padberg said. “We did not have the Constitutions, the Spiritual Diary, the Autobiography.” Snippets from the writings of Francis Xavier, Pierre Favre and Simon Rodriguez were quoted in historical stud-ies, but Jesuits had no access to the actual documents in English. They had to make do with excerpts from the Constitutions; the section on the mission of the Jesuits was ignored, and the parts about formation of young Jesuits were boiled down to a simplified set of rules.

Institute of Jesuit Sources Celebrates 50 Yearsby Thomas M. Rochford SJ

Ganss, a quiet professor of classics, changed that equation by opening up the riches of the source docu-ments written by St. Ignatius and his companions in the early years of the Society. Among the many reforms of the Second Vatican Council was the charge to religious orders to look at their own history and documents to realign themselves with their fundamental charism. “You can’t do that unless you know what it was,” said Padberg. Furthermore, the council man-dated religious orders “to update that charism in accord with the needs and desires of the modern world. Those were the two things that John XXIII and the council said we should do.”

This call pushed Jesuits to read and study in English the fundamental documents that established the Society. IJS played a critical role in that process by giving them easy access in English when Ganss published these texts, which were critically edited by scholars.

Even though the council provided the context in which IJS later flourished, the Institute actually started before Vatican II. Ganss was a professor of classics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, which was then still part of the Missouri Province. In the 1950s John Tracy Ellis published an influential book titled, “Where are the Catholic Intellectuals?” Given the large number of Catholics in the United States, Ellis argued that too few Catholics were seriously engaged in original research and involved in the broader scholarly world beyond the Church. That question prompted Jesuit educators to ask what they were doing to produce such intellectuals.

Some Jesuit faculty members thought that academic concerns should be their only focus, while other Jesuits considered the personal formation of students to be just as important because academic excellence would not happen without personal formation. “Virtue and learning, not just learning,” Padberg said, summarizing the argument.

Ganss decided to refer to the Society’s official docu-ments for an answer. He turned to the Ratio Studiorum

“T

~Continues on page 22Fr. George Ganss at Fusz Memorial

16 Jesuit Bulletin

cientists conduct experiments to test their ideas. Some people use the anal-ogy of the experiment as a way to describe the Jesuit novitiate. It is a place where the authen-ticity of a candidate’s vocation is tested by the Society and by the novice himself.

When a man enters the novitiate, he has a good idea that God is calling him to become a Jesuit—he has discerned, and he has spent many hours being interviewed by Jesuits, doctors, and even a psychologist—but he has never lived as a Jesuit; he has not yet tested his vocation. Likewise, the Society of Jesus has a good idea that the man they have admitted is a good fit, but they need real life experiences with this man to know for sure. St. Ignatius designed the novitiate to be a series of experi-ences, or tests, which he called “experiments,” to see if the novice continues to desire, and can do what Jesuits do and live as Jesuits live.

Testing and ExperimentingL I F E I N T H E N O V I T I A T E

The first experi-ment is the most i m p o r t a n t — t h e undertaking of the full thirty-day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. In this powerful and moving experience, a novice moves through the retreat, seeking to know and follow Christ more closely and to more clearly hear His voice in his life. Spending 30 days in silence all day long is difficult enough in itself; but the real challenge is probing the depths of a relationship with

God. The novice will draw on this experience for the rest of his Jesuit life.

The first experiment that follows the long retreat is called the “primi class experiment.” This year, first-year novices of the Missouri and New Orleans provinces, called primi, traveled from Grand Coteau, La., to Kansas City to work in different ministries and to build a stronger sense of community among themselves. They worked in parishes, schools and a hospital; they helped Burmese refugees who have been granted asylum and assisted in the Turnaround Program, which seeks to assist recently released prisoners get their feet on the ground in their new life.

For the third experiment, a pilgrimage, the novice master gives each novice five dol-lars and a one-way bus ticket to a pilgrim-age destination—different for each novice. Destinations this year included Albuquerque, Notre Dame, Nogales, Washington, D.C., and

by Matthew Stewart nSJ

S

novices on the move. Above, second-year novice Penn Dawson in the remote village of Karasabai in Guyana.

Page 17: top, novices John-Paul Witt, Michael Schonhoff, James Page, and Alex Placke with high school retreat group in Kansas City; middle, first-year novices John-Paul Witt and André Breaux lead singing at Mass during retreat; bottom, second-year novice David Lugo and the people of Santa Maria Chiquimula in Guatamala.

Spring/Summer 2011 17

Schenectady. Ignatius thought it was important for all novices to understand the importance of begging for what one needs—food, shel-ter, transportation—as he did in his own life when he journeyed from his home in Spain to Jerusalem shortly after his conversion. On pilgrimage, the novice puts “all hope in the Creator and Lord and accepts sleeping poorly and eating badly because it seems to us that the one who cannot live and walk for a day without eating or sleeping poorly cannot per-severe long in our Society,” wrote José Ignacio Idigoras, a biographer of St. Ignatius.

The goal of the journey varies from nov-ice to novice, depending on the grace the novice is praying for in his spiritual life, perhaps as the result of the experience of the Exercises or in response to a particular chal-lenge the novice master believes the novice needs. Novice André Breaux summed up the spiritual lessons learned from relying on the benevolence of strangers, “Every time I worried, God responded through some unex-pected grace or act of kindness.”

For the final experiment of the first year, the novitiate continues to follow the lead of Ignatius, who tells us that it is important for a novice to work in a hospital, caring for the needs of the people. In Ignatius’ day, this was by far the most grueling experiment, as

18 Jesuit Bulletin

hospitals were large places that took care of those at the edges of society: the poor, the mentally or physically disabled, and the dying. Today, novices are sent to places which are similar in character, though not necessar-ily in hospitals. They serve the poor at Good Shepherd Mission School in New Orleans and

The novice master gives

each novice five dollars

and a one-way bus ticket

to a pilgrimage destination.

Loyola Academy in St. Louis; they live with and offer support to the disabled at l’Arche communities, and serve in similar apostolates. They also care for infirm and elderly Jesuits in the infirmaries of both provinces.

At the beginning of the second year of the novitiate, each novice undertakes the Jesuit

Above, Alex Placke and Michael Schonhoff begin their pilgrimage; bottom, second-year novice Matthew Stewart with his host family in Managua, Nicaragua.

Spring/Summer 2011 19

A P E R S O N A L R E F L E C T I O N

A Pilgrim’s Progressby Alex Placke nSJ

I began my journey on a Greyhound bus in Kansas City the night of Feb. 21. My ticket took me to Schenectady, N.Y., which was 30 miles from the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs where I hoped to stay my first night. The bus ride took 32 hours, and I begged for food and money from others I met on the bus.

In Schenectady I walked around trying to find a place to stay the night. A priest at a local parish donated $50 to my cause, and told me about a bus that would take me closer to my destination. So I took the bus to Amsterdam where I asked for walking direc-tions to the shrine from a post office worker. After the eight-mile hike, I was exhausted, hungry, and plagued with blisters. Once there, I embraced a relaxing, meditative two-and-a-half days at the shrine where I visited the site of St. René Goupil’s martyrdom.

A train took me to Rochester where I stayed a night at McQuaid Jesuit high school, and ate dinner at a homeless shelter. Before giving all the rest of my money to the homeless shelter, I bought a bus ticket that took me to Toronto to meet up with the director of the Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ontario. Unfortunately I missed him, but I had the pleasure of staying the night with the scholastics in first studies at Regis College in Toronto.

The next day I arrived by bus in Midland where I stayed for five days reflecting on my vocation, spending time praying with the relics of the Canadian Martyrs, and learning about their lives. Then I returned to Toronto for several days to figure out my next move, which led me to take an overnight bus to New York City.

I arrived in New York early in the morning and took the sub-way to the Jesuit scholastic residence at Fordham University in the Bronx. After getting settled, I took the subway back to America House in Manhattan where I had lunch and met Fr. James Martin, whom I find inspiring. I then walked around and visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, and St. Ignatius Church.

The next day I went on to Baltimore. After three hours of walking, I arrived at the office of the campus minister of Loyola Blakefield High School, who graciously welcomed me into his home. I stayed for two days and visited the school. I had the plea-sure of speaking to several senior theology classes, and students donated enough for my bus ticket to New Orleans. I also visited Christo Rey Jesuit High School in Baltimore on my last day there, and took a late-night bus to New Orleans on March 11. I had a seven-hour layover in Atlanta, which I used to explore the down-town area, and didn’t arrive until the morning of the 13th.

This pilgrimage was an incredibly humbling experience that really taught me how to trust in God, and confirmed me in my vocation. I am thankful to have had such a wonderful opportunity.

experiment, which gives each man an experi-ence of living in a Jesuit community while working as a Jesuit—living the life he would lead were he to take vows and continue on in Jesuit life. Many novices serve in Jesuit high schools, and some work in Jesuit universities or other apostolates.

In the spring of the second year, novices take part in a long experiment, where each man serves for three months in a community, usually in the developing world. Novices go to distant locations such as Guyana, Guatemala and Honduras, or at province apostolates such as Belize, or even closer to home, at places such as St. Francis Indian Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Novices must experience the various kinds of poverty that exist in the world and learn to identify with those who are most vulnerable. In the longer expanse of this experiment, a novice is able to better become part of the life of a community than he would in shorter experiments. He can more deeply and more richly experience the life and work of the Jesuits in that apostolate.

After the successful conclusion of these experiments, with much prayer and discern-ment and with the permission of the novice master and provincial, the hopeful novice is approved to profess the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Society of Jesus.

Alex Placke’s pilgrimage — Feb 21 to Mar 13.

J

20 Jesuit Bulletin

we celebrate their lives

Father Thomas F. DenzerFather Thomas F. Denzer died at Fusz Pavilion in St. Louis on Sept. 20, 2010. He was 86 years old and a Jesuit for 61 years. Born in Kansas City in 1924 on the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, he attended both Rockhurst College and Regis College. He served in

the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946. He entered the Society of Jesus on Aug. 8, 1949, and was ordained a priest on June 16, 1961.

After ordination and tertianship, Denzer began a long career on the economics faculty at Rockhurst University. He was known and appreciated as a dedicated and demand-ing teacher. He taught in a classroom that had blackboards on every wall, and filled each of them with material to be

covered in class that day, using different colors of chalk. He began each class with a quiz and carefully calculated the points earned by each student. On two or three occa-sions students voted him outstanding teacher of the year. When the university’s first Board of Trustees to be run by lay people was established in the 1970s, they chose Denzer as its first chairperson.

In 1991, he retired from teaching and began working for the Office of Institutional Advancement at Rockhurst. In this position he was the constant companion of Rockhurst Chancellor Fr. Maurice Van Ackeren., assisting him in his fund raising endeavors. Always well known among alumni and throughout the Kansas City commu-nity, Denzer regularly joined in alumni gatherings and funeral celebrations. In 2002 he moved to Fusz Pavilion where he continued to pray for family, friends, and the work of the Society of Jesus.

Father Edward C. O’BrienFather Edward C. O’Brien died at Fusz Pavilion in St. Louis on March 1, 2011, at the age of 83. Born in St. Louis, he was a Jesuit for 63 years. He entered the Society of Jesus on August 8, 1947, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1961. He completed his under-

graduate work in English at Gonzaga University in Spokane where he went on to earn a Licentiate in Philosophy. He also earned a master’s degree in education and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Saint Louis University. 

As a young priest with his first assignment at St. Louis University High School, O’Brien became widely recognized as an exceptional theology teacher during his nine years at the school. From 1970 to 1973, he went on to serve on the national Executive Committee of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association and was chairman of its Commission on Religious Education. During a time of transition, the committee’s work help bring Jesuit high schools into a fuller realization of their mission. 

In 1973 he was named novice master of the Missouri Province. Many young Jesuits learned from his profound insights and inspiring example of prayerfulness, simplicity and generous service. In 1982, he journeyed to Karen, Kenya, where he served for three years as spiritual director at the Jesuit Spirituality Center. 

O’Brien began a whole new phase of his Jesuit life in 1988 when he was named pastor and community superior at St. Matthew Church in St. Louis. Parishioners developed a great affection for him, seeing in him a deep spirituality and genuine commitment to the people of the area. In 1995, he was appointed minister and administrator of Jesuit Hall in St. Louis where he dedicated himself to the care of over 90 Jesuits. In 2003, he moved to White House Retreat to continue his lifelong work as spiritual guide to others.

More information: www.jesuitsmissouri.org

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Spring/Summer 2011 21

Brother Herbert A. BussenBrother Herbert A. Bussen died in St. Louis on Jan. 31, 2011, at the age of 95. Born in St. Louis on May 22, 1915, he was a Jesuit for 50 years. He served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945, and later worked for the postal service and cared for his mother until

her death in 1959. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1960, and professed final vows in the Society in August 15, 1970.

After novitiate Bussen began 40 years of service at Regis University in Denver, where he ran the mail room from 1963 to 1979. After completing evening classes in

accounting, he served as treasurer of the Jesuit Community from 1979 to 1991, carrying out his duties with great care and precision. He was well known on campus as he made his rounds collecting aluminum cans for recycling, the proceeds from which he would send to the missions.

In 1991, he became a member of the newly-founded Xavier Jesuit Community where he served as treasurer and sacristan. He had a special devotion to the Blessed Mother and to the Eucharist. He faithfully prayed for family mem-bers and fellow Jesuits and sent birthday letters to many of them. In 2003, he moved to Fusz Pavilion in St. Louis, where he delighted in the good care he received, and con-tinued praying for the Church and the Society of Jesus.

Father David L. Fleming Father David L. Fleming died on March 22, 2011, at Fusz Pavilion in St. Louis after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, at the age of 76. He was a Jesuit for 58 years and a priest for 46 years. Born in St. Louis on July 4, 1934, he entered the

Society of Jesus on Aug. 8, 1952, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 9, 1965. In January 2011 he retired as editor of Review for Religious, after 22 years, and the Jesuit Bulletin, after 13 years. After ordination and tertian-ship, Fleming completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He joined the theology faculty at the School of Divinity at Saint Louis University in 1970, and was appointed rector of the theologian’s community in 1972. With the closing of the School of Divinity in 1976, he was assigned to the newly formed Ministry Training Services in Denver where he was a staff member, superior of the Jesuit community, and tertian director for the province.

In 1978 he was elected as the Missouri Province del-egate to the Congregation of Procurators in Rome. The following year, he was appointed Provincial of the Missouri Province. Fleming often said that he truly enjoyed his

tenure as provincial, a ministry that was a great blessing for him and the men he served. In 1986 he was appointed to the faculty at Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. Two years later he returned to the province to become editor of Review for Religious. Under his guidance, the journal provided thoughtful reflections on contemporary religious life to readers throughout the world. In 1990 he became rector of Bellarmine House of Studies, a com-munity of Jesuits doing philosophy studies at Saint Louis University, a position he held for six years. From 2003 to 2008 he served as assistant to the provincial for formation.

Fleming was a well-known author and speaker on Ignatian spirituality. Draw Me into Your Friendship: A Literal Translation and a Contemporary Reading of the Spiritual Exercises is an essential handbook for every Jesuit in the English-speaking world. One of his more recent books, What is Ignatian Spirituality?, is published by Loyola Press.

Fleming was accustomed to wearing a number of hats at once, and did so gracefully, calmly, and with good humor. At one period, in addition to his work in the editorial offices, he served as province formation director, superior of his community, consultor to the provincial, and regularly sched-uled celebrant at St. Francis Xavier “College” Church. Yet he always had time, never seemed in a hurry, and loved to relax among friends over a good dinner and a fine glass of wine.

22 Jesuit Bulletin

~Continued from page 15

to resolve the dispute. The Ratio was the classic plan of studies, which guided the development of Jesuit schools from the beginning. Studying the Ratio Studiorum, Ganss realized how much of it came from the Constitutions of the Society, which, as a classics scholar, he could easily read in Latin. He realized that they were a treasure trove that was not being consulted as Jesuits sought to live out their mis-sion. He thought Jesuit apostolic life would be stronger if the Constitutions were to be accessible to all Jesuits who would not or could not read them in Latin.

which had already been translated. When Ganss began looking into the economics of the project, he estimated the cost of publishing the book would take all of the $7,000 that a benefactor had given him. He hoped to use the profit from the first book to subsidize production costs of the second, and so on. DeGuibert’s history ended up costing twice as much, but then a second benefactor gave Ganss $25,000.

The Institute moved from Milwaukee when Marquette’s president decided not to adopt it as a university project. By this time Missouri and Wisconsin had split into two provinces, and the Missouri provincial welcomed IJS to St. Louis. It found a home first in Florissant, and then in St. Marys, Kansas, the location of the Jesuit theologate. The Institute returned to St. Louis when the theolo-gate moved to the Saint Louis University campus. After Padberg became director, it moved to its current location at Jesuit Hall.

When Ganss turned 80, the provincial, Fr. David Fleming, felt a need to consider a successor. Padberg, who was then president of Weston School of Theology, would be a good fit. Fleming’s main worry was that Ganss might feel hurt if someone else took over what he had brought to life. When he told Ganss of his decision, however, the editor was delighted.

“Ganss thought he was doing something important, and the people to whom he was responsible thought he was doing that too. And they consistently supported it,” Padberg said. “Long-range support is essential to tap the resources that are still ahead of us in the future.”

The books published by IJS are dedicated solely to Jesuit history and Ignatian spirituality, but they are not just for Jesuits. Interest in Jesuit history has increased dra-matically in the past few decades and IJS publications are widely used. The Institute has published, for example, the complete texts in English of all 35 general congregations of the Society, and they are often quoted by scholars.

In the past 50 years IJS has published 117 books and projects, an amazing record for something that began with a classics scholar with no experience in the publish-ing business. “George Ganss was either one of the most simple persons I have ever met—while being very intel-ligent,” said Padberg; “or he was one of the most clever people I have ever met, and he was much less simple than at first he seemed to be.”

More information: www.jesuitsmissouri.org

M O R E we bON THE

Padberg recalls him saying, “At that point it occurred to me that maybe I ought to try to do something about translating the Constitutions, the fundamental, corporate-structuring document of the Society.” One difficulty came up immediately: it was forbidden to translate the Constitutions for fear that any translation would misinter-pret the Society’s basic law. Father General Jean-Baptiste Janssens gave Ganss permission to translate parts of the Constitutions, provided that he review his work with Jesuit historians in Rome.

Ganss’ initial plan was to translate the Constitutions in parts, beginning with Part VII, which talks about the mission of the Society. He did not realize at first how big the project of translating the Constitutions would be—in the end it took 10 years. He conceived the idea of doing this not as a single project, but as part of a bigger effort to make crucial documents from the early founders of the Society more accessible.

The first book IJS published was not the Constitutions, however, but Joseph De Guibert’s history of the Society,

J

Fr. George Ganss with students at Marquette University

The following people have been permanently enrolled in the Jesuit Association and are remembered in the prayers and works of the Jesuits of the Missouri Province.

Jesuit Association

LivingCrimmins FamilyMcNamara Family

DeceasedMargie BantleElizabeth Rose BarnesDaniel BarthMary BartkoskiGeorge BlackwellRobert J. BoyleJohn (Jack) BrandleThomas P. BradyFr. Joseph (Joe) BrownFerdinand J. Bush Jr.Corinne CarabaThomas M. CardwellFr. Francis X (Frank) Cleary SJMargaret Coursey

Edward CrimminsMichael DalyE. Warren Dinan Jr.Virginia DuFauxLucille DunhamAnnette ErkerGloria FialaDavid L. Fleming SJWalter ForestJack FrederickDonald FreinLouise FryerElvera GardnerBetty G. GatesMary Cecilia GilmoreDr. GonzalesRose GrahamRose Ann HallDennis Hanlen

Colleen SalomonMarilyn SchaeferFr. Frederick Schuller SJMary Ellen SchwartzMary Lou (Palmentere) SmithDonald SpitznagleFr. John P. Teeling SJMichael TigerMark TychonievichMary VeselichHerb Von FeldtFr. Raymond L. Windle SJTeresa WileyBob WorlandJames WottowaMr. ZanderTed Zlotopolski

Those enrolled in the Jesuit Association share in all the Masses, prayers, and apostolic labors of the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. At the time of enrollment, they are remembered in a special Mass.

To find out how to send a message of condolence or memorial contribution in honor of an individual or family that also supports the works of the Jesuits and their colleagues:

Please visit our website www.jesuitsmissouri.org and click on “Support Our Mission,” or call 1-800-325-9924,or write us at: Enrollment Cards • Jesuits of the Missouri Province • 4511 West Pine Boulevard • St. Louis, MO 63108-2191

LaVerne HaskenhoffJames HealeyOliver J. “Jack” HeckJohn HerbergerEloise JenoDolly KadlecLeatha M. KennebeckCatherine KosinskiErick KriegerMarty KrutewiczAdele H. LangMichael LehmanStella MalenoDalton McBeainCynthia McCarterAlice McMahon “Patsy” RowanDouglas A. MillarJames Montgomery

Matthew MulcahyJoseph MullerJ. Antonio MuycoJim Neville, Sr.Fr. Edward C. O’BrienVincent OglesbyFr. Martin D (Marty) O’Keefe SJDonald Orf Sr.A.Joyce PawloskiGiovanna PegurrPaula PetersWilliam PhillipsVirginia PinegarFrank PruettRaymond F. PuettmannRobert Edward PulliamAdelaide Louise RodgersGaelann Roth

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