Andrew was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Scranton in 2013, where he studied psychology, literature and philosophy. In 2023, he earned masters degrees in theology and social philosophy from Loyola University Chicago. He has worked in a variety of schools—from Brooklyn to Seoul. A member of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church, he enjoys immersing himself in different languages and cultures. Currently, he is teaching religion and history at St. Joseph's Preparatory School, commonly known as “the Prep,” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Joined in 2020 13 posts amilewskisj@thejesuitpost.org
Names are powerful. I had a professor in college who I have gotten to know well since I graduated, and I still cannot call her by her first name. Conversely, I have graduate professors who insist I call them by their first names. Then there’s my local parish priest back home whom I call “father” because nothing else fits. Names, what we call people, matter. Read how the names of Saints can inspire our lives.
For the first time during my break, I was able to concentrate on something. I began sketching a chubby leg, two hands hovering above a halo. This was the infant Jesus that would become the object of my prayer over the Christmas season. What I created also became my prayer, a prayer to be less active and more present.
Perhaps, like me, you are discerning how you should spend your holidays? You are praying and asking God to show you how to be present to your loved ones and still keep them safe. As I pray with all my anger, frustration, loneliness, and hunger for loved ones this holiday season, I am reminded that God often provides for us in ways we don’t expect or even necessarily want.
I found myself in the community garden here at Loyola University Chicago, where students and Jesuit scholastics volunteer. We harvest the crops and donate them to a local food pantry, I was told, and the idea of helping out appealed to me. So much more happens in the garden that day. Take a moment to read and reflect with me on an experience of a God who nurtures.