Throughout my four years as an undergraduate pre-med student, and my seven years as a Jesuit walking the path to become a physician, I never considered a career in plastic surgery. I was in new territory this past December during my third year of medical school when I found myself spending one month as part of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery team.
Every other year, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) hosts its SEEK conference that draws thousands of young Catholics together to encounter Christ and share the Gospel. As a virtual event this year, SEEK21 was actually the largest it’s ever been, with 27,000 participants from 20 countries on 6 continents. Check out our 5 key takeaways.
Seven of my Jesuit brothers and I were ordained as deacons on September 20th. I’m helping out at a great parish in South Boston and have been incredibly grateful to dive head first into ordained ministry. I love preaching, assisting at Mass, and chatting with parishioners. But the baptisms have been the highlight.
Sometimes God uses others to point us in his direction.
As we conclude Jesuit Vocations Month, here is one Jesuit’s reflection on the Brother vocation and how it can help us all reflect on vocations in general.
“I love you” It just was the most believable utterance of that phrase I’ve ever heard, while sitting in an utterly unremarkable conference room transformed with incense and song into a place open to worship; somehow breaking through the stubborn habits of conventional self-assurance I felt forced to carry. For some, a vocation is automatic, an easy skin to fit into. For others, God’s call is great, the response is real, and yet it is something one must learn to love. Take a moment to read and pray with a reflection about my vocation, and maybe it will illuminate something about yours.
Are any experiences in our life truly random? I used to be the kind of person to say “Everything happens for a reason.” I don’t believe that anymore. Instead, I believe that God can give reason to all that happens. Including a cross country road trip.
When the women’s and gender department first caught my eye, it was not just a passing, “Oh, look at that.” It was something more. It was the feeling that my mind and heart were on fire. Excited. Hopeful. Joyful. Captivated. Stirred. It felt like confirmation of what I already identified as: a feminist. The experience was what, in Jesuit lingo, we would call “consolation.” The Spirit was moving me. As I continue my studies, I continue to feel God calling me here. Read how all this has unfolded for me and my vocation, and maybe it might illuminate something in yours.
When Church doors are closed to laity and the sacraments aren’t available, it can appear as if the Catholic Church has stopped doing what it was meant to do. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Jesuit religious reflects on the Church which is still working and is still very much alive.
This is a time where people should develop an attitude of contemplation. How can we take a “long, loving, look at the real,” during the COVID-19 pandemic?