As president of the newest Cristo Rey Jesuit high school in the country, Jesuit Father TJ Martinez is often asked to travel from his home base in Houston, Texas to places all over the globe for pastoral services and speaking engagements. So that Martinez can be in many places all at the same time, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Houston has launched a “Flat Fr. Martinez” project this summer so that the school president can also experience all the fun summertime activities his students have planned during their break.

A takeoff on the “Flat Stanley Project” where children document the places and activities the beloved paper doll encounters, “Flat Fr. Martinez” travels with his friends of Cristo Rey Jesuit this summer, and the school has been tracking his adventures on their website. Students have reported he’s been an ideal travel companion, but a little quiet.

To see some of the places “Flat Fr. Martinez” has visited this summer, view the photo sideshow below:

Where does a Jesuit come from?

Why does he join the Society of Jesus?

How does he know his calling?

The Jesuit Conference of the United States has launched a new video series interviewing Jesuits from across the country discussing their vocations, their various paths to becoming a Jesuit and what it has meant to them to answer God’s call. National Jesuit News will feature a new video interview each week. You can watch additional videos by going to the Jesuits Revealed channel on YouTube.

Today’s video features Jesuit Paul Vu of the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus discussing the importance of retreats in following the spirituality put forth by St. Ignatius of Loyola and what retreats mean for Jesuits. You can watch additional videos with Vu here and here at the Jesuits Revealed channel on YouTube.

Creighton University student Maria DeMeuse had a problem, and so, like countless Bluejays over the past decade, she called Jesuit Father John Schlegel and scheduled a sit-down.

She expected maybe 10 minutes of the university president’s time. Instead, they debated whether Creighton had strayed from its Catholic mission and the meaning of Catholic identity.

They discussed the school’s class offerings and its faculty.

An hour passed, then 90 minutes. It got so late the president’s secretary went home.

Fr. Schlegel stayed. He listened.

“It’s very easy, being in this atmosphere, to cater to the administrators, to the board,” DeMeuse said Wednesday. “He sees his mission as being here for the students. … We’re definitely going to miss him.”

Schlegel, the longtime Creighton president, announced Wednesday that he planned to retire in July 2011. You can read more about Schlegel’s legacy at Creighton in this article from the Omaha World-Herald.

Where does a Jesuit come from?

Why does he join the Society of Jesus?

How does he know his calling?

The Jesuit Conference of the United States has launched a new video series interviewing Jesuits from across the country discussing their vocations, their various paths to becoming a Jesuit and what it has meant to them to answer God’s call. National Jesuit News will feature a new video interview each week. You can watch additional videos by going to the Jesuits Revealed channel on YouTube.

Today’s video features Jesuit Father Kurt Denk of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus discussing his experience of finding Jesus during his ministry to prison inmates. You can watch additional videos with Fr. Denk here and here at the Jesuits Revealed channel on YouTube.

At least 1,500 mourners are expected to attend the outdoor funeral service Friday evening for Jesuit Father Paul Locatelli, Santa Clara University’s (SCU) chancellor and former president who guided the university through tremendous change and revitalization.

Fr. Locatelli, 71, died Monday after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He had recently returned from Rome, where he worked as secretary of higher education for the Society of Jesus. He retired in 2008 after 20 years as president of the university, but remained chancellor despite his job in Rome.

A viewing inside Mission Santa Clara, the heart of the Jesuit university campus, will take place today from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The funeral service begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight and will be held outside in the nearby Mission Gardens. A live video feed of Locatelli’s funeral mass will be at www.scu.edu/locatelli. SCU is requesting people share their memories of Locatelli on their website here.