Archive for January, 2011

Jesuit Vincent Marchionni, at left, receiving his vow cross from Jesuit Father Joe Lingan.

Jesuit Vincent Marchionni, a scholastic, recently reflected on his first semester of “First Studies,” the first mission for scholastics after taking their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the Society of Jesus.

Marchionni is studying at Saint Louis University and writes that while many see philosophy as a tedious and frustrating subject, his first semester has taught him the opposite.

“Philosophy is so interesting because everyone philosophizes, whether they know it or not. Everyone has opinions on human nature, or how we know things, or ethics,” he writes.

He also writes about his vows, which he says “are a means to enhance his [a Jesuit’s] performance in mission.”  Of his vow of obedience, he says that it “demands that, as a Jesuit, I am as available for mission as possible. The point of all this studying is to make me a better Jesuit who can engage different people in different apostolates.”

Read more of Marchionni’s reflections on his first studies and vows.

Jesuit Father Michael F. Weiler has been appointed by Father General Adolfo Nicolás as the next provincial of the California Province of the Society of Jesus.

Fr. Weiler succeeds Jesuit Father John McGarry who has served as provincial of the California Province since 2005. Weiler will take office on July 31, 2011.

Weiler currently serves as Director of Novices and Superior of Ignatius House Novitiate, a position he has held since 2005.

Weiler is a graduate of Bellarmine College Preparatory, Loyola Marymount University, Gonzaga University, Jesuit School of Theology and California School of Professional Psychology. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1975, was ordained in 1988 and received his final vows in 2005.

Following ordination, Weiler served as an associate pastor at Dolores Mission in Los Angeles and then as an instructor in counseling psychology and a psychologist at Santa Clara University.

Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey Journal

Jesuit Brother Edwin Sheehy has found artistic outlets in a variety of disciplines: baking, sculpting and puppetry.

Br. Sheehy began baking at Loyola Seminary, in Shrub Oak, New York, for over 200 seminarians a few years after joining the Society of Jesus in 1951.

He estimated that while there he baked 1,500 loaves of bread from scratch annually; at night he began to work with clay as a sculptor.

Sheehy’s next interest was puppetry after a visit to Hollywood’s Universal Studios in 1970, where he saw a puppet show. He thought, “I could do that.”

He has constructed numerous puppets and has performed at children’s Masses illustrating the Gospel.

Sheehy, now 77, has been at the St. Peter’s Prep community in Jersey City since 1999 to focus on his artistry. He has returned to sculpting and has done, among other things, a bust of St. Ignatius Loyola.

To learn more about Br. Sheehy, read this profile in the Jersey Journal.

Jesuit Father Gregory Kalscheur, an associate professor at Boston College School of Law, reflected on learning more about God’s love while in Australia for his Tertianship, the final formal period of formation in the Society of Jesus.

Fr. Kalscheur spent seven months in Australia with twelve Jesuits from nine different countries and three U.S. provinces. Reflecting on that time, he writes:

“It has been a time to realize again, with great gratitude, that I was made for this life of companionship with Jesus and to reaffirm how deeply I want my relationship with Jesus to be the defining characteristic of who I am.

Tertianship has also been a time in which I’ve been reminded of the fragility of my capacity on my own to be faithful to all those desires, and for that I am grateful as well. While tertianship in one sense brings to a close the process of Jesuit formation, these seven months have reminded me that there is much more for me to learn in companionship with Jesus and in the company of my friends in the Lord.”

More of Kalscheur’s reflections are featured in the latest JESUITS magazine.

Jesuit Father Shay Auerbach, pastor of Sacred Heart in Richmond, Va., with a 90 percent Hispanic population, is part of an effort to help Richmond area parishes increase the number of Hispanic students in local Catholic schools.

“With very few exceptions, Catholic schools in Latin America are almost exclusively for the wealthy,” he said, causing many Hispanics to think of Catholic schools as only for the elite.

“It doesn’t even enter into their mindset that Catholic schools are a possibility,” Fr. Auerbach said.

The Segura Initiative, named after Father Juan Baptista Segura, a Spanish Jesuit missionary priest who was martyred in Virginia in 1571, includes Auerbach and two other pastors from Richmond parishes with large Hispanic populations, as well as parishioners from each parish. They focus on three areas of concern: marketing and enrollment, fundraising and development, and cultural responsiveness.

Auerbach said he feels that Catholic schools face three challenges.

“One is to get the message out that we welcome Hispanic students,” he said. “Two, they’ve got to help Hispanics overcome the idea that Catholic schools are not for them, and three, financial assistance is needed.”

For more on Auerbach’s work with the initiative, read the full story at The Catholic Virginian.