Jesuit Father Douglas Marcouiller thanked Jesuit Volunteer Gabby Alexander at a celebration honoring St. Louis-area Ignatian volunteers.

Jesuit Father Douglas Marcouiller, provincial of the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus, recently honored members of the three groups of lay volunteers working in St. Louis: the Alum Service Corps, the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Fr. Marcouiller called the 42 Ignatian volunteers “a close-knit group of friends — friends with each other and the poor.”

At a Mass for the volunteers, Marcouiller said that the volunteers “see the spirit of God working in the world.”

Marcouiller said it is a gift to be drawn into the lives of others such as former prisoners or middle school students. “These are places where we can encounter the Lord,” he said.

For more on the Fr. Marcouiller and the volunteers, visit the St. Louis Review.