51茶馆

What people, experiences, courses, etc. informed this call?

I鈥檝e worked as a guest artist and as a remote contributing writer for a bunch of years with Teatro la Fragua, the Honduran Jesuit theater company (full disclosure: my Jesuit older brother founded TLF, so I can鈥檛 provide objective witness). TLF鈥檚 grounding belief is that 鈥淎rt and religion spring from the same human roots; they spring from our need to be in touch with something beyond the littleness we feel as human beings.鈥� That yearning to reach out beyond the littleness 鈥� in my art and in my faith 鈥� informed my call at all stages of the discernment process.聽

For the less whimsically oriented, at a practical level my wife had gone back to school to get a nursing degree, and my son did a mid-career master鈥檚 at Oxford. So in my immediate family I had some recent, powerful models 鈥� and powerful support 鈥� for substantial, qualitative vocational adjustments that required heavy lifting and yielded special results. I鈥檓 hoping now that I can uphold the family tradition.聽

Were there any roadblocks in your discernment process? How did you navigate them?

One moment of clarity came when I realized I wasn鈥檛 deciding between a good option and a bad option 鈥� I was trying to decide among two or more good options 鈥� graduate work and family time. I adore my grandkids, and love spending time with their parents. Three years of an MDiv program would not be conducive to quality time with any of them. That separation remains difficult. But thank God for zoom, for decent air connectivity from Boston, for a patient, talented and supportive wife, and for a family of enthusiastic singers. (I recommend 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the Way That the World Goes Round鈥� by John Prine, 鈥淒runken Sailor鈥� by Great Big Sea, and 鈥淭he Fox鈥� by Pete Seeger 鈥� all quite singable over a phone or zoom line, and naughty enough that they鈥檝e stayed fresh for youngsters, middlesters and oldsters all.).聽

Why did you choose CSTM for your theological studies?

Partly because I speak upper intermediate to lower advanced Jesuitese (although with a pronounced lay accent). I鈥檝e been around Jesuits my whole life, including, as I mentioned, an older brother who entered the Jesuits when I was a lad of eight years. Beyond the family links, over the years a dozen or more Jesuit concerns have attached my name to a diploma, a degree, a paycheck, a playbill, a church bulletin, an article, a parish committee, or a JUG list (can鈥檛 forget JUG).聽

But that familiarity itself did not play as big a role as did the attitude I perceived among my classmates, even before I committed. In my experience, the Jesuits鈥� most consistent genius isn鈥檛 being the smartest folks in the room. Where the Jesuits stand out is in attracting people who bring a committed mystical realism to their work in building the kingdom of God. That played out at CSTM: Good people show up, take agency, and get to work as a community. Just within my CSTM MDiv cohort 2024 (a subset of about 15 students 鈥� here鈥檚 looking at you MDiv 2024!), classmates have advocated for and achieved substantive improvement at CSTM that will enrich the school (especially for lay students), deepen my experience, and help shape the church of the 21st century. That鈥檚 the kind of stuff I like to be around (to quote Guy Clark).聽

And at a practical, academic level, the CSTM stood well above the competition when it came to providing an opportunity to explore Latin American theology (granted, the Catholic competition in the U.S. is uneven). I also did not realize it at the time, but I have been really lucky to get to apply some Latin American theology in my assistantship work at the Roche Center for Catholic Education.