The Commons: A gathering place for Seattle University faculty and staff

Magis gets a new look

Having just celebrated its fifth anniversary this past year, Magis is rolling out a new logo and campaign called “I am Magis. We are Magis.” There’s also a special party you’re invited to attend at the end of the month (more on that in a moment).

The new logo incorporates a flame “to signify the spirit of the Jesuit, Ignatian tradition that is first ignited in students and then lived out by alumni in their various vocational paths,” explains Brooke Rufo Hill, director of Magis. The office also tweaked its tagline to read “Alumni Living the Mission.” (The previous version was “Alumni Committed for Mission.”)

Since 2006, Magis has served more than 1,300 graduates of Jesuit institutions in the Puget Sound area each year. Alumni from all 28 U.S. Jesuit colleges and universities are invited to participate in Magis events, which include opportunities to explore Ignatian spirituality, serve others in the Jesuit tradition, and pursue further leadership formation.

The “I am Magis. We are Magis.” campaign will feature a series of Jesuit-educated men and women who are living the mission. To nominate someone you know (or even yourself) to be highlighted, visit the Magis Living the Mission web page.

As for the party, it will take place from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, in the LeRoux Room (STCN 160). To RSVP, please e-mail Magis  by Jan. 25. The Magis staff, advisory board, campus and community partners and program co-founders Mike Bayard, S.J., and Erin Swezey, hope to see you there.

Selfless in Seattle

Fifteen recent college graduates are serving as Jesuit Volunteers (JVs) right here in Seattle. In fact, there are two Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest communities in the city, with eight volunteers living in the Seattle Cherry Abbey house and seven in the Seattle Mercy house. Of the 15 Seattle-based volunteers, seven attended Jesuit colleges and universities.  

Jesuit Volunteers commit to a yearlong experience that is steeped in the values of spirituality, social justice, community and social justice. Following are the JVs at each Seattle community, along with their alma maters, their specific volunteer roles and the agencies at which they are placed.

Seattle Cherry Abbey (top photo):  Kevin Duffy-Greaves, University of Portland, asylum advocate and intake coordinator, Northwest Immigrants Rights Project; Sarah Moran, Providence College, outreach and communications coordinator, Puget Sound Sage; Clare Garvey, Boston College, grassroots advocacy coordinator, Food Lifeline; Alissa Cowan, Gonzaga,  JV assistant, Noah Sealth (Seattle); Chelsea Wagner, St Olaf's, assistant, Providence Hospitality House; Caitrin Coccoma, Villanova, JV café manager, Recovery Café; Matthew Pazderka, University of Saint Thomas-MN, housing support specialist/Case Aide, Community House;  and Wesley Leftwich, University of Georgia, clinical case manager and peer support, Community House.

Seattle Mercy (bottom photo):  Kevin Nuechterlein, Loyola University Chicago, rehabilitation counselor, Transitional Resources; Karin Holmgren, San Diego State, case manager, Full Life Care; Matt Driscoll, Boston College, financial literacy coordinator, El Centro de la Raza; Caitlin Lanigan, Holy Cross, mainstream services liaison, LIHI Urban Rest Stop; Jennifer Leard, St. Louis University, volunteer coordinator, Recovery Café; Kandace Arens, Santa Clara, community support coordinator, The Wintonia; and Matt Tyksinski, Holy Cross, client services coordinator, Real Change.

For more information, visit JVC Northwest.

Becoming a Jesuit

(This is the final profile of the three new Jesuits who have joined Seattle University this academic year. You can scroll down to read the previous two.) 

At various stages in his life, the Jesuits were a presence in Matthew Pyrc’s life. Eventually, he decided to join them.  

After earning his undergraduate degree at Franciscan University, Pyrc joined the Franciscans. “I did my theology studies with them, but we actually studied at a Jesuit school (Regis College at the University of Toronto).”  

Pyrc was in his final semester when he decided to leave. He returned to his native Michigan and, after finishing the theology degree on his own—with some financial help from the Jesuits—he worked with juvenile delinquents in a group home. Pyrc (“pier-urch”) then moved to Spokane, Wash., where his brother lives. He worked for 10 years with at-risk youth, first providing employment training and later running an intervention program to help keep students from dropping out of high school.  

While living in Spokane, Pyrc became involved with St. Aloysius Parish which is near Gonzaga University and steeped in the Jesuit tradition. “That’s where I met the Jesuits,” he says. Through the parish, Pyrc became involved in social justice ministry and did the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL).  

Around this time, he and his friend took a vacation to Africa. “It was in the back of a pickup truck on a safari that we were reflecting on what a life-changing trip this was and talking about what we would do next. 

“I was thinking Peace Corps at the time, but what I wanted was an experience of spirituality and community, and as wonderful as the Peace Corps is, I wasn’t going to find those (there). So I started talking with the Jesuits, and the rest is history.” 

Of course, that history continues to be written. Pyrc, who entered the Jesuits in 2006, arrived at SU this summer after completing his theology studies at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He’ll be here two to three years for the regency phase of his formation. Pyrc is part of the Campus Ministry team, working with students on social justice ministry, immersion trips and other service projects, as well as providing spiritual direction. 

His early impressions of SU? “People have been very welcoming. The students are fun and full of energy, and the Sunday night liturgies are just amazing. There’s a lot of life on this campus.” 

In his free time, Pyrc likes bicycling and spinning class. He’s recently gotten into photography and is sitting in on a digital photography class taught by Claire Garoutte of the Fine Arts faculty. 

Is the Seattle rain bothering him? “Not yet,” he says, with laugh, adding, “When I was in Berkeley, I did an immersion program in Colombia. So I experienced the rainy season there, but, there, it was more of a torrential downpour, so it’s very different from the rain we have here.”

Engaging the world

After serving in the Peace Corps, Jason Welle was pretty certain he was being called to the priesthood. What he wasn’t so sure of was what sort of priest he wanted to be. 

For part of his vocational discernment process, Welle did what any reasonable person with a questioning mind—and computer—would do in the early 21st century: he took to the Internet. And the more research he did online, the clearer it became that he belonged with the Jesuits. 

“I knew the Jesuits by reputation only, mainly for their commitment to social justice,” he says. “And I knew I wanted to do something that combined my interest in international development with a deep spirituality and service as a priest. I could see myself fulfilling both of those desires as a Jesuit.” 

Welle entered the Jesuits in 2006. After completing his master’s in philosophy at Fordham University, he joined SU in August. He expects to be here for the next two or three years, for the period of a Jesuit’s formation that is known as regency. During this phase, Jesuits work in a variety of ministries before returning to school for theological studies. 

At SU, Welle is serving as special projects coordinator in Global Engagement. He’s currently working on the office’s website to make it more engaging for SU students interested in studying abroad and prospective international students who might want to enroll here. He’s also researching some potential new exchange partnerships and doing some student advising in Education Abroad. 

For Welle, entering the priesthood was not a completely out-of-leftfield decision. He attended a high school seminary, but left to enroll at UC-Santa Cruz. After earning a degree in community studies, which is a social justice-oriented major, Welle bounced around for a while, working as a travel agent and eventually a flight attendant. He loved the chance to travel and see the world, but after a while, it got old. Welle decided to engage the world in a deeper way. He took a leave of absence from the airline and joined the Peace Corps.  

Placed in Malawi, Welle did field work as a community health volunteer. “The Peace Corps is really where I discovered my vocation to enter the Society,” he says. “Getting out of the U.S. fish bowl, gave me a new perspective on the world and America’s place in it.” 

Welle was in Malawi for 9/11, an experience that he says completely reshaped his view of the world. “I was living in a country where 3,000 people died every week from HIV and AIDS—that’s about what the death toll was in the towers. People there were living at a level of poverty that we just don’t know in the same way here in the U.S. They had hardly even seen a two- or three-story building, much less a 150-story tower. It was just beyond their worldview. 9/11 just sort of awakened me out of a slumber or a complacency about America’s role and my own place in the world.” 

The event was transformative for Welle in other important ways, too. “There’s a lot of downtime in Peace Corps, especially in Malawi, where there’s 12 hours of night, without a television and not much radio. I became very introspective. I think, without realizing it, I was praying, really yearning to understand who I was.” 

A Jesuit usually applies to either the province where he’s living at the time or the province where he’s from. When Welle applied, he was living in Washington, D.C., but didn’t feel a strong connection to the area. “I’m from California, so it would’ve been natural for me to join that province, but since I was looking on the Internet and didn’t really understand the provincial system, I was reading about the Oregon Province and its historic relationship with the Province of Zambia-Malawi. So that connection is what first drew me in this direction.” 

For Welle, his enjoyment of hiking and interest in skiing (which he plans to take up this winter) are added benefits to living in the Northwest. He’s just as well-suited to SU, saying that the care the university gives to individual students was readily apparent from the conversations he had with faculty and staff during his interview. “You don’t find that in a lot of universities, and even at a lot of Jesuit universities, it’s not as strong (a commitment) as it is here.” 

SU’s eco-friendly ethic is also not lost on Welle. “Especially from my time in the Peace Corps, I developed a really strong awareness of sustainability issues, and I’m really impressed with the way Seattle U has made that a priority and incorporated so many things into its basic operations.”

The journey to Yes

Some Jesuits take a fairly straight path to their vocations. For others…well, not so much. Lorenzo Herman would fall into the second category, having come to his calling by way of a somewhat circuitous route. 

Herman, who arrived at SU this summer as a scholastic to study in the School of Theology and Ministry, was raised a Baptist and spent the first part of his life in Georgia. His family relocated to Cleveland, and while he was still in middle school, he was strongly encouraged to attend St. Ignatius, the city’s Jesuit high school. He did, and got very involved in campus ministry, even helping to lead retreats. 

When Herman was a senior in high school, he was invited to dinner at the Jesuit residence. To Herman, it was simply an opportunity to see the newly built house and get a good meal. His hosts had something else in mind. They started talking about vocations and asked Herman and the other classmates who were attending the dinner to consider becoming Jesuits. 

“This was bizarre for me,” Herman remembers. “For one, I wasn’t Roman Catholic, and number two, I thought, ‘Maybe there’s something wrong with me that they think I don’t want to get married and have kids.’” 

Herman let the Jesuits know he was not Roman Catholic. “They said, ‘Yeah, we know. We’ll take care of that later.’” 

Driving home that evening with his mother, he told her about the invitation. She asked what he thought. “I don’t want to be a priest,” he replied. “But maybe I’ll be Catholic.”  

The following year, 1993, Herman went through the Right of Christian Initiation of Adults program at Spring Hill College where he was a student and was confirmed as a Roman Catholic. For financial reasons, he had to leave the Jesuit college in Mobile, Ala., and wound up enlisting in the Air Force.  

He was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base just outside of Spokane. Although he was right in Gonzaga University’s backyard, Herman didn’t realize the school was Jesuit. It was only when he started doing theater in Spokane in the late 1990s that he became acquainted with a few Jesuits, including Jack Bentz, S.J., current adjunct professor in Fine Arts. Herman started asking questions about becoming a Jesuit. Bentz put him in touch with the vocation director, Steve Lantry, S.J.  

Herman decided to apply to be a Jesuit. “But I had a lot of anxieties about it. I was losing sleep.” Venturing further into the discernment process, Herman came to see he wasn’t quite ready to jump from one highly structured organization (the military) to another (the Society of Jesus). He needed some time to enjoy his newfound freedom. 

Just as he was coming to that realization, Herman received a call from Father Lantry. “He said, ‘I’ve got good news and bad news, Lorenzo,’” Herman remembers. Lantry delivered the bad news first—Herman’s application was deferred. 

“I was relieved,” he says, laughing and leaning in as if to convey a secret. “That wasn’t bad news to me.”  

The good news was that he could enter the following year. But that didn’t happen either. Herman wound up moving to San Diego, where he worked for an HIV-AIDS health clinic and served as board president for a nonprofit organization. He joined a local parish that, unbeknownst to him, was run by the Jesuits. “I was thinking, ‘OK, I just can’t get away from the Jesuits.’” 

He found his work and life rewarding. “But there was something that was still missing.” In 2006, he called Lantry to say he wanted to reapply to the Jesuits. “Well, I’ve been waiting,” Lantry told Herman, before sending him the PDF of the application.  

“This time, I was yearning (to join the Jesuits), I was impatient with the process and was like, ‘Let’s do this now!’” 

One of the most meaningful experiences Herman has had as a Jesuit so far is the 30-day silent retreat, on which he was invited to reflect upon the question, “Who am I?”  

“I didn’t know much about my family history. I could only go back to my grandparents. I think that’s common for many African Americans because most of us don’t know where our family came from because of slavery. The fruit of the Spiritual Exercises was for me to do my genealogy, and it’s still ongoing. I’ve gone back to the 1700s for my African ancestry and back to the 15th century for my European ancestry." Herman has learned that he is descended from slaves on both sides of his family. 

“The graces of that retreat are still working through me now as I learn more about not just who I am but my family and discover God’s graces and movements even in traumatic events like my family’s history, and dealing with the tensions of living with the questions and not having all the answers. This has been very important in the development of my identity as a Jesuit.” 

Having earned his B.A. in philosophy and African studies, Herman is now enrolled in the School of Theology and Ministry’s Transformational Leadership program. He feels very much at home.  

“I think what makes Seattle U and STM so special is that people from all kinds of backgrounds feel welcome to come here, even if they’re not Catholic. I just find that very amazing. I would argue that what Seattle U is doing is frontier ministry. We’re working with people who are not Catholic, or may not be Christian, and finding a way to build relationships so we can find God in our own personal experiences.  

“That’s how I became Catholic. When I was in high school, I was never proselytized or told I had to be one. It was always just an open invitation to participate, and that was part of my conversion experience. I always felt welcome at the table. So being here in this way, reminds me of my introduction into the Catholic faith through the Jesuit lens.” 

In his spare time, Herman likes to cook, hike, write poetry and act. He took up the violin a couple years ago. And yet what he most enjoys doing is likely to surprise you.  

“People may consider this mundane, but I really enjoy organizational development work. I like to write grants and bylaws and do strategic planning.” 

Following Ignatius

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a pilgrim? Well, here’s your chance. 

Faculty and staff are invited to literally follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola this spring as Pat O’Leary, S.J., and Natch Ohno, S.J., lead a pilgrimage through Spain to visit the sites that were pivotal in the Jesuit founder’s spiritual awakening and formation. 

Among other sites, pilgrims visit Manresa, pictured here with the jagged peaks of Montserrat in the background. St. Ignatius had a profound spiritual experience at the River Cardoner (foreground) that helped shape his writing of the Spiritual Exercises and founding of the Jesuit Order.

Over 12 days this March, (14-25), Fathers O’Leary and Ohno will lead a group of pilgrims, as they are called, on a journey that includes such destinations as Loyola, where Ignatius was raised, Pamplona, where he took part in a battle that left him seriously wounded and questioning his purpose in life, and Montserrat and Manresa, where Ignatius’s spirituality was shaped. 

The pilgrimage will resonate with those who are connected in some way with Ignatian spirituality, whether they’ve been working at a Jesuit institution such as Seattle University or involved with a Jesuit parish or some other ministry associated with the order.  

For those just beginning to acquaint themselves with the life of Ignatius, O’Leary says the trip can provide an entrée to Ignatian spirituality. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a pilgrim to begin meeting with a spiritual director or to make the Spiritual Exercises after going on the trip. 

Yet it’s not just “beginners” who find value in the pilgrimage. The more seasoned Ignatian veterans who go on the trip often come away with a heightened appreciation for the man whose spirituality is so central to the Jesuit mission. 

Before going on his pilgrimage in 2006, Le Xuan Hy, associate professor of psychology, was already well-versed in the life and spirituality of Ignatius. “I had visited Loyola a decade before, took the complete (30-day) Spiritual Exercises three times, and directed others through it, so I thought I knew Ignatius. 

“Yet Ignatius and his ‘great desires’ came alive in Fr. Pat, at each and every location, from the battle scene at Pamplona, to the Casa Loyola, to the magnificent cliffs of Monserrat and the Black Madonna before whom Ignatius made the grand offering of his life and, finally, to the little town of Manresa where he experienced grounding and transformation that opened mind and heart to ‘the greater glory of God.’” 

Mary-Antoinette Smith, associate professor of English and director of Women Studies, went on the 2010 pilgrimage with a similarly deep background in Ignatian

“As someone who has consistently participated in many things Ignatian over the past 18 years,” she says, “the chance to visit firsthand the places where St. Ignatius was wounded, transformed, converted and inspired to found the Society of Jesus for the purpose of spreading the Good News, ‘Ad majorem Dei Gloriam,’ was illuminating. It was a grace-filled experience that I recommend enthusiastically to others as an enriching opportunity.” 

For Hy, the experience in Spain continues to sustain him spiritually. “The pilgrimage grows dearer for me. I am still drawing deeper from Fr. Pat’s talks and the images, both physical and mental. Can I go again?” 

Jesuit jubilarians

A special Mass was held Sept. 25 at the Chapel of St. Ignatius to honor the four SU Jesuits celebrating jubilee anniversaries this year. From left to right, Pat Howell, S.J., rector of the Arrupe Community, entered the Jesuits 50 years ago; Dave Anderson, S.J., chaplain for alumni, became a Jesuit 25 years ago; Pat O’Leary, S.J., chaplain for faculty and staff, was ordained 50 years ago; and Steve Sundborg, S.J., president, entered the order 50 years ago. 

Read THE HOMILYthat Father Howell delivered at the Mass. 

SU Jesuits: 2011 edition

Members of SU's Arrupe Community gathered for their annual photo on Sept. 21. 

Back row (left to right): Dave Anderson (Alumni Relations), Bob Grimm (Sabbatical), Josef Venker (Chair, Fine Arts), Pat Kelly (Theology, Study of Sport), Steve Sundborg (President), Dave Leigh (English)  

Second row (left to right): Peter Ely (VP Mission and Ministry), Jim Reichmann (Philosophy Emeritus, Pastoral Ministry), Hugh Duffy (English, Theology), Mike Bayard (Director, Campus Ministry), Eric Watson (Chemistry), Tom Murphy (History), Pat O’Leary (University Chaplain), Natch Ohno (Student Development, Assistant Rector), Fernando Álvarez Lara (Hispanic Ministry, Doctoral candidate, San Francisco Theological Seminary) 

Front row (left to right): James Taiviet Tran (Boeing Engineer, Vietnamese pastoral ministry), Matthew Pyrć (Campus Ministry), Jason Welle (Global Engagement), Pat Howell (Rector, Professor of Pastoral Theology), Lorenzo Herman (STM Student), Jean Baptiste Ganza (MBA student), Mike Kelliher (Criminology) 

Absent: Emmett Carroll (Pastor, Bainbridge), Bob Egan (Pastoral Ministry), John Foster (Matteo Ricci College, English), Ron Funke (Pastoral Ministry), John Topel (Pastor, Port Townsend), Pat Twohy (Superior Rocky Mountain Mission, Urban Native American Ministry), Bill Watson (Director, Sacred Story Institute) 

Click the image or here for a LARGER VERSION.