Kevin C. Spinale, SJ, 37, is from Arlington, Massachusetts, and attended Boston College High School. At the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, he played rugby and was president of the team his senior year. During college, Spinale had a class with former Holy Cross president Fr. John Brooks, SJ; the two became friends, and Brooks was a major influence on Spinale’s decision to join the Society. After graduating from Holy Cross in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in classics, he joined the Peace Corps, serving two years in Romania as an English teacher. He then received a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, while teaching at a public middle school in Brooklyn. After completing his degree in 2005, Spinale joined the Jesuits. As a novice, he worked as an orderly at Calvary Hospital, a cancer hospice in the Bronx, and taught at his alma mater, Boston College High. Being near home during this time was a blessing, as his father was diagnosed with cancer, and Spinale was able to care for him during his last days. Next he studied philosophy at the University of Toronto for three years and then studied for a year at the University of Chicago, receiving a master’s degree in philosophy in 2010. He returned to Boston College High and taught English and coached rugby for two years. Missioned next to the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Spinale received a Master of Divinity degree and also worked on a master’s degree in English. As a deacon, he served at parishes in South Boston; he is also on the associate trustee board of the Nativity School in Worcester and serves at America magazine as moderator of the Catholic book club and a writer. After ordination, he will spend the summer working at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Manhattan and the fall semester working at Holy Cross while completing his master’s degree in English at Boston College. Spinale will celebrate his first Mass as a priest at Fordham University Church in New York. (Northeast Province)