Describe your current role — what do you do each day?
I think it is safe to say that my life revolves around spiritual direction these days. I have been involved in retreat work for at least the last two years but only recently feel that I have truly deepened my formation as a director. However, my work as a director at Loyola House in Guelph, Canada, doesn't take up all of my life! I am fairly busy directing people when there are retreats on, but that only amounts to some months of the year. This means I end up working in the office or on the land once in a while, unless I am working on special projects or am partaking in some course or formation.
What do you love most about being a brother?
Being available to live out a strong ministry of presence! While I am expected to take part and help with liturgy at the retreat center, I am obviously not as tied down to it as other ordained men would be! This helps me be more available to those who come to the center, and even those who work here! I also feel that people appreciate that I am brother to them. Not some father figure who ends up being a voice of wisdom in their life, but a brother who journeys with them as an equal (with similar struggles and doubts) and may have wisdom to share with them, but generally is just there to accompany them on the journey! There is something very deeply satisfying about that!
Why did you feel called to serve as a brother/as a Jesuit?
At first, it was a desire to go beyond the call of duty for others, especially the marginalized. I felt called by the Jesuits because I saw no other community who labored as whole heartedly as the Society of Jesus did for the care of creation and of the poor, in a contemplative but active way! But the more I work as a director, the more I feel called to simply labor for the good of souls as St. Ignatius had invited us to do.
