Commitment

Born February 14, 1945
Entered July 30, 1964

Resides Cicero, IL

There are so many rich, wonderful words, and profound expressions that might very well express and encapsulate my life’s experience and journey (too many, really, to even attempt to enumerate in this brief reflection). But the single word that my mind continues to revolve around, and that I keep coming back to, is that of commitment. I believe this word expresses well what I learned first – obviously – in the Novitiate: that a Jesuit is striving as one who lives “contemplation in action.”

We might in honesty and humility say that the really operative word in this bold endeavor is that of “striving.” The journey has its ultimate goal, of course, but its calling to strive is life-long. And that is why commitment is so important. Tomyself, commitment means continuing to strive and move forward, when the course of the journey – at certain moments – brings us to some pretty serious business. In those moments, discernment and a renewed sense of commitment may be the order of the day. “Taking stock” at certain moments of our lives may, in fact, be inescapable, even forced upon us.

Commitment bonds me to others, and enjoins me to reflect upon how important we all are to each other. A perhaps overly-used expression today is that saying: “We are all in this together.” A bit hackneyed? Perhaps. But I still believe there is some deep truth in it. Was Jesus deeply bounded and bonded to the Apostles? Was St. Ignatius to the First Companions? Absolutely.

Commitment strengthens and enhances maturity in every understanding: human, spiritual, emotional, psychological, social, emotional. Commitment also strengthens fidelity. And so, together with so many personal attributes, commitment also is very Ignatian.