By Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ
Availability and Depth. These two words have captured my understanding of a Jesuit vocation for many years. Of course, they are not new words, nor are they new ways to express things “Jesuit”, that’s to say, they have always more or less been in the lexicon. But these very powerful words, oft repeated by former Fr. General Adolfo Nicolas, solidify what I have come to know and understand are the guiding forces or the grace that infuses every Jesuit vocation since our beginning.
Deepening awareness of where and how one understands ALL that our loving God is doing for each of us at a given moment came to Ignatius over a lifetime and sets up for us as followers of his mission, how and what to do. In his recuperation at the Castle Loyola, in his reflectiveness in the cave at Manresa, in his studies at Paris and at his desk writing letters from Rome as the General, Father Ignatius instilled the importance of ongoing deepening and availability to the grace of God. Thus that concept of deepening is in the life blood of our Order.
Enter into the picture, Peter Canisius. Back in 1543, when Peter Canisius met the Society of Jesus in Germany, it was this deepening that captured his gifted mind and opened his heart to serve Christ and the Church for a lifetime. Peter Canisius became openly available to the needs of God’s people in time and place through the particular lenses of Ignatian Spirituality. His heart never turned back.
Peter Canisius is the hero of Catholic Central Europe. He revitalized faith communities by teaching children catechism; he opened universities to capture the minds of young adults; he opened parishes to create faith spaces for families; and he informed and educated the political leaders on how to be faith-filled guides for the people. Deepening roots was his modus operandi and he made himself available to multiple people, places and experiences, all with the intention of finding, listening and loving Christ in, through and around them.
As a teacher and campus minister today at Canisius High School in Buffalo, I see those same principles of work that guided Peter Canisius in my own ministry with our students. Helping young people deepen their roots is my key role as a Jesuit priest - spiritual roots through the Kairos retreats, social justice roots by the experience of service immersions, academic roots through religion classes, but more importantly, in my mind, relationship roots, creating spaces in all of those areas for our students to know brotherhood. The encounter with depth allows availability and there grace is active. Christ is made known. I believe only there, in that actively vulnerable space, can we hope to capture the minds and hearts of a culture, and point them toward Christ. Grace then provides for all future possibilities.
The privilege of walking with the youth of Canisius High School and attempting to show them the path to God is very humbling and rewarding. My vocation and dependence on Jesus Christ has never been stronger. I pray that others see the gift of this work and feel called to serve with greater depth and availability in the Society of Jesus. May grace show us the way.
St. Peter Canisius, pray for us!
Fr. Charles Frederico, SJ, is the Director of Campus Ministry at Canisius High School in Buffalo, NY.
The Jesuit Lectionary is a project of the Office of Ignatian Spirituality and the USA East Jesuit Province Vocations Office. For more information about becoming a Jesuit, visit BeaJesuit.org.