An Historic Moment in Time - The New Orleans Province of the ...

The Jesuits are looking for
a few good (and diverse) Men!
By Fr. Marvin Kitten, S.J.,
Director of Vocations
Fa ther General Pete r- H a n s
Ko lve n b a ch has commente d
on more than one occasion
that he sees that we must
a t t ract a dive rse group of
young men to the Society of
Jesus if we are to remain vital. If we
j u st clone our own kind, we will soon
run out of steam and we a ken as a
fo rce in the Church and in the wo rl d .
The Jesuits of the New Orl e a n s
P rovince have been tru ly blessed with
great dive rsity – something that Fa th e r
G e n e ral has noticed and liked! This
was a major reason for his recent visit
to Grand Coteau and our nov i t i a te
th e re. Fr. Ko lve n b a ch wa n ted to be
p resent to and learn from these new
and energetic Nov i c e s .
I would like to share with you two
exa mples of the dive rsity in our
c u rrent group of novices. Ro b e rt Leal
is an American citizen and at 41 is th e
o l d e st novice at Grand Coteau. José
( Pepe) Ruiz is a Mexican citizen and at
22 is the yo u n ge st. They will each te l l
their own inte re sting vocation sto ry,
again exa mples of great dive rs i t y !
Robert Leal, nSJ
A 20 Year Journey comes to
Fruition
The seeds of my vocation were
actually planted more than twenty years
ago in the library of Texas Southmost
14 The SouthernJesuit
College in Brownsville, Texas. This is
the same city where I was born and
where I have spent the majority of my
life.
I can still remember quite vividly
the book that started my journey to the
Jesuit novitiate. “A Report on the
American Jesuits”, was written by John
LaFarge, S.J. and illustrated by
Margaret Bourke-White. The
photographs of Jesuits working in
universities, on the docks and in the
tropics filled me with a desire to serve
Christ in a similar way.
My “official” contact with the
Society began that same year, and while
I did not apply for another 20 years, the
idea of becoming a Jesuit was firmly
planted in my mind and soul.
The tug of emptiness –
yearning for more.
How can I describe those 20 years?
They were years of work and education,
years of personal trials and victories
that shaped me such that I began to hear
the “call” of my vocation more clearly
and more urgently.
Quietly, and over time, I began to
realize that many of the things in the
world that were supposed to bring me
joy actually left me with an empty
feeling that would not leave me alone.
During these 20 years the idea of the
Jesuits never really left me.
Three years ago I became the
Regional Director of a foster care and
adoption agency in Texas. This job
represented the pinnacle of my career as
a social worker, but I also began to
realize that maybe the time had come to
re-visit the idea of joining the Society.
Once again, in spite of my personal
and vocational success, I still had the
nagging feeling that I needed to do
more with my life. I still had the idea
that I could be one of those Jesuits in
the book, giving my life to Christ and
serving my fellow man. As a result of
prayer and deep reflection I finally
made the decision that the time had
come to apply.
Making the right choice at the
right time
The experience of being an “older”
novice is certainly interesting and
sometimes challenging. Yet, it can also
be said that every one of my novice
brothers brings something that is