2 Vol 4 Issue 2 - The Jesuits of Upper Canada

Vol 4 Issue 2
Christ in our contemporary world
by Gerard Ryan, S.J.
I was born on June 22, 1976 to Vincent and Bridget Ryan.
Our family home is in rural Tipperary County, Ireland. I grew up
with five brothers, Michael, Liam, Vincent, Patrick and Brian.
I was an altar boy for many years, and played the usual Irish
sports for my local parish. As a young 22-year-old, I spent a
summer at L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto. It was my first time
being out of Ireland. The experience of community, faith and
covenant that so characterizes L’Arche lured me from just a
summer commitment to a three-year commitment. During my time at L’Arche I encountered the
Jesuits, and there began a whole new journey in my life.
On August 16, 2002, I entered the Novitiate of the
North American Martyrs, in St. Paul, MN. During
those two years of novitiate my sense of belonging
in the Jesuits grew and matured; this process was
fostered through the various novitiate
experiments, The Spiritual Exercises, and a growing
fraternal love and affection of my Jesuit
brothers in my local community and in the Society of
Jesus in general.
Needless to say, at times I feel unworthy of the gift
of the call to priesthood that the Lord has given me.
These times, however, are often when I am weakened
by selfishness and individualism.
www.jesuits.ca
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2 Vol 4 Issue 2

Ryan continued.
Thankfully, I am growing in the knowledge and
strength in the practice of asking God for his
assistance, and in asking my Jesuit brothers,
family and friends for their love and care.
Priesthood connotes my images and descriptions
today, some positive and some negative.
Last summer I read an article by Michael
Buckley, S.J., on understanding the priesthood.
He presents three dimensions to priesthood
that have helped me understand my
priesthood in a more deliberative and grounded manner. Priesthood is a ministry of word, a ministry of
interiority, and a ministry to alleviate human pain.
I felt the realness of Fr. Buckley’s understanding of priesthood during my last visit home to Ireland.
During that visit I met a high school classmate of mine, Tom, at a BBQ. We hadn’t seen each other
since we completed high school in Tipperary town in 1995. During the course of the evening, Tom
shared with me how during the course of his mid-twenties he had engaged in a life of drug abuse
for a period of five years. During this period he fathered a son, whom he is deeply committed to and
loves. In his own progress toward health, he returned to school and now holds a senior position within
his company. He added that he does not believe in God.
At the same time, he also shared with me that he respects what I do and hopes that I continue on my
path toward ordination. I responded that I found that an odd but generous response from someone
who no longer identifies with the Christian faith community. In my own mind I thought instead that Tom
would understand my life as a waste of time. His response, encouraging me to continue in my priestly
life, deeply moved me. He shared that he had seen some friends die in car crashes, others commit
suicide, and others simply fall into a life of abuse and meaninglessness.
He added that in these moments “we all need men like
you, Gerard, to publicly and privately pray for us, to tell the
grieving sister that her brother’s life is not cut short, but he now
lives somewhere else.” Paul’s recognition for the need and
relevance of priests, even if such recognition is not particularly
immediate to his life right now, communicates to me the
ministerial urgency of communicating the presence of a
meaningful Christ in our contemporary world.
Ordination will not begin the ministerial nature of this work, in
that my life to date has been ministerial as I share God’s love for
all people. My ordination will, however, ratify my ministry of the
word, ministry of interiority and ministry to alleviate human suffering
in a specific sacramental way and integrate these ways into
the public mission of the church. Admittedly, my own way of
exercising my ministerial nature is not demonstrative. At the
same time, my own experience has shown me that the manner in which I exercise and receive
ministerial care has been and continues to be a grace to God’s people, moving them and me together
toward a greater commitment.
F
Photos courtesy: Moussa Faddoul - www.fotoreflection.com and Ryan Hayward, St. Bonaventure’s College, St. John’s, NL.
2 Vol 4 Issue 2

Vol 4 Issue 2
Farewell
Fr. Len Altilia, S.J.
Assistant for Vocations
Jesuits in English Canada
How does one sign off gracefully after 16 years in
vocation ministry? I’m not sure, but I’ll try.
I got into this ministry, after more than 20 years of
high school ministry, by what can only be described
as the prompting of the Holy Spirit. As I sat in a
meeting, back in the spring of 1996, in which our
Province explored what was needed for vocation
promotion for the future, I found myself increasingly
excited and eager to do this work. I related that
excitement and my desire to undertake this ministry
to the in-coming Provincial, Fr. David Nazar, who
immediately accepted the offer. Looking back over
these years I have never once regretted making that
offer. It has been a blessed and joyful ministry that
has moved in directions I never anticipated at that
moment, but which have always led to consolation
and gratitude.
As I prepare now to move on to other challenges and
experiences, I look back with great appreciation over
these years and recognize the graces that I have
received from the generosity of God. I will try to
name a few of them that stand out particularly for
me.
The support and encouragement of my fellow
Jesuits, both at the level of Province administration
and among the rank and file, has been unflagging
and immensely helpful in so many ways. The three
Provincial Superiors for whom I have worked have
never failed to express their gratitude and support for
me. They probably don’t realize just how important
that is; but I want to thank them publicly for it
because it made it so much easier for me to carry
on.
Equally important was the generous and willing
cooperation of the other members of the English
Canada Province. With the rarest of exceptions (and
only then for very good reason), any time I requested
assistance for interviews, spiritual direction, hospitality
or accompaniment for a candidate, my brothers
responded with alacrity and enthusiasm.
And, of course, they have dutifully prayed daily for
vocations throughout these years, and the effectiveness
of that is proven in the quality of the men with
whom God has blessed us.
Lots and lots of people do vocation ministry on
behalf of their religious congregations and dioceses. I
have had the privilege and honour of working with so
many of these wonderful people locally, nationally, and
internationally, Jesuits and others, men and women,
all people of faith, hope, and love. I am particularly
grateful first to the members of the Province Vocation
Committee who also promote the Jesuit vocation in
their local area, and to my fellow Jesuit vocation directors
past and present in Canada and the U.S. whose
friendship and care I have enjoyed for so long. I also
want to mention the members of the Toronto Area Vocation
Directors Association who were much more to
me than just co-labourers.
The most important people in this experience have
been, of course, the men who come forward to explore
the possibility of a Jesuit vocation. The joy of my life
has been the opportunity to share deeply in their
vocation discernment and to be witness to the work of
God in them. I thank them for their trust, their
generosity, their honesty, and their faith.
With great confidence I now pass along this office to
Fr. William Mbugua, S.J., whom I accompanied on
his journey to become a Jesuit, which began formally
about 13 years ago. This ministry will be in very good
hands. I encourage all who have been working with me
recently to be as open, honest, generous, and respectful
to him as you have been to me.
Finally, I wish to express my profound gratitude to
God whose love and grace have sustained me in
these years and whose wisdom has guided me. I have
received lots of accolades for my work in this ministry.
But I have always known that the real praise belongs
to God. I have never been responsible for creating a
vocation, for turning people into Jesuits. Only God can
do that. And thank God He has done it so very well!
F
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Meet the new Assistant for Vocations
Please welcome Fr. William Njenga Mbugua, S.J., who will assume the role of
Assistant for Vocations for the Jesuits in English Canada Province on August 1, 2012.
Fr. Mbugua was born in Kenya. He is the ninth child from a deeply religious family of six
sisters and six brothers. He moved to Canada for university studies and planned to return
to his native Kenya, but while in Winnipeg he met the Jesuits at St. Ignatius Parish
and his plans changed.
After much discernment, Fr. Mbugua entered the Society of Jesus in 2001. Studies in
Philosophy and Theology followed while Regency formation with AJAN, (African Jesuits AIDS Network),
allowed Fr. Mbugua to connect with those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa. He has also worked with the
youth at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Toronto.
Fr. Mbugua was ordained in 2011 and is about to complete his graduate studies in theology at Regis College
in Toronto. After August 1, he may be reached via email at vocation@jesuits.ca
Jesuit inspiration
“Take, O Lord and receive all my liberty, my memory,
my understanding and my entire will. All I own and
possess I have from you. To you I return it. It is all
yours, do with it what you will. Give me only your love
and your grace, that is enough for me.”
- St. Ignatius Loyola
Frontiers - The Jesuits in English Canada Vocations Newsletter
Fr. Len Altilia, S.J.
Assistant for Vocations
Jesuits in English Canada
43 Queen’s Park Cres. E.
Toronto, ON M5S 2C3
Canada
(416) 962-4500
vocation@jesuits.ca
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