“Have only one desire throughout your life: to be and to become what God wants you to be in nature, in grace, and in glory, for time and eternity.”
MaryAnne Huepper, CSJ, M.A.
Growing up in the 1950s, I knew of the Jesuits only indirectly: my Uncle Frank had attended Marquette University, a Jesuit institution in Milwaukee, in the early 1940s, and my paternal grandparents were parishioners at Gesu, the Jesuit parish in the same city, in the 1920s. Words of praise for Jesuit education and charism—phrases like “a broad liberal arts education,” “down-to-earth wisdom,” and “finding God in all things”—echo faintly in my childhood memory.
By 1968, I was living in Orange, California, three weeks into postulancy (now called candidacy) with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Much to my surprise, I learned that my first assignment would be as a student at our house of studies—rented from the Jesuits—which meant I would attend Loyola University and Marymount College in Los Angeles. Wow! I cannot recall every detail of that year, but one moment stands out clearly: my first theology class with Jesuit professor Willis J. Egan. I can still picture the text we used—Theology of Revelation by Gabriel Moran, F.S.C.—a work that invited us into new theological horizons shaped by the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum).
It was a challenging topic for a newcomer like me, yet what remains with me most is Father Egan’s invitation to be fully engaged: to reflect on what we experienced and to discern its personal meaning. That approach to learning—anchored in reflection, engagement, and experience—has never left me. Only later did I come to understand that this method was rooted in a spiritual and educational tradition known as Ignatian pedagogy. Who knew?
The 1970s deepened my connection to the Jesuits. During that decade, they became not only my professors in ecclesiology, scripture, and moral theology, but also my spiritual directors and companions on the journey. Together we explored the historical and spiritual influences that shaped our founder, Jean Pierre Médaille. Following Vatican II, religious communities were called to re-examine their charisms and ministries in light of the contemporary world.
Consuelo Di Biase, C.S.J. (a Brentwood Sister of St. Joseph), reflected on this period of renewal, noting that through years of research and consultation with others—including Anne Hennessey, C.S.J. of our own community—“our horizons were widened. While religious communities in the United States were living into what was called new, the spirit of the original documents provided a guide and grounding for the new that is still in process.”[1]
Among those who guided us through that evolution was David Michael Stanley, S.J., whose preaching, teaching, and biblical scholarship helped us hold together the historical and the new. He was a master of the artful question, often returning us to this one: How do I characterize Jean Pierre Médaille’s aims for my congregation? His question was posed to each of us personally and to our community as a whole. In his way of teaching, I witnessed inclusion, discernment, and the art of learning itself—a powerful lesson for me as a young educator.
I would be remiss not to close with a memory of Patrick R. Shaules, S.J.—known to some as “Rocky.” I knew him simply as a gift during some difficult ministerial moments in the 1980s. He challenged me gently while ensuring I felt deeply heard. Through his guidance, I began to live more fully into the meaning of Maxim 10:6 of Jean Pierre Médaille, S.J.:
Have only one desire throughout your life: to be and to become what God wants you to be in nature, in grace, and in glory, for time and eternity.
I am still living into that meaning.
[1] Di Biase, C.S.J. The Origins of the Sisters of St. Joseph: A Call to Apostolic Mysticism, 3rd ed. St. Louis Productions: St. Louis, Missouri, 2014.
[1] Di Biase, C.S.J. The Origins of the Sister of St. Joseph: A Call to Apostolic Mysticism, third ed. St. Louis Productions: St. Louis Missouri, 2014.