Fr Justin Glyn SJ has offered a reflection on the Jesuit formation process after he and Fr Jamie Calder SJ made their final vows this month at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Newman College, Melbourne. Source: Australian Jesuits.
Some say that the reason for the length of Jesuit formation is that we are slow learners. There’s a kind of truth here as Ignatian spirituality emphasises repetition and the familiarity with God which comes with time.
It is true that we were the first institute in the Church to take two sets of vows. While our first vows are permanent and mark a commitment on our part to the Society, our final vows are a completion of the process.
By them, the bonds are strengthened and made mutual.
The Society of Jesus recognises that we are now full members – having been tested over more than a decade of spiritual growth, study, companionship and pastoral work and we, for our part, renounce all title to any property or option of life outside the Society. (At our first vows, we relinquished control over our assets but not legal title.)
In addition, some of us take four vows, also promising radical availability. The fourth vow has sometimes been called a vow of obedience to the Pope, reinforcing a popular stereotype of Jesuits as a sort of papal Praetorian Guard.
The truth is much more nuanced – and interesting. All religious are obedient to the Pope, but all express that in very different ways.
Some are contemplative (spending a life in silent prayer) and some are apostolic (combining their prayer with work in the world in various ways). The better comparison to the fourth vow is the Benedictine vow of stability – to remain in place for the glory of God.
Our vow is the flipside. It is a vow of obedience to the Pope in matters of mission. In other words, it is a vow to go wherever we are needed – as and when.
These days, while the Pope is certainly able to call on us directly, mostly the call comes through our Jesuit superiors.
Pray for us as this new horizon of service opens to us and as we deepen in love of Christ and our sisters and brothers.
Fr Justin Glyn SJ,
General Counsel, Australian ProvinceÂ
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A new horizon of service (Australian Jesuits)
