Yes, It Has Been Worth It

There is a moment in the 2023 short documentary film The Time You Were Given when the filmmaker asks Fr. David Shields, SJ, a simple question: “Was it all worth it?”

Reflecting on his 63 years as a Jesuit, Fr. Shields offers a resounding yes. “God has been good, and my life has been interesting and full—a wonderful opportunity to relate to people in intimate and rich ways,” he says.

Father Shields was drawn to his vocation as a student at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee. There, he saw in the Jesuits the life he wanted—one of hard work, yet fun, with significant purpose and a true sense of community.

“I arrived at Holy Rosary Mission and Red Cloud Indian School in May 1974,” he recalls. “These were very difficult years on the Pine Ridge Reservation, a time of great violence. I kept track for a while of those I knew who died. In just five years, there were 60.”

Father Shields served more than two fulfilling decades in South Dakota, frequently traveling great distances as part of his mission. But by 1995, macular degeneration, which he had lived with since his teens, put an end to his ability to drive.

He took a brief sabbatical, to study Spanish in Guatemala, before returning to Milwaukee, where he was missioned to St. Patrick’s Church. Intent on bringing Ignatian spirituality to the parish, he toured a vacant former convent.

“It was a wreck,” he recalls. “But I was a Greek major. What did I know about such things? I thought, ‘Here is an accessible, affordable place for the Latinx community to gather.’”

“ABOUT THE TIME WE NEEDED SOMETHING, THE RIGHT PERSON OR RESOURCE WOULD SHOW UP. WE HAD STARTED WITH THE BELIEF THAT EVERYONE HAS GIFTS TO SHARE.”

Day-by-day, year-by-year, Casa Romero Renewal Center grew beyond his original vision. “We tried and tested programs, and kept what worked,” he says. “About the time we needed something, the right person or resource would show up. We had started with the belief that everyone has gifts to share.”

Today, he remains in awe of what Casa Romero has become.

In true Jesuit form, the ministry now has a life of its own, with capable staff members who love the organization and have new ideas. “When I got out of it, I had given everything I had to give,” he says. “My part is over. I don’t want to get in the way.”

Since January of 2023, Fr. Shields has lived at a senior Jesuit community in Wisconsin, doing pastoral work as his health allows. This includes providing spiritual direction, and leading an eight-day retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House on Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, Wis.

“It’s what you make of it,” he says of life in a senior community. “If you come to a place with open arms, you can focus on ‘What can I do?’ instead of ‘What can’t I do?’”

There’s actually one thing Fr. Shields might have done differently: “I have no regrets, except I might have liked to learn Spanish earlier in life so I could have been more fluent.”