A Life of Service and Surprises

THE ONE TRUTH THAT IS ALWAYS PRESENT IS THAT OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF SURPRISES.

The biography of Fr. Albert DiUlio, SJ, reads like the combined resumes of several people, but such is the life of a Jesuit who has enjoyed an extensive array of assignments in many places.

He has served as a university president (Marquette University, Xavier University and Catholic University of Ethiopia, which he founded); in several roles at Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wis.; as a professor at Santa Clara University in California and an administrator at both Loyola Marymount University and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles; as a secretary for finance and higher education for the Jesuit Conference USA in Washington, D.C.; as president and treasurer of the Vatican Observatory Foundation in Tucson, Ariz.; and as treasurer for the USA Midwest Province in Chicago.

There were other roles, too. With a Jesuit’s journey like that, it is difficult to choose one position as a favorite. “I found fulfillment and joy in everything,” Fr. DiUlio says. “Certainly, there were some difficult times as there are in every life’s work, but that’s also part of the Jesuit make-up, to go where the need is greatest. And our formation prepares us for that.”

Growing up in Laona, Wis., Fr. DiUlio hadn’t considered the priesthood. But during college, at Marquette University in Milwaukee, he gradually discerned that the Jesuit life could be for him.

Since formation, Fr. DiUlio’s Jesuit identity has definitely evolved. “I found my life in the Society become more complete with every activity,” he says. “There was never just one thing to do, whether teaching, serving in administration, or doing parish work. Some of the experiences were years-long.”

During one of the shorter assignments, he enjoyed informal learning experiences between formal ones in Hawaii. Looking to do something pastoral between graduate school academic sessions, he provided relief to priests in small towns so they could take vacations or spend time with families. What he found were tiny but vibrant parishes that afforded solitude with ample time for prayer and opportunities to meet many wonderful people with ethnic heritages different from his.

The discoveries continue today, in his mission to pray for the Church and the Society, living in community and companionship with other Jesuits at a senior care facility in the Milwaukee area.

“Here, too, life is rich,” he says. “Those of us who can help care for others do what we can, however we can. We continue to learn from each other. And the staff is amazing. For that, and the quality of accommodation, we are grateful for the support of our friends and benefactors. Everyone gets excellent care.”

Even now, the wonder continues. “As I reflect on my assignments over the years, I realize they are not what I expected when I entered the Jesuits,” Fr. DiUlio says. “I presumed I would spend most of my life in higher education, either teaching or in administration. But I found that between the needs the provincials identified and the ways I’d been prepared to serve, I never had to say ‘I can’t’ or ‘I won’t’ do what we discussed. I never felt constrained, and I always felt heard when I had a suggestion.

“The one truth that is always present is that our God is the God of surprises. Perhaps we don’t receive just one call, but several calls, for that, in many ways, defines the life of a Jesuit, to go where the spirit and the Society lead, and to always be open to sharing in God’s work no matter where, how or when.”