First Studies Summer Programs

Midwest Jesuits in First Studies spent their summers in service projects, coast to coast

Thomas Hellebrand, SJ (this photo, center), and USA East Jesuit Francois Venne (second from left) with members of the FAITH accompaniment program outside Federal Immigration Court in San Diego; (bottom left photo, from left) USA Central and Southern Jesuits Viet Vu and Tom Laughlin with Charlie Bulger, SJ, in El Paso, Texas; and (bottom right photo) Chris Kinkor, SJ (second from left) sharing a meal in Tatahuicapan, Veracruz, Mexico.

Bellarmine House

Jesuits in first studies at Bellarmine House of Studies on the campus of St. Louis University, spent their summer programs in locations from South Dakota to Mexico. Taylr Bahr, SJ, lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he assisted at local Masses, opened and closed churches for wakes and funerals, appeared on Lakota Catholic Radio and helped with administrative work. In El Paso, Texas, Charlie Bulger, SJ, along with Jesuits Tom Laughlin and Viet Vu, both of the USA Central and Southern Province, studied Spanish, lived at Sacred Heart Parish and helped with various ministries. Chris Kinkor, SJ, worked at a parish in Tatahuicapan, Veracruz, Mexico, where he helped facilitate young adult workshops, assisted at Masses and prayer services, and developed a survey to identify opportunities to strengthen an existing lay catechist program. Thomas Hellenbrand, SJ, spent the summer with François Venne, SJ, of the USA East Province, in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. They served at a poor house in Tijuana, Cristo Rey San Diego High School and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish; assisted in Federal Immigration Court with the FAITH accompaniment program; and participated in a search and rescue mission for missing migrants in the Sonoran Desert.

Ciszek Hall

Jesuits in first studies at Ciszek Hall on the campus of Fordham University in New York, served their local community, the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, by designing and running a five-week summer day camp for kids, ages 5-12, in partnership with their local diocesan parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. This year’s chosen theme was Camp San Francisco de Assisi. Pictured are Noah Smith, SJ (left photo), and John Herrington, SJ (upper right photo), at the camp’s last day celebration, where parents and other families were invited to share in a potluck lunch in the parish basement.