Fr. Daniel J. Kennedy, SJ

• Born: February 20, 1990

• Entered Society: August 25, 2012

• As a Jesuit: Father Kennedy worked at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska, as a theology faculty member and the director of student activities, overseeing student clubs; volunteered as a telephone crisis worker for Lifeline, the national suicide and crisis hotline; served at Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, Massachusetts, as a spiritual director, accompanying individuals on eight-day Ignatian retreats.

• Assignment Following Ordination: Father Kennedy will serve as special assistant to the president of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy while also working toward a master’s degree in mental health counseling at John Carroll University.

What I love most about the Society of Jesus are both the people and the mission. Being a Jesuit has allowed me to accompany, collaborate and pray with many individuals I would never have met unless I was in this form of life. When I reflect on my vocation, I find gratitude never in short supply for these relationships. The Society’s mission to seek God’s greater glory has evolved since its foundation, and I feel humbled to be able to add my small contribution to our shared task to meet the needs of the Church and world in our time.

I would never have thought I would be “Mr. Fun” at a high school, planning school-wide engagement events like pep rallies and dances, and running a student cheer section. When I heard these were part of my responsibilities, I felt unequal to the task. Even then, God guided me in the ways students and colleagues showed me what would work and how to serve them. I had to learn to enjoy the experimentation, not dwell too much on the failures and have a good laugh at the end of a day.

While there are too many Jesuits to count, I want to highlight two laypeople outside my family who had a lasting impact on my Jesuit vocation: Brad Boyle, a former theology teacher at St. John’s Jesuit High School & Academy in Toledo, Ohio; and Ellen Modica, a campus minister at Boston College. They encouraged me during my years of discernment, asked me good questions and inspired me to find my path to holiness as they did. My vocation is the result of laypeople being great vocation promoters for the Society.

Large photo by: Art Montes
Inset photo by: Steve Donisch