Fr. L. Ryen Dwyer, SJ

Entered Society: August 24, 2013

As a Jesuit: Father Dwyer served at the Ignatian Spirituality Project; as a volunteer coordinator on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; and as a catechist and deacon at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Berkeley, California.

Assignment Following Ordination: Father Dwyer will serve as associate pastor at Holy Rosary Mission, the Oglala Lakȟóta Catholic community of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

In Luke 12, Jesus says, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.” What is required, Jesus says before this, is readiness to serve, faithfulness and love. Jesus gives us an example of what this looks like in his ministry, his death and his resurrection, and he shows us the God who doesn’t forget—even about two sparrows. As I prepare to minister as a Jesuit priest, I hold Jesus’s words and examples close to my heart; I feel like the sparrow who is not forgotten in God’s sight.

So many have cared for and provided for me during my years of Jesuit formation: my bodily needs and my emotional, intellectual and spiritual growth. I have had the privilege of being formed by a community of disciples—women, men, children, so many people—who have demonstrated and taught me what it looks like to follow Jesus. I have learned during my formation that everything that is given to us, and everything that happens to us, is for others. My prayer these days is that everything I have received—every word of the Gospel that has been proclaimed to me in speech, deed and often anonymous provision—may continue to bear fruit for the life of the world, especially for the little ones, the sparrows. I am truly grateful to be a member of the Church and a companion of Jesus in the Society of Jesus.

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