Letter from the Provincial

Dear Friends,

It may not be obvious unless you pay close attention, but Jesuits magazine is published three times a year. Across the arc of each year, we try to include stories that reflect the Jesuits’ Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs).

First published in February of 2019 by Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ, the UAPs outline four guideposts for Ignatian ministry through the end of this decade. The areas are: Showing the Way to God, Walking with the Excluded, Journeying with Youth and Caring for our Common Home. These are not strategic goals or objectives but rather a horizon that shapes and guides the work of all Jesuits and lay collaborators.

“BRING HEALING TO OUR LIVES, THAT WE MAY PROTECT THE WORLD AND NOT PREY ON IT, THAT WE MAY SOW BEAUTY, NOT POLLUTION AND DESTRUCTION.”

–Pope Francis’ prayer from his encyclical Laudato Si’

In our cover story, we take a page from Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home, the encyclical letter published by Pope Francis. The title of the encyclical comes from a canticle of St. Francis, Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore, which translates to “Praise be to you, my Lord” for the works of (your) creation. In the story, we look at sustainability programs at our six universities, as well as other environmental initiatives in the Midwest Province.

We have a profile of Jenny Bordeaux-Black Bear, the director of religious education at St. Francis Mission on Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, who is both journeying with youth and walking with the excluded. Hers is a monumental task, and Jenny is doing vital work with youth.

Also in South Dakota, Eugene Iron Shell Jr. writes in celebration of the 50th year of the permanent deacon program, including Jenny’s father-in-law, Deacon Black Bear Jr., who had to apply for a dispensation from the Holy See to be ordained in 1976.

Elsewhere, the Covid-19 lockdown spurred Spanish teacher Patricia Luehrmann of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati to establish an online tutoring program and eventually resume taking students to Peru for service trips in the Fe y Alegría schools network, an initiative that is still going strong. Fe y Alegría schools hold a special place in my heart, as I lived and taught in Peru in the early 1990s.

As you enjoy the magazine, I invite you to consider living out the Universal Apostolic Preferences in your own life as an example to those you encounter. I thank you always for your support, and please know of my prayers for you and those you love.

Yours in Christ,