You know you're working for the Jesuits when...

1.  Leaving the toilet seat up is standard office practice.

2.  Going out for dinner or staying home becomes a matter of "discernment."

3.  Even if aliens landed in the centre of town and started playing Born to Run with Bruce Springsteen, you know community night is community night, and they're staying home.

4.  You can make any nonsense real if you add the word "Ignatian" in front of it. Real things like Ignatian spirituality, Ignatian prayer, Ignatian exercises lead to thinks like Ignatian bacon and eggs...

5.  You can have a three-hour conversation ONLY about people who you know in common.

6.  You're never more than two degrees of separation from the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

7.  Going to Mass is part of the work day.

8.  A tweet from the Pope becomes regular coffee break chit chat.

9.  Words like "Provincial," "Tertianship," and "dessolations" slip into your everyday language.

10.  Taking a class from Roc O'Connor is – in terms of social status – on par with taking a class from The Edge.

11.  Taking a vow of poverty starts looking pretty enticing.

12.  Drinks are almost always paid for.

13.  You use every excuse in the book to tell your Jesuit boss why you have to leave early, when the truth is you just have crippling menstrual pains.

14.  Although you work for a man, the office is nearly 100% women.

15.  The Pope is pretty much the 5th Beatle.

16. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier and Father General Adolfo Nicolas become Iggy, Frank and Nico.

17.  A heated debate will ensue about whether a week-long Ignatian retreat counts agains allotted holidays.



18. You watch Steven Colbert, hoping Fr James Martin makes an appearance.

19.  You never mention the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Maryknolls or any of the "non-Jesuit" orders. Episcopalians are ok, but just barely.

Finally home

So I've been complaining a lot lately.

But to be fair, I've been feeling WEEEIRD since I've been home. It wasn't until tonight that I remembered where I always feel at home, always loved, always understood.

It's not the Old Dundee Bar. It's not the Underwood Bar.

Wait for it...

Lower Saint John's.

... pause for the anticipated eye roll from my non-religious/anti-religion friends...

Lower Saint John's is the small chapel underneath Saint John's Church, the heart of Creighton University's campus. It's got all the old furniture no one uses anymore and it's walls are just removable partitions. But each one of those 30 seats is filled with someone who chose to be there. Bluejays t-shirts, scrubs, workout clothes, business suits. Come as you are.

You know, I don't go to church a lot when I'm not home. I tried in Thailand, but there were only two Catholic churches, both of which were a bit too missionary for my tastes. I went to a few Jesuit Masses in India, but as I wrote in my blog, I didn't dig that scene either.

There has to be a level of trust built in for me to really open up and accept the homily and the gospel, and I have turned out to be not very trusting of religious communities I don't know. But I trust all the Creighton Jesuits with my spiritual life one hundred percent.

I was working in Fr Doll's office today when I heard my dad looking for me around the Jesuit house. He walked in and invited me to Mass with him.

And right when I walked in, I breathed a little easier. I listened as well as I could (it's hard for my mind not to wander). And gave the sign of peace to people, hugged my dad. I took the Eucharist and sat, with that familiar taste of wine and wheat on my tongue, closed my eyes and gave thanks.

Thanks Creighton Jesuits, for welcoming home without knowing it.

Ignatian Hospitality

"Do you know her story? She is one of us," one Jesuit told a lunch-table of Jesuits this afternoon. "Her father was a Jesuit novice." They all laughed and made the same time-tested jokes about Jesuits -- never arrive late to lunch because there will be nothing left, or they will only allow  me to interview them if I offer drinks first. They asked me about my Bible tattoo and we all laughed when no one could tell me what the verse was.

Wherever I travel with JRS, this has been the case. I am received with such great hospitality and warmth. In Nepal, Fr Amal insisted on buying me cigarettes and sharing his good vodka with me after knowing me all of one hour. Sister Mary sewed me two pairs of pants and took me to the hospital when I was sick. In Thailand, Fr Bernard was always happy to go find some jazz or blues music with me when he was in town.

Today I was sitting in a nearly-dark lunchroom because of a power-outtage. Saying I stuck out like a sore thumb, isn't quite the right simily. Let's just say I stuck out like a Molly in a room of Indian Jesuits.

But still, they wanted to know all about me. And one thing I have learned is that if you know one Jesuit, you know them all. That is to say, this is how the conversations always go. "Oh, you're from Omaha? Then you must know Fr Greg Carlson." Or Fr Andy Alexander, or the infamous Fr Roc O'Connor.

Yes, I do!

And these conversations prove two things. One, that Omaha is, in fact, the center of the universe. And two, the Jesuits is truly one big family.

…Albeit an incredibly dysfunctional one. But I am happy to be part of it, in whatever way.

Last year, Fr Aldolfo Nicolas, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, wrote about Ignatian hospitality in a letter to JRS. “How can we advocate and promote more actively the Gospel value of hospitality in today's world of closed borders and increased hostility to strangers," he wrote.

Well, Fr Nicolas, I can report back that I have seen this hospitality in action. While I am not seeking asylum in these countries, I come to these Jesuit houses and colleges as a stranger. And I am received like family. In some projects I visit, I cannot tell the difference between the Jesuit staff, the refugee staff and the lay staff. JRS shows its hospitality by valuing its staff, regardless of life's circumstances.

I now hope I can take the lessons learned from these men and translate it into my work. I hope I can be just as hospitable as the people I meet and promote hospitality in the regions where I serve.