Congratulations, vovendi!

In a beautiful liturgy this morning at Gesu Church in Detroit, my brother novices Patrick Gilday, Jim McLenaghan, John Shea, Jayme Stayer and Eric Sundrup pronounced perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, removing the little 'n' before the 'S.J.' that follows their names and becoming approved scholastics. On Tuesday, Patrick, Jim, John, Jayme and Eric will move out of Loyola House to begin First Studies at Loyola University Chicago. I hope you'll join me in praying for our vovendi and congratulating them on the commitment they made this morning. I'm very proud of them, and though I'm glad to see them continue their formation I'll miss their presence here at the novitiate.

The next week will be a busy one at Loyola House. It'll be a time of transition for my class, as we see our secundi off and become secundi ourselves. At the reception following today's Vow Mass, our superior and novice director Father Bill Verbryke said that we officially become secundi today, but I'm not sure I'll really feel like one until we welcome the new primi this coming Saturday. We have a lot to do before then - taking care of numerous housekeeping issues including new room assignments, firming up plans for our fall ministry placements, registering for classes at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary and the University of Detroit Mercy, and more. At the same time we do all this, the primi-to-be are running on parallel tracks tying up all the loose ends they need to resolve before Entrance Day. For a perspective on the process, check out this weblog by incoming Chi Prov novice Richard Beebe. If you haven't already, you should also take a look at soon-to-be New Orleans Province novices Jason Brauninger and Sean Salai, to whom I should apologize for neglecting to mention their fine blogs earlier. (I'll miss your posts, guys, and please know that I'll be praying for you as you begin the novitiate.) And once again, please be sure to pray for Patrick, Jim, John, Jayme, Eric and all the Jesuits pronouncing first vows around this time across the country. Their example is a sign of great hope for the future, and they do great credit to this least Society. AMDG.