1. Where are you currently missioned and how’s it going?

I am currently missioned to study theology at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, though I haven’t started there yet. I just finished three years of regency (two at Seattle Prep and one with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Liberia, West Africa).

2. When the first time you thought about being a Jesuit?

I first thought about being a Jesuit after college. I was a Jesuit Volunteer at a soup kitchen in Dallas, Texas and working with the poor while living with other Jesuit Volunteers really sparked my desire to live a life of service.

3. How have your friendships changed or stayed the same since you entered the Portland novitiate?

My friendships have deepened as a result of my life in the Society. The Society teaches us to seek and find God in all things and as a result my friendships have been enriched because I am trying to find God in my relationships. As my friends and I get older I also find that they are much more interested in turning to questions of God and the Church and this is a great gift.

4. Is there a particular author, artist, musician, etc. that has resonated with you during the transition into religious life?

I have always been a big fan of U2 because many of their songs are about issues that human beings face everyday. I find them to be a very sincere band. Philip Roth is an author whom I have discovered recently and I find his warning against judging others (especially in his book American Pastoral) to be fruitful.

5. What the biggest surprise so far?

This is a tough question, but I think the biggest surprise so far is how much I have grown since I entered the Society [in 2000]. This growth is not so much my hard work at trying to grow but being open to its possibility. God has taken that opportunity and been very generous in return.

6. What would you tell a man who’s considering becoming a Jesuit?

Join the Jesuits! It is a life well spent and we are given the opportunity to follow Christ in a particular way. A way which is challenging and involves sacrifice to be sure, but a way that encourages us to seek and find God in all things as well as be manifestations of God’s love to those most in need. We are called to be men of great desires and dreams and to go anywhere in the world that God needs…it’s hard to imagine a better life.