Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Father Rage Monkey On Why He Did Not Become A Jesuit

What Would Ignatius Do?

I took personal interest in this matter as I drove past St. Joseph's University on a regular basis during my illustrious term at St. Charles Seminary. With that in mind, the word of the day is "vet" as in careful examination. If this is what constitutes education in the Jesuit tradition, then it merely reinforces what I said when I was a naive newly minted Catholic seminarian.

A brother seminarian from New York City once observed, "You've got the brains; why not be a Jesuit?" I replied, "Nah, I went to all the trouble of becoming a Catholic, why would I want to change?"
I have a solution for those who are interested.
If you want to reform Catholic higher education, do not give these school one more thin dime. Not one penny more. The first whiff of a problem, write a letter. But if the response is anything other than "we didn't realize this person's stance," then not one more dime.
And if you are getting ready to send kids to college only send them to proper Catholic colleges, such as Christendom in VA.

Link (here) to Catholic Rage Monkey, the blog of Fr. Shane Tharp

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Father- it is harsh and unfair comments like yours about Jesuits not being Catholic , that tears at the heart of those of us in HIS Company who are proudly Orthodox and adherent to everything CATHOLIC. NO ONE that I have ever met has the right to judge one's level of being Catholic. That judgment is left best to God, it seems. Remember you speak of men who have given their lives in total service to the Church and are no less ordained to the sacred priesthood than you or I. Additionally this is not only hurtful to some Jesuits as I see it but really tears at the integrity our UNITY as the Body of Christ.
Father Philip Florio, SJ,
Roman Catholic Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania and Adjunct Spiritual Director at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary