Fr. Geoffrey Schneider, S.J. To Turn 99

Fr. Geoffrey "Fritz" Schneider, S.J. far right

If Jesuit Fr Geoffrey Schneider knew that he would still be working at the age of 98, he may just have chosen another vocation, for it was the Jesuits' fierce work ethic that put him off joining the novitiate in the first place, reports Province Express.  

"I was baptised by a Jesuit, a friend of my father's, I lived in a Jesuit parish in Hawthorn, and I attended Xavier College. And so I saw a lot of the Jesuits," Fr Schneider explains. "I thought they worked too hard, so I didn't want to join them. Then after a while I realised that whatever work you do, if you aim to do it well you have to work hard. So I thought I might as well join the Jesuits." 

Seventy-eight years later, the capacity for hard work is like marrow in the bones of this gentle, affable Jesuit, who will turn 99 in December this year. Every school day, Fr Schneider walks from his home on Jeffereys Street in Milsons Point, Sydney, to the St Aloysius Junior School where he has an office with his name affixed to the door. Here he works as school chaplain, a position he has held for close on 30 years.

Link (here) to Australia's Cathnews