The Jesuit vow of poverty – A testimony from Travis Russell SJ
Travis Russell is a Jesuit from the United States, currently working at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, in Washington D.C., as criminal justice policy advisor for the Office of Justice and Ecology. Earlier he worked in the Jesuit Refugee Service, Malawi, and Verbum Dei High School, Los Angeles.
In his testimony, he narrates how, on entering the novitiate, he was afraid to be deprived of so many things that he had before. Over the years, he says, he has learned and is still learning to live a simple life. He says that the Gospel is more of a geography lesson than a history lesson! For him to live in poverty is to be in the same places where Jesus himself used to go and to be with the people that Jesus loved to meet.
What echoes does this testimony have in your own experience?