By Robert Ballecer, SJ
Communications Office - General Curia

Lent is an invitation to prayer and reflection - a time to discern who we are and what we are called to be. To enter into that prayer we must also look at the people and experiences that formed us. For many, that is a reflection on our early education.

Fr. Brian Paulson, the President of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, was a student at Campion High School (Wisconsin). Reflecting on his time at Campion, he called the professionals in Jesuit Education “some of the most optimistic, faith-filled, joyful people that I have ever met”.

Fr. Xavier Jeyaraj, the Secretary of the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, grew up in India, but was similarly touched by his history with Jesuit education. His experience of bringing education to underserved communities taught him that, “if you want to reach to the unreached, then non-formal education is very important”.

Two Jesuits from opposite sides of the world - raised in vastly different cultures - and yet, they are connected by their love for Jesuit education and the men and women who taught them. Years later, their experiences continue to form not only who they are, but who they are becoming.

This Lent, as you reflect on who you want to become, perhaps would be fruitful to reflect on those educators who helped to form you.

To listen to the full reflections of Frs. Paulson and Jeyaraj, watch the videos below.