Creighton University

I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and most of my family still live there.   I am very close to my six sisters and their families, and I regularly visit them, baptize them, marry them, etc., and, above all, celebrate Eucharist with them.   I also have many other close ties in Milwaukee, since I worked there, living at Marquette University, from 1977 - 1996.  I have been a Jesuit since 1956 (after graduating from Marquette U.) and a priest since 1968.

My first two apostolic assignments were to Creighton Prep.  I taught  English and coached Speech and Debate there from 1962 - 1965, and then returned there in 1969 to teach Theology and do Campus Ministry.

In 1977, after a year's sabbatical at Harvard, I became director of Campus Ministry at Marquette University, but only for two years.  >From 1979 - 1995 I worked in governance in the Society of Jesus, serving as the Jesuit Provincial from 1989 - 1995.    Right after that I enjoyed a Sabbatical Year that  took me to India, Palestine, and Africa.  The year after that I  spent learning about life in the spirit  from  the Lakota people as a pastor in Pine Ridge, SD.  That brought me to Creighton, where I'm in my 4th year as director of Campus Ministry and Pastor of St. John's Church.  This has been my favorite assignment.

What trying times and challenging jobs I have experienced!  The "watershed" event of those times was, of course, Vatican Council II in the midst sixties.  It transformed the Catholic Church, and me too.  Since that event and those times, I have found myself in a constant process of renewal and conversion.  I have learned to look for God's Spirit working in all the unlikely (often hidden and often wounded) places: in the poor; in the process of healing, reconciliation, and liberation; in the vocations of the laity; in the women's movement and feminist Theology; in religious pluralism, cultural revolution, and racial struggles for justice and equality.

So my personal faith is lived (and challenged) largely out -of-doors.  At the same time, however, as a pastor, I have found great joy and consolation in sacramental ministry.  Besides the daily joy of the Eucharist, I have found myself stretched, comforted, and inspired by baptisms, marriages, spiritual direction, and the ministry of encouragement and reconciliation.

How do I relax?  What do I do for fun?  Lots of different things.  I love to walk.  I love to read.  I love to party.  I love to fish, and I love to play.  All sports appeal to me, but I am more nourished  (especially spiritually) by music, poetry, theatre, dance, culture, and movies.  I often hunger for more quiet time for myself, and my annual 8-day retreats are very precious for me.    Most of all, though, I enjoy the company of my closest  relatives and friends.

Everyone tells me I'm a  positive and hopeful person.  That is true, and it all begins with gratitude.  The unbelievable gifts, blessings, and opportunities I have already received in my life make me confident about the future.  So I see everything as  prelude to  the unthinkable joy that  a God of infinite goodness and tender love is preparing for us all.