I was fortunate to be a delegate to the first International Colloquium on Jesuit Secondary Education in Boston, MA. The theme of that colloquium, “The World is Our House”, spoke of a desire for collaboration and relationship building across geographic boundaries.  It is safe to say that listening to Fr. Norbert from India lead a discernment circle on faculty formation in the Ignatian tradition changed the trajectory of my spiritual and professional life.  I am eternally grateful for the experience.

Suddenly, it is 2021.  This second global colloquium, JESEDU-Global2021, was moved online in light of the pandemic – a necessary move but a new frontier for global collaboration.  I was in a professional transition and a unclear what I was signing up for.  With an unfocused mind and heart, I logged on to a Zoom meeting.

The North America, Jesuit Schools Network (JSN), delegates met to dialogue on the Pre-Colloquium keynotes in late June.  Beginning with a reflection experience offered by Dr. Damian Zynda, our colleague from McQuaid Jesuit, we were gifted the opportunity to reflect on the past few years- to open spiritual space to welcome a hope-filled future.  For me, I needed this time in prayer.  I was carrying the emotions of the past few years heavily.  Our prayer experience opened my heart and mind for the conversations to follow.  We met in discernment circles to share what moved us in the Pre-Colloquium materials and where the Spirit was, possibly, guiding us.  I was particularly moved by the keynote from Dr. Jasmin Nario-Galace.  How our societies use difference as an excuse to exclude resonated like a gong!  I felt a connection to her words through my experiences of distrust, fear, and institutional exclusion in Indianapolis.

I (virtually) walked into the global discernment circle optimistic after my JSN experience.  There I found other Jesuit educators from the Americas as well as Western Europe who were experiencing the same societal pressures of distrust, fear, and exclusion.  But we all had hope for the future – mainly because we had a foundational faith that allows for varying perspective moving toward a universal common good.  Each one of us shared different experiences and each one of us laughed while listening – “Yes!” we proclaimed to each other.  And we found hope in our faith, our shared mission, and our process of educating for faith, depth, reconciliation, and global citizenship.  One of my discernment partners eloquently said, “School is more that what happens in the classroom… it is what happens in community.”

And in community, regional and global, is where I found hope.  I found hope in the diversity of participants – women’s voices have increased exponentially in 10 years!  I found hope in the stories I heard and videos I saw of joy-filled young people.  I found hope in Fr. Mesa’s call to teach by example and model our faith in daily life.  I found hope in our shared mission.  Thank you to all who made this Colloquium come to life!!