My friend Samantha is a South African woman in her mid-twenties. After graduating from law school she felt called to explore other paths than what her education in law could offer her. Samm’s personal discovery of vocation led her to Berkeley where, upon graduating from JST-SCU, she was asked to give the Baccalaureate address. It is reprinted here in its entirety.
A passage from the Gospel of John:
“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, …

Some time ago, as I was sitting on a plane, I started to envision what would happen in the event of a crash: turbulence, a sudden loss of pressure, airbags dropping, a drop in altitude, the doors flying off, the wind blowing through the cabin. I saw myself offering a prayer in the final moments. I saw us all brace for impact and felt the jolt as we hit the earth. After a momentary loss of consciousness, I imagined myself slowly becoming aware: lights flashing over bags …

I have now been living and sharing life with the Word Made Flesh community in Buenos Aires for two and a half years. While I consider myself a novice in Ignatian spirituality, I am grateful for how the process and practices continue to shape my posture of observing, listening and learning. Since first being introduced to the practice of examen five years ago, the intentional attentiveness of Ignatian spirituality has significantly influenced my discernment and vocational discovery.

I have no idea what was said in today’s homily, despite the fact that Fr. Jerry is a charismatic speaker who tastefully  balances theological weight with entertaining narrative tidbits.   I was admittedly distracted by, or let me say, focused on, Jesus’ words to the crowd in Capernaum: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6: 34-35).  In true Ignatian style, I let my imagination begin to run wild as my own homily formed in my …