A Convocation Address

This address I gave at the November 19 2011 Convocation of Regis College may of interest for two reasons: it reflects on the new shape of Jesuit ministries in Canada -- this applies to JCS -- and it offers spiritual reflections on my own ministry pertinent to those beginning ministry -- some 40 degrees were awarded in this convocation.
Jean-Marc Laporte, S.J.


I am delighted to be back for today’s convocation after three years away from such ceremonies. Over the years, I have been part of more than 75 convocations within the TST family, as President or Chancellor of Regis College, and as TST Director. This includes the very first convocation held by Regis College in 1978. But for me this chapel is a new place and receiving an honorary degree is a new role. I am most grateful for the kind words of my presenter and for the recognition I have received. I am sure that my fellow honorary graduand, Father Bob Doran, joins me in this gratitude.

This year we celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Jesuits in Canada. They touched soil in Nova Scotia, where I now reside, but fourteen years later came to Quebec and soon after, in 1635, founded the Collège des Jésuites, inaugurating in North America the intellectual apostolate which has always been central to the Society of Jesus, confirmed by Pope Benedict three years ago in an address to Jesuits from around the world. Regis College is a major contribution of the Jesuits in English Canada to this apostolate.

The choice of today’s two honorary graduands brings to mind key strands in the history of Regis College. As a Canadian Jesuit I represent the contribution of the Jesuit province of English Canada which founded Regis College in 1930, and, in spite of its scarce resources, has supported it with men and money over the years. We did not have enough men to staff Regis College, which started in 1930 as a faculty of philosophy, nor did we have enough men when we started a faculty of theology in 1943. But we believed in God’s providence and in Jesuit solidarity. Over and over again we have looked for staff beyond the borders of our own Jesuit province and received a generous response.

Father Bob Doran represents the indispensable contribution of the many other provinces of our Society to Regis College over the years. He is a Jesuit from Wisconsin, spent many stellar years on the Regis faculty, and has only recently returned to his home province. Over many years men from outside our province have enriched our life and ministry in ways that cannot be adequately expressed.

Jesuit solidarity is always a given, but numbers of Jesuits, including those prepared in the field of theology, from Canada and beyond, has gone down drastically. This, however, is not the end of the story. During the last decade or so Jesuits throughout the world have come to the realization that they are called to share in Christ’s work not in isolation but in collaboration with others. This collaboration is a two way street. Jesuits are to be just as ready to collaborate in institutions not their own as to invite collaborators in their own institutions. The new life and hope brought by our non-Jesuit friends and partners was abundantly evident this summer when over 190 men and women came together in a congress at Midland Ontario to celebrate the 400 years of Jesuit presence in Canada. This group included most of the Jesuits of our province, many Jesuits from French Canada, and a significant group of lay collaborators from across Canada. Back in the mid 70's there were no non-Jesuits on the Regis faculty. But now they constitute the majority. As we move beyond 400 years the future of our Jesuit province and of Regis College will be different, but it remains vibrant and full of hope.

This is all abstract and institutional, you might well think. Those of you who have received your well-deserved parchments, hoods, bonnets, and mortarboards may ask “Does he have something more personal, more practical for us?”

My presenter offered some facts about me, with places, times and events, and an interpretation, too generous I would add, of their significance. How have I lived through these events and how have they marked me? Recounting some of the inner dimension of my story may be helpful for you who are graduating today.
Let me start off with a remark many have heard me make when reflecting on the meanderings of my own life: “Had I had false teeth, I would have swallowed them on the spot.”

When I graduated with my degrees in theology, my life plan was simple. I was going to teach theology for the rest of my life and do some writing, like my favourite teachers such as Fr. Fred Crowe. But my life did not go according to this plan.

The first big surprise was being summoned in 1975 by the then provincial superior who asked me to become president of Regis College at a contentious time just before its move downtown from our campus on Bayview North. I had neither skill set nor desire nor the temperament for this kind of work, but I was young and foolish, and a Jesuit vowed to obedience. I slowly learned some of the technical, relational, and leadership skills I needed.

That whole period of my life came to an end when I retired from the Toronto School of Theology directorship in 1999. I had visions of being able to resume full-time academic life according to my original plan, with research and teaching, but then I had a second false teeth experience. The provincial of the day asked me to become his assistant, which meant yet another shift, this time away from Regis College, with new skills and a new mind-set to learn. The learning curve was not so steep, and I soon took my turn being provincial superior.

When my mandate as provincial came to an end, a third false teeth experience. Finally, I then thought, I can get back to my original plan, to the leisurely academic activity of a semi-retired professor, and pick up the threads of my tattered scholarly existence. But I was asked to move to Halifax to take over a spirituality centre and work in pastoral and spiritual ministry. This is my current occupation.

We live in a world of dizzying change. The Church, albeit with great caution, is seeking new strategies to deal with this change. The human resources available fifty and sixty years ago for its ministry are no longer there. Fortunately this eclipse in quantity is not matched by an eclipse in quality. Our schools of theology, including Regis, are doing their utmost to meet unprecedented challenges, and you, the graduating class, give abundant witness to the positive results of that effort. But then the effort of the theology schools needs to be matched by the efforts of the Church to find new configurations and approaches that will make full use of your qualifications. And you need to be flexible in coordinating your skills, the needs you perceive, and the invitations you receive. Not an easy task.

One hundred years ago, there would have been no need to disturb the original life-plan which I and my superiors had approved. People with other skills and temperaments and desires would have been at hand to do what I ended up being asked to do. But given declining human resources my superiors had to make hard choices. As a wise man once told me, you must break eggs to make omelets.

At the same time, I can truly say upon looking back that the Gospel has it right: my yoke has been easy, my burden light. Sudden changes of the direction of one’s life are disruptive, but in the Jesuit way of obedience I was invited to enter into the dance of ceaseless change which marks our time. I had to let go of my expectations, pull up roots, and learn new skills, above all flexibility, open myself to new graces, above all availability, to be thrust into the midst of a world which is messy, ambiguous, full of surprises. Such letting go releases new energy and new life.

The Lord’s plan for me has been broader and richer than anything I could have dreamt of in my younger years. There has been struggle and plenty of anxiety, but in the end a sense of comfort, of deep continuity with what I have always wanted to be. Fortunately I managed to maintain teaching as a key part of my life for some thirty years. My formation in theology, including my doctoral studies, remains a vital part of who I am and has offered a welcome theological perspective for myself, and hopefully for those I serve today, in the trenches as it were. Often enough, we form too clear an idea of our own gifts and preferences, our vision is too rigid, and this leads to a self-enclosed development in which we unwittingly protect ourselves from the very realities of the world we are to serve constructively and compassionately. We have some knowledge of our own potential, but the One who fully knows us is the One who knit us from our mother’s womb and who knows our inmost thoughts. It is always better to graciously yield to the promptings of a Provident God who knows how best to bring authentic fulfillment to our lives and our ministries, how best to attune us to the work of the risen Christ who seeks to transform the world, patiently, gently, respectfully, but with the invincible power of the Spirit.

So here you are, members of the 2011 graduating class, with your convocation paraphernalia, but, more importantly, with the new skills and sensitivities you have acquired, and the plans you have devised to best find your place in a world which needs your ministry.

Willy nilly, you are part of the rapid and unfathomable change which marks our world. With some trepidation and anxiety, you will have to let go and join the dance. You will set aside parts of your life plan, but you will find undreamt of opportunities. In the end the tapestry of your lives will be richer and more varied than anything you might have imagined. You will discover inner resources and strengths you had not suspected were yours. New relationships and networks will fill out your lives. And looking back you will be convinced that this is who you were meant to be, what you were meant to do. Your achievements will not be self-enclosed and self-defined, but will be part of the only achievement that counts, that of Christ labouring to reconcile the world to himself and to bring it to its final stature.

Let us all rejoice in the great task which beckons all of us here today. Thank you.