Greetings from Mission and Ministry

Many years ago, a wise Jesuit, Fr. Edward Kinerk, S.J., described Ignatian spirituality as “eliciting great desires.” This idea caught my attention when I was a college student asking questions about what I should study, and what career I might pursue, and ultimately, who I might become. Fr. Kinerk said that the genius of Ignatius was to help us get in touch with our deepest, most authentic desires, and to encounter through them our truest nature and purpose. By clearing away superficial desires and pressures, we can find that aspect of ourselves, loved into us by God, that makes our heart sing.

Our deepest desires are, by nature, vocational. They point us not simply toward a job or career, but to a way of being most ourselves. They are God and the world “calling” to us, and calling the best out of us. As a result, they are “great,” in that they have a reach and purpose that feels bigger than ourselves. When we follow them, we become restless in the very best sense – for justice, for beauty, for truth, for love – and this leads us to make the contributions that uniquely flow from our personal identities and histories. And ultimately, our authentic, great desires become public, visible in the world and connected to our communities. They take us out of ourselves and into relationship and commitment.

At Santa Clara, our whole educational endeavor, both inside and outside the classroom and across a lifetime, seeks to “elicit great desires.” We accompany one another – students, to be sure, but faculty and staff colleagues, too – as we each encounter those deepest longings and hopes that echo in our hearts. We hold space and listen; we ask questions and encourage; we lift up and celebrate. Each step unleashes a bit more of the great desires in our community, and ultimately places those desires at the service of the world.

In this month’s newsletter, you will find a moving story about students discerning their great desires as part of the SCU-favorite Career Clarity Retreat, a collaboration between Campus Ministry, the Career Center, and our Office of Student Life. We also include a powerful account of how faculty and staff find hope and direction in their vocations as educators through our Ignatian Nourishment Retreat. And finally, our team recounts a transformational experience of pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. 

Returning to Who We Are

At the start of the Winter Quarter, the Career Center and Campus Ministry accompanied a group of 24 students for a Career Clarity Retreat. This retreat aimed to provide a space for students to not only reflect on their potential careers, but to expand their discernment beyond the specific jobs with which they may eventually be tasked. 

A Pilgrimage of Hope

This past October, the Ignatian Center lead 20 Santa Clara University students on an inaugural Pilgrimage to Mexico City. In collaboration with the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, the experience invited students to step out of their usual routines and into a wider Global Jesuit Network, discovering how faith is lived and shared across cultures. As one student shared, “This experience allowed me to truly understand who I pray for, where my prayers go, how my faith began and how important it is in my life.” 

Crispy, Crunchy Presence

This past December, the Ignatian Center hosted a Faculty and Staff Ignatian Nourishment Retreat. This two night stay at Villa Maria del Mar, an oceanfront retreat house in Santa Cruz, promises plenty of time for rest, silence, and renewal as participants take a gentle journey into the heart of our university: Ignatian Spirituality. 

Mission Priority Examen

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting the peer visiting team as part of the Mission Priority Examen. Four outstanding colleagues from our partner Jesuit universities met with more than 200 SCU colleagues over three days to learn about the ways in which we are living out our Jesuit, Catholic mission. They affirmed the deep reflection process we have engaged in as a university, and we look forward to their further reflections to inform our work into the future. Learn about SCU's Mission Priority Examen here.

Dec 4 | Campus Ministry, Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA), Jewish Student Union (JSU), and Chabad Santa Clara welcomed 40 students, staff, and faculty to the Hanukkah Menorah Lighting. 

Dec 5 | Mission and Ministry hosted the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration, providing the large crowd with carol singing, hot cocoa (360+ cups), cookies (495), and commemorative SCU ornaments (500).

Dec 12 | The Ignatian Center's Immersions team led 33 students on weeklong immersions to Costa Rica, Los Angeles, and Peru.

Dec 15 |  The Ignatian Center's Ignatian Formation team hosted 28 SCU faculty and staff on an Ignatian Nourishment Retreat at the Villa Maria Retreat Center in Santa Cruz. 

Dec 24 -25 | Campus Ministry and the Mission Church hosted over 16,000 attendees across 3 Christmas Masses.

Jan 5-9 | Through the Ignatian Center's Arrupe Engagement, over 335 students registered to work with local community organizations, committing to community engagement for the Winter Quarter.  

Jan 19 | In honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Ignatian Center accompanied 44 Broncos on a Day of Service in partnership with Our City Forest, planting trees in Rainbow Park San Jose, supporting environmental justice, community wellbeing, and a more sustainable future together.

January 23 | Campus Ministry, the Jewish Law Student Association, the Jewish Student Union, and Chabad Santa Clara hosted SCU students for a Young Adult Shabbat, a gathering that included special food, songs, and spiritual connection.

Feb 3 | The Ignatian Center is launching a 4-week Ignatian 101 Course for Faculty and Staff, designed to introduce faculty and staff to the distinctive dimensions of SCU's Jesuit Catholic mission and character.

Feb 25 | The Ignatian Center will be hosting the popular Search for What Matters, featuring Dr. Andrew Ishak, Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication.