Cool Jesuits for $500 please...

I had a conversation with a dear friend not long ago, one about being complimented, and about saying thank you.

Edward Gannon, SJ and I used to have the best conversations on the steps of the now defunct Gunster Memorial Student Center at The University of Scranton. One particular day he complimented me on my shirt, and instead of just saying "thanks"... I said "this old thing, well I got it...". His response -- "learn how to take a compliment. Just say thank you."

I think of him from time to time, and keep a letter he sent framed in my office. In explaining Fr. Gannon to my friend...

He was your quintessential Jesuit, if there is such a thing. We would chat outside the student center and he would always know when a conversation should be finished... at that exact point when one might bring up, or repeat something, for the sake of continuing a conversation that would/should be over... and just say "to be continued", and walk away (this used to tick me off but I understand now!). He continued to write to me and urge me to come back to school, telling me to simply write him and I'd be back in, which I did. The last time I saw him he was bald from chemotherapy, and I made a well intentioned but poor attempt to console him. The next time I was in Scranton I stopped by his office in the library and his name was off the door, and they had told me that he died.

When I finally got my stuff together and had my epiphany to go back to school (and graduate) I applied to St. Joe's (another Jesuit school) -- and they told me there was a recommendation letter in my file from Fr. Gannon that was glowing -- one I never had asked for. I don't know how he knew. There were a few people up there -- Mr. Gavigan, Mrs. Lawhon, Dean Parente -- that looked out for me. I never appreciated it then -- not knowing how rare it was. The Cura Personalis, in Jesuit parlance, was taken very seriously at Scranton. I hope there are people out there at colleges like that still, but I doubt it: Too corporate now, too big. No names, just social security numbers. When I did finally graduate after years of night school on Hawk Hill (my penance for being too stupid to get it done the first time) I could hear him say "finally", in his usual gruff voice.

I visited Terrance Toland, SJ this morning in at Manresa Hall at St. Joseph's University, as he will be recuperating for a few more weeks. Since he knew Fr. Gannon, at St. Joseph's and Scranton, he got a kick out of his letter. "Servus" he read, and he smiled. Of course we talked for quite some time, as is our habit, and I heard some new stories. One in particular involved him trying to get the Father-General Pedro Arrupe, SJ to attend the 125th anniversary of St. Joe's. His idea was to ask his buddy Vincent O'Keefe, SJ, (an American, former president of Fordham University, and then Vicar General of the Society) to ask Fr. Arrupe for him. Fate intervened however and while taking a drink from a water fountain in Rome found Arrupe next in line. So he asked the Father General if he could attend the quasquicentennial celebration of the school, on the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola. Arrupe's response: "That would not be impossible!" Arrupe did attend the event, as well as the Eucharistic Congress, that year held in Philadelphia.

Toland also lined up Princess Grace (former Philadelphia actress Grace Kelly) of Monaco to attend the event as well. The conduit for that request was her former baby sitter, with whom he had a friendship. After 8 hours on the dais Grace asked the permission of Toland to leave so she and her cousin wouldn't hit too much shore traffic on the way down to Ocean City, NJ, where the family maintained a summer home. Most European princesses wouldn't know to avoid the AC Expressway during rush hour -- a Philly girl certainly would ;-)

Pictured are the Very Reverend Pedro Arrupe, S.J., General of the Society of Jesus; Terrence Toland, S.J., former president of Saint Joseph’s; and Rev. Edward Brady, S.J. , founder of the Faith-Justice Institute at SJU. The photograph was taken in the Presidents’ Lounge on July 31, 1976 and marked the 125th anniversary of Saint Joseph’s College and the last day of Fr. Toland's eight-year term as president.

I attended the 11:30 Mass at Manresa with Fr. Toland, in the company of over 20 retired Jesuits. Ahhh... the stories those "boys" could tell. I estimated that in that one room there were about 1,100 years of serving souls in the Society of Jesus. I was honored to be there. The first reading today was most appropriate for the assembled, coming from the Pharisee Gamaliel in Acts 5:34-42:

"So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin,it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” They were persuaded by him."

After Mass we talked about the autobiography being written by Vinny O'Keefe, SJ, which was supposed to be published posthumously but now may be out sooner. I tried in vain to talk Fr. Toland into giving consideration to writing his memoirs, or at least some short stories. One in particular on Joseph Rock, SJ. He was a legend at Scranton, and to my knowledge nothing has been written about what he did for his boys at Hafey Hall. I don't want his stories to be lost -- they are just too darn good! Perhaps mutual buddy Jim "Chang" McLaughlin can be more persuasive ;-)

We also chatted about the origin of the US News and World Report rankings of colleges. When he was president he never cared that St. Joe's was #1 -- he cared about the Magis -- making each student the best they could be, both academically and spiritually. That we were really competing against ourselves, not other schools. When I mentioned how much respect I had for the diversity program at his alma mater, St. Joseph's Preparatory School, now under the leadership of George Bur, SJ and Jose Gonzalez, he smiled and told me about giving academic opportunities to those who had none. That he really felt we did our job when taking a chance on a 2.5 incoming freshman who turned into a senior on the Dean's List.

I guess I could share some more of his stories, like the one about where Dan Berrigan, S.J. hid in Philadelphia when he was on the FBI's most wanted list... but I don't know if that's still a secret, so you may have to wait for his memoirs ;-) And I hope you are feeling better soon, and are able to jay walk on City Line Avenue soon, not to mention resume your duties at Chelsea before the summer closes.

To be continued?

For those who may have known Fr. Gannon (we used to joke and say his name like James Bond... Gannon, Ed Gannon, SJ) here's an excerpt from Michael Baumann's blog Edward Gannon, SJ (one of the good guys). Seems like I wasn't so special after all... he looked out for a great many students. Guess he considered us all special.

When I attended my 25th class reunion in 2007, I walked up to Gannon Hall, as if to pay my respects to the man who talked me off the ledge. I wonder if the students living in that building now have any idea of the lasting impact that man had on generations of students.

Father Gannon was a campus legend. He was much bigger than his diminutive frame and he had a commanding, reassuring presence where ever he went. Outside or in his office he usually had a cloud around him from the ever present cigarette in his hand. This was the only vice he allowed himself. When not in his roman collar he was usually in a turtleneck and a cardigan. He was like a weird hybrid of Albert Einstein and Mr. Rogers. To say that he was intelligent would be a gross understatement. Father Gannon was granted the title of University Professor which meant he could teach in any department in the University. His classes were impossible to schedule because upperclassmen would take every available space. Given what I just said, you should not assume that a class with Gannon was an easy A. You had to work to meet his incredibly high standards. He was not willing to accept anything less than what he thought you were capable of giving. He was not just teaching us philosophy or theology, he was teaching us to think, to question, to challenge. If we learned philosophy or theology along the way, so much the better. After the “The Empire Strikes Back” hit the streets at the end of my sophomore year, many of us were convinced that Yoda was channeling Gannon.

Jesuits Run a Hollywood Production Company

Rev. Eddie Siebert, SJ directing a scene in Rome, with the assistant cameraman Joe Ellingwood.

Jesuits Run a Hollywood Production Company - NYTimes.com

It’S the end of the 15th century, and the rebellious duchess Caterina Sforza, her children kidnapped by the forces of the ruthless Cesare Borgia, stands on the battlements of her castle, throws up her skirts and screams at Borgia’s 15,000 advancing troops: “Idiots! Don’t you think I can make more of them?” Later, with her castle reduced to rubble, Catarina is seized, raped and sent to Rome, where Borgia’s father holds a particularly high office: pope.

Provocative material for a movie, certainly. Particularly when the movie is being made by Jesuits.

“The Borgia Popes” is, in fact, just one of the projects under way by Loyola Productions, a nonprofit production company in Culver City, Calif., owned by members of the Society of Jesus, a large Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers. Jesuits are a missionary order whose members, in this case at least, would rather not be thought of as proselytizers.

“When I have meetings around town, you can see that people are thinking, ‘Oh my God, they’re trying to convert us,’ ” said the Rev. Eddie Siebert, the company’s founder and president. “It’s very frustrating. I try not to say who I am till they get to know me. I don’t even introduce myself as a Jesuit priest. It tends to really frighten people.”

But only if they know what a Jesuit is. “In fact, most people don’t know,” Father Siebert said. “ ‘Oh, you’re Jewish?’ No, no, Jesuit. ‘Is that Catholic?’ Some people would say so.”

Founded in 1534 by the Basque soldier and theologian Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuits have seen their share of controversy: Pope John Paul II cracked down on the order in the 1980s because of its independence, dedication to social action and theological questioning. The Jesuits have also been featured in their share of movies: “The Mission,” “Black Robe” and “The Exorcist,” to name just a few. But while Hollywood has a long history of affection toward Catholic priests (think Bing Crosby), doing business with them is another story.

“It’s been a really tough battle, to be honest,” said Father Siebert, who founded the company in 2000 and faces the same competition that every other production executive does. He also goes out and raises money. “Which is what I do, but without doing full-time fund-raising,” he said. “The reason we survive is because of generous people and because we work our butts off.”

Being a priest does have some advantages. “Because I’m a Jesuit, if there’s a good Catholic executive over at Sony, they’ll take a meeting. Sometimes they take you seriously and sometimes it’s, ‘Well that’s great, Father, keep up the good work.’ I’ve had to straddle this really awkward fence of being a spiritually empowered Jesuit with a mainstream entertainment production company that’s trying to do cutting-edge material. And that’s really tricky.”

Based in an anonymous office building on an anonymous block in Culver City, Loyola Productions produces some content “just to keep the lights on,” Father Siebert said. There are educational films, industrials and one of the company’s more popular series, “Who Cares About the Saints?,” which has been marketed through Loyola’s distribution system, Catholic universities, high schools and parishes, through Loyola Press and, of course, Amazon.com. The host of that series, the author James Martin, S.J. (“The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything,” HarperOne), is a regular on “The Colbert Report.” And he says such participation in mass media is encouraged by his order.

“There’s been a push over the last few decades for the church to become more involved in the media,” Father Martin said. “The same way that Jesus used the medium of parable and St. Paul used letters and St. Augustine used autobiography and Fulton Sheen used television, priests, sisters and brothers are using the most contemporary media to proclaim the gospel. It’s actually encouraged.”

Although “mainstream” is the way Father Siebert says he wants to go (“telling stories that aren’t necessarily doctrinal or dogmatic”), there’s a moral message behind most Loyola productions.

“I hope so; otherwise, what’s the point of their existence?” asked Meyer Shwarzstein, whose Brainstorm Media recently teamed up with Loyola on a documentary series called “Something to Talk About,” being shown at the Majestic Crest theater in Westwood, Calif., and intended as a showcase for socially conscious nonfiction. (One of Loyola’s more recent productions is a short film called “Righting the Wrong,” about restorative justice and juvenile life without parole.)
A veteran TV and mo
vie producer, Mr. Shwarzstein is helping Loyola develop its “Mercy Adjacent” hospital drama (which predates TV’s current “Mercy”); it concerns chaplains at a post-Katrina hospital in New Orleans.

“I’m a somewhat religious Jew,” Mr. Shwarzstein said. “I don’t know how to ever characterize it when people say such things, but I was brought up in an observant background and I’m interested in religion. And what I found fascinating about ‘Mercy Adjacent’ is that while we’re very open in our society about a lot of things, we have incredible discomfort about religion. A lot of the progress we’ve made in civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, the media have been there first. But there’s this innate hypersensitivity when it comes to religion. Which is quite fascinating.”

Please click title for the entire NY Times article.

Welcome to the world Owen Michael!

CONGRATULATIONS to my buddies DC and UT... it's a baby boy ;-)

Just a quick note to let you know that Jennifer gave birth to a baby boy Monday night! Owen Michael Conroy was born at 8:18 pm Monday night and weighs 8lbs. He is 21 inches long. He and mom are doing quite well, with mom recovering from the C-section. The first picture I took of him is attached. We can’t wait for you to meet him.

Speak to you soon—I need some sleep!

Dave

Compassion...

I've always loved college hoops but was never a big Bob Huggins fans, for reasons that are obvious. That changed with the West Virginia - Duke game Saturday.

I've seen players go down with some horrific injuries over the years and the head coach never even bothers to give a glance. Trainer goes over, a few scrubs help to pick him off the floor, but the head coach, thinking himself a general -- is too important to check on a young man's status in person. Got to stick with the Xs and O's, right? Not for Huggins on Saturday night. Above and beyond, really. Star senior goes down and instead of strategizing on the sidelines... does what I think a coach should do -- on any level.

I hope Da'Sean is brought back to good health. And to think the kid should have been on Hawk Hill ;-(

Saint Joseph's loss is West Virginia's gain: Da'Sean Butler

It was the spring of 2005 when the Saint Joseph's coaching staff found itself in such a quandary. They were going to have several scholarships available for the class that would be high school seniors in 2006. They liked a number of players for those spots.

One of them, a junior forward from Bloomfield (N.J.) Tech, really liked St. Joe's. He had been to several Hawks games that season. He had come for several visits. He had come to know the campus and the players. He liked everything about it, including the fact that one of the incoming freshmen was going to be Ahmad Nivins, a friend from nearby Jersey City.

"Everybody was really cool at St. Joe's," that player was saying Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I guess they wanted me to commit right then and there. I was telling them I definitely want to come."

Still, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to commit at that moment. Even though he said he wanted to go there, he wanted to wait a bit.

St. Joe's coaches also liked juniors Darrin Govens, D.J. Rivera and Jawan Carter. One by one, in less than a week that spring, they also said yes. Just that fast, there were no scholarships left.

"When I came back, the kid from Delaware (Carter) committed," the player remembered. "I was like, 'That sucks. I guess I have to look elsewhere.' "

After chuckling a bit when reminded of that time, St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said, "You just poured vinegar into my open wound."

Da'Sean Butler would have looked pretty good on Hawk Hill these last four years. Put him in a frontcourt with Nivins for three seasons and the Hawks may have remained players on the national stage. If Butler were a senior at St. Joe's this season, there would more likely have been 20 wins than 20 losses.

Butler, however, is here - at the Final Four, the star player for West Virginia, the scorer of 2,085 points (putting him in a WVU club of three with Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley) and the maker of six game-winning shots this season, including the one that beat Villanova in the regular-season finale and the one that beat Georgetown to win the Big East Tournament.

Really, who knew?

Proving how difficult this really is, Butler's longtime friend and high school teammate, Casiem Drummond, was much more highly recruited. He was considered a terrific get for Villanova.

In his first two seasons for the Wildcats, Drummond scored 134 points in 40 games. He played two games in 2008-09 before transferring to Marist. He was supposed to play for Marist in the second semester this season. Only he was academically ineligible. Marist went 1-29.

You never know.

Mike Rice, then a St. Joe' first-year assistant and now the head coach at Robert Morris, knew the New Jersey high school scene intimately. He was the point man for Butler's recruiting. He put St. Joe's in a great spot.

Happy Easter...

Dear Alumni and Friends,

In this Holy Week, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a blessed Easter. The observances of Holy Week are central to the University’s Catholic, Jesuit identity and during this most sacred season, we experience the foundation of our faith, which is revealed through the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On Sunday, Christians around the world, including our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters, will join in the global celebration of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. I hope you will spend this joyous holiday with family, friends and those most important to you, and that you feel inspired by this season of renewal and rebirth.

Happy Easter!

God’s Blessings,

Timothy R. Lannon, S.J.
President

Belated St. Paddy's Day Poem

My annual Paddy's day poems are not getting any better but they are getting shorter... for that readers can be thankful.

Joe Kiernan

Defending the Irish

This Paddy'’s Day please honor my special wish

Whether you’re Polish, Eye Talian or Eye Rish

This year there's one gift I would seriously like

Spare me those old jokes about Pat and Mike

Don’t tell me the story about the widow Finnegan

After her old man downed in the brewery vat again

Please no more cracks about Michael O’'Connor

In court saying, “No more booze for me, your honor”

Or that scatterbrained lad, one Michael Hooligan

Who made a complete ass of himself at the pub again

Poor Seamus on death bed smelled cookies and spake:

“Can I have just one?” Heard, “No they'’re for the wake”

No more tales about the cop and the tipsy priest

Of all stories from old Erin, all those are the least.

Scrap the old Irish joke book; it is drivel and bunk

We'’re not scoundrels in private nor publicly drunk.

Hey, the Irish aren’t fools and not really that funny

You make too much fun of my crowd there, Sonny

Be not shamefully slanderous against people most gentle

We have physical conditions but none that are mental

So get better material, I am warning you, Dude

Cause the Sons of St. Patrick are charming, not rude

My claims and defenses here ain’t theoretical

Our women are lookers and our booze strictly medical

Cease the rumors about the bishop and the organist then

Their lives are their own and they'’re both fine men

Those old jokes ain't authentic; they’re beginning to grate

And while we are at it, let’s get Irish history straight

As to the yarn of St. Patrick, there were no damn snakes

Those chased from the Emerald Isle were Brits for God’s sakes!

So may the road come up to meet you, not hit you in the mush

And may that wind not be your own - - the one behind your tush.

JRK March 2010

Wall Street on Big 5

NCAA March Madness and Philly's Big 5 - WSJ.com

The highlight of my Big 5 tour was La Salle-St. Joe's. The two small Catholic schools epitomize Philly basketball. While agents and scouts hover at many college basketball games, the ever-present figure here was the priest, offering a prayer and a pat on the back. The teams' fans were literally packed to the rafters of the 4,200-seat Hagan Arena at St. Joseph's University. The pep band was at full throat. And the Hawk, the St. Joe's mascot, was running along the sidelines whipping the crowd into a frenzy. The game meant literally nothing, with both teams anchoring the bottom of the A-10 standings. But to the fans who grew up with and graduated from these two schools, it meant everything.

SJU alumna Sr. Mary joins Bon Jovi...

St. Joseph's Alumna Sr. Mary Scullion, RSM Featured in Bon Jovi Video

Sr. Mary Scullion, RSM, SJC '76 , co-founder of Project H.O.M.E.: Ending Homelessness in Philadelphia, a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty, is featured in Bon Jovi's latest music video, "Superman Tonight."

For those who don't count themselves as fans of Jon Bon Jovi (Mrs. 44 would be disappointed), advance to the 3.24 mark to see Sr. Mary.

New Dorm on Hawk Hill

Six-story freshman hall to be built on Gest Lawn
By Luigi Condina '12

Towards the end of spring 2012, Saint Joseph’s University will see the addition of the largest student dormitory on campus.

The process of acquiring the necessary permits for construction is currently underway, and building is set to begin in April of 2011. The “L” shaped building will stand two and a half stories above Sourin Hall. The two wings will cover approximately half of Gest lawn from the sides facing Cardinal Avenue and lining Sourin parking lot, leaving 48,180 sq. ft. of green space.

“The grade from City Avenue, down towards Sourin gradually descends towards Sourin, so closer to City Avenue it would be five and a half stories, at Sourin it would be six [stories],” said Kevin Robinson, vice president of administrative services, who is part of the developmental group spearheading the early stages of the project.

The anticipated cost of the finalized project after architectural and construction fees is in the range of $35 million, according to Cary Anderson, Ed.D., vice president for student life, who is currently working with Robinson to finalize the construction plans. While the completed dorm will add 400 new beds to freshman housing options, Anderson said that the majority of the spaces will be used to relieve congestion in the other campus dormitories.

As called for in the Bridge Plan, underclassmen admissions will see an increase of 50 additional students each year for the next four consecutive years, resulting in the swelling of the undergraduate population by approximately 200 students.

“Our numbers dictate, based on the number of beds we have for first year students (about 1150), if you’re starting to bring in a class of 1200 or 1250 then you just don’t have the space…and so we wanted to be able to accommodate all of that,” said Anderson. “We want them as close to campus as possible, that’s a piece of it. First year students in apartment style living doesn’t educationally work as well as the more traditional hall, and so we want to have that experience to get to know more people before they get into a smaller group of friends.”

According to Anderson, the new student spaces will allow for the accommodation of all first year students without the need for triples. In addition, the freeing of spaces in campus houses will create more room for upperclassmen living on campus.

Anderson said that various other campus sites were considered before settling on Gest Lawn, but that zoning ordinances that restrict construction of student dormitories on Maguire Campus left options limited. Conversations about knocking down Sourin Hall to build a larger dorm on the site were dismissed in favor of the current construction plans in order to maximize the amount of student spaces on campus, according to Anderson.

“When you knock down Sourin, you’ve lost all of those beds and you’d have a smaller net gain,” said Anderson. “We needed to do more than that, and so we went around looking at various spaces on campus because with a first year building you want to be as close as possible. Going off campus raises the cost because you are paying for land acquisition.”

Robinson announced to the University Student Senate (U.S.S.) at a March 15 meeting that as part of an effort to keep the housing options equitable, renovations to the Sourin and Lafarge residences are set to take place for the coming academic year.

“Air condition units are going to be installed in the Sourin dorm, and LaFarge is going to get all new windows,” said Robinson at the U.S.S. meeting.

Robinson and a developmental group proposed the creation of a new committee to gather student input on the construction plans to the U.S.S. Although many of the larger construction issues have been decided by the administration, Anderson said that there are still areas for discussion and student input. The information accrued by the Senate’s committee will be presented to the development group for evaluation.

“What we’re really looking for is the final use of the study spaces and lounge spaces, the finishing, some more conversations about entrances and the use of the green space, general pieces,” said Anderson. “The shell and the main concept is done, but there are some other things that we can [do] through…the group as kind of an advisory on what makes sense. Now again we want to work within our time frame and our budget. It’s not just what makes sense at this exact moment, it’s what makes sense in the future as well.”

An additional gated entrance on the corner of City and Cardinal Avenues will provide main access to the building and line up with the new pedestrian entranceway that is currently under construction directly across the street on Maguire Campus.

According to Robinson, construction workers will begin to take soil samples on the construction site in the near future. After a large granite deposit delayed construction on the Campion addition last year, Robinson said that tests would be conducted to determine the soil’s content before breaking ground on the new project next spring.

Anderson said that discussions with Campus Apartments, the development company overseeing construction plans, considered environmentally friendly options concerning the features of the new residence. Although no additional campus green space will be created as a result of the construction, Anderson pointed to the conversion of a portion of the Science Center parking lot into Neumann Lawn as an attempt to keep an appropriate proportion of porous land on campus.

“That was part of the Neumann Lawn piece when that happened. When we can try to add green space…and that’s why it was part of the design when we talked to the architects that was one of the first things we tried to do is preserve as much green space as possible,” Anderson said.

Together with the U.S.S., the development group is considering possibilities that could fit the new residence with motion censored lighting already available in some residence hall bathrooms.
“The development company is looking at the criteria for our lead certification. It’s our goal to make [the building] as environmentally friendly as possible, and whether it would become lead certified or not is still a question because there are certain things that are associated with that… looking at the overall budget,” Anderson said.

The process of communicating the university’s intentions to the rest of the surrounding community is also underway, according to Anderson.

“That’s happening as we speak; that’s a parallel process in all of this, starting with elected officials and kind of moving from there,” he said. “The one thing about this particular space is that there are no residents’ houses right up against this space.”

7 hours, 38 minutes a day ;-(

Mikaela Espinoza, 17, talks to a friend on her cell phone while checking her Myspace page, while the television is on in the background. Espinoza is among the many teens who stay up late to talk or text their friends or chat online, but their lack of sleep is beginning to impact their health. Studies show a link between technology and sleep disorders. (SHNS photo by Lezlie Sterling / The Sacramento Bee, from the article Research shows too much cell phone, computer use can be harmful to kids)

America Magazine - Jesuit Weekly - Unplug Your Kids

by Thomas Massaro

Last month the Kaiser Family Foundation released a study packed with truly shocking findings. Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 now spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day using a computer, video game console, television, cellphone and all manner of handheld electronic devices and digital technology. Fifty-plus hours a week are an awful lot of screen time for anyone, especially impressionable and insecure youngsters.

Many aspects of the report disturb me. Just picturing in my mind’s eye millions of adolescents holed up indoors and tethered to flickering gadgets for hours on end makes me sad for the opportunities our youngsters are missing to enjoy the great outdoors, participate in physical exercise and engage in genuine human interaction of the face-to-face variety.

A culture of interruption erodes habits of prayer and reflection.Equally disconcerting is the trend line of tech overuse. Young people’s current daily level of electronic consumption exceeds by 77 minutes the average amount in 2004, the last time this social indicator was measured by Kaiser’s Program for the Study of Media and Health. I would like to think we have hit the ceiling, but where this trend goes next is anyone’s guess. If the upward trajectory were to continue, it is hard to imagine what remaining parts of a well-balanced life will be crowded out by the increasing time our children spend “plugged in.”

Last summer in this very space I lamented the losses that over-reliance on cellphones and handheld electronic devices spell for our society. We are hearing even more about potential public health concerns, such as the dangers associated with distracted drivers and even pedestrians lost in their gadgets. There are deepening social concerns too: the need for protocols governing rude behavior, like interrupting dinner conversations and business meetings to take a call or retrieve one’s electronic messages. A municipal official in Danvers, Mass., recently had to propose a ban on texting during meetings of the town’s Board of Selectmen out of respect for the people these elected representatives serve. It takes guts to take on cellphone technology, but I am glad someone did.

If society finds creative ways to accommodate such technology so as to avoid the worst violations of safety and politeness, a third set of concerns remains: the spiritual aspect of life. A culture and lifestyle that allow constant interruption erode our ability to develop a habit of prayer and reflection.

As a theological educator, my hunch is that these are especially critical issues for our youth. Young children and adolescents struggle mightily to forge a stable identity, a sense of self that allows them to feel truly comfortable in their own skin and to be open to the transcendent. While a majority of the human race could probably use some remedial work in developing the intangible quality of interiority, youngsters face a particularly uphill battle to clear out time and mental space to be alone with God. Mindfulness and deliberateness are endangered species in the current age of digital distraction, where buzzing and flashing images envelop us around the clock.

A simple edict will not enforce progress on this front. The best we can hope to accomplish is the fostering of conditions that make it more likely that the youth of today will develop habits of mindfulness that can sprout into a mature spiritual life.

A good first step would involve debunking the myth of multitasking. The conventional wisdom nowadays is that the practice of splitting one’s brain among several simultaneous tasks is somehow desirable, even necessary in today’s digital world. Yet growing evidence from the field of neuroscience suggests that such activity is by no means efficient and in some regards physically impossible. While we persist in believing that we can handle ever greater doses of simultaneous electronic stimulation, the human nervous system exhibits serious limits in its ability to handle interruption and to switch back and forth among tasks without debilitating sensory overload.

Several themes that recur in spiritual literature come into play here: the quest for proper balance, the virtue of temperance, the necessity of addressing self-delusion and even the practice of Christian resistance against corrupt cultural forces. Difficult as it may be for adults to face up to these facts, it is even more imperative that the next generation learn to unplug.

Thomas Massaro, S.J., teaches social ethics at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Fr. Massaro celebrating Mass at St. Joseph's University,
with Fr. Tony Uvary, SJ of the Jamshedpur Province.

Bling Day Mass!

A beautiful day in Philadelphia (78 degrees!) for the Junior

Ring Mass at St. Joseph's Preparatory School today.

The solemn Mass was concelebrated by Fr. George Bur, SJ, Fr. Bruce Maivelett, SJ and Fr. Francis Piro, STL, with music provided by the Christus Choir under the direction of Mr. Michael Magree, SJ.

Not the place to be if you're allergic to khakis and blue blazers ;-)

I think The Prep wins the national contest for nicest high school chapel.

One can only marvel at the Church of the Gesu's architecture.

With Lucinda showing off the bling ;-)

Ryan Dougherty, Teron Dow and Joe Liciardello.

and again with Marcus Brown.

Posing with the Dougherty Family, and walking down the aisle.

Smiles for everyone. Congrats TDow and the SJP class of 2011!

it was worth all the while...

Happy St. Joseph's Day!

Poor in worldly possessions, he was rich in grace. Devotion to Saint Joseph, was fervent in the East from the early ages, and has spread and increased. Today, Catholics of all nations honor him.

There are many stories about the miraculous intervention of Saint Joseph. One is a medieval account of how a famine in Sicily was ended after a Novena to Saint Joseph. A more recent story is of the mysterious "itinerant carpenter" who volunteered to build an architecturally unique spiral staircase in a convent chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is as sound today as when it was first built, and has never needed repair.

According to ancient tradition, Saint Joseph watches over and protects the Church. He is considered the model of perfect Christian life and the patron of a happy death.

His patronage extends over the Mystical Body of Christ, over the Christian family and schools, carpenters, fathers, laborers, and all individuals who appeal to his charity and intercession, especially in the hour of death. Joseph, when dying, received the loving ministry of his foster Son, Jesus, and his spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary, so it is believed that his intercession may well obtain the mercy of God and the grace of a peaceful and holy death.

His feast is celebrated on March 19, and a special memorial to Saint Joseph the Worker is observed on May 1.

I'm going down in flames...

Yes, I am going down in flames, again. It defies logic to pay money to play an NCAA pool and NOT to pick the winners -- but that is what I do, year after year. I'm an all or nothing guy, and can't pick schools I dislike. It would be psychological torture to be happy that those teams would win. So this year I have three Jesuit schools in the Final Four. Only 13% of the schools in the tournament are Catholic colleges. I doubt that even Charlie Currie, SJ at the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities has those picks. Unless St. Ignatius Loyola himself starts to get interested in college hoops I'm a goner. So be it.

It reminds me when my buddy Howard Feldman and I ran a pool at work around 15 years ago. We made everyone play as I can be persuasive (the old days when you had to grade them by hand!) and he came upon one pool that had the following teams in the Final Four: Saint Mary's College, Saint Peter's College, Mount St. Mary's University and Princeton. He asked me what person would possibly pick such a sorry lot. I replied... my mother ;-)

Mom only rooted for the Papes, and Princeton snuck in there because current Richmond Spiders coach and former Archbishop Ryan High School standout Chris Mooney was playing for the Tigers. She used to know his mother -- so they got an exemption.

So let the madness begin! I hope whoever wins appreciates my donation ;-)

A-10 Tourney

Kutch and I took in some Atlantic 10 Tournament action in Atlantic City yesterday. I got to enjoy some good hoops, in particular the Xavier - Dayton game, as I could simply enjoy the game without caring about the outcome.

The above sign is a misnomer as LaSalle didn't make the tournament, and St. Joseph's didn't make it to AC. I saw only two Hawks all day, Joe Cabrey, of course, and Jake Dunphy, who was there to root on his cousin Frannie and the Temple Owls. With no Hawk faithful it made me feel as if I was crashing someone else's family reunion ;-(

Jake, Kutch and I did get our picture taken with Big 5 Hall of Famer and St. Joseph's Prep coach Speedy Morris though.

Caveat emptor: Since it was a Friday during Lent a plain pizza was on the menu...

but alas, not all things are as they might appear.

SJU National Community Day

Registration Now Open

April 24, 2010

Join nearly 1000 alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and friends nationwide by participating at a community service location in your area. For more information and to register, visit SJU National Community Day.

To learn more or to find out how to become a site leader, contact Megan Famular '06 at 610-660-3294 or mfamular@sju.edu.

Saint Joseph's University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131

The Future of the Catholic Mission to the City of Philadelphia

Catholic Intellectual Series

The Catholic character of Saint Joseph's University springs from its historical relationship with the Roman Catholic Church, and from its current embodiment of the great traditions of Catholic life and culture.

The Catholic Intellectual Series promotes the long and dynamic history of Catholic intellectual thought and highlights the latest and best within our tradition.

Through this series Saint Joseph’s University desires to highlight the thoughts and writings of prominent catholic thinkers in our country and throughout the world.

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The Saint Joseph's University Office for Mission and Identity presents

The Catholic Intellectual Series 2009-2010

Do everything possible so that liberty is victorious over oppression, justice over injustice, love over hate - Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J.



Faith, Hope and Charity: The Future of the Catholic Mission to the City of Philadelphia

March 16th 2010 at 7:30 PM
Mandeville Hall, Wolfington Teletorium

Symposium

Keynote Address by

John J. DiIulio, Ph.D.

The Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society
and Professor of Political Science, The University of Pennsylvania.


with responses by

Sr. Mary Scullion, RSM, SJC '76, Executive Director of Project H.O.M.E.

and

Rev. Edward Hallinan, Pastor, Saint Martin De Porres Catholic Church, North Philadelphia

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Spread the word for those who may need this

The Inner Journey of the Soul Day of Reflection

with

Fr. Dudley Mendonca, S.J. Ph.D. Visiting Professor from The Sadhanna Ctr, Pune India

And

Fr. James Redington, S.J. Ph.D - Senior Jesuit Fellow and Professor of Inter-religious Dialogue SJU

March 21st 2010

9 am – 4 pm

The Saint Raphaela Center, Haverford PA

Daniel R. J. Joyce, S.J.

Assistant to the Vice President for Mission and Identity
Saint Joseph's University
5600 City Avenue
Philadelphia PA, 19131

and

Senior Resident Fellow
The Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society
University of Pennsylvania

Email: djoyce@sju.edu

Phone: 610-660-3291

HHC 3 on 3 Tournament

The Hawk Hoop Club presents HOOP FEST 2010

3 ON 3 TOURNAMENT

KNOCKOUT

HALF COURT SHOT

HOT SHOT

Saint Joseph's University alumni of all ages are invited to attend a one day charitable event of basketball competition and fun at the Hagan Arena on March 21,2010 at 12:00pm.

PROCEEDS BENEFIT COACHES VS CANCER

Event will include food and refreshments in the Hall of Fame Room, where the NCAA March Madness Playoffs will be airing on television

For more information or to pre-register click Alumni Hoop Fest 2010.

LOL... more than 44 cents to Jam!

Appeal for the St. Paul Miki School in India

Dear Ed,

This is to inform you that a check for $50 came in for the work of John Deeney in the name of Jesuit Missions in response to an apppeal sent out by Thomas F Brzozowski/44. Reading through that appeal made by Thomas, I find there is much for me to learn in the way an appeal is to be framed.

Fr. Jerry Cutinha has agreed to acknowledge and thank the donor while I was requested to keep you informed. As I did the last time as per your advice , I will send the check (s) to .

I will wait for some more time so that in case there are similar checks coming to Jamshedpur I could put them together and send them in one envelope to . I will wait until 25 March to despatch this check(s).

With kind regards,

Eric

Socius

Jamshedpur Jesuit Province
LOYOLA NIWAS,
15 Straight Mile Road,
Sakchi, Jamshedpur 831001, INDIA

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom,

Thanks for your mail and all the lovely photos. I know the kind soul couldn't just wait .... money straight came to Jamshedpur !!

The last photo of John Deeney saying mass (above) could have been somewhere in a village saying mass. Often mass is offered in the courtyard of a house where the villagers could gather. Often houses are small - may not be big enough for a crowd of 20-25.

Well, that is the style we offer mass in the villages here in Jamshedpur. Sometimes we may also have to chase off chickens or cows / bulls while saying mass !!! They too want to join the eucharist !! How religious our animals are !!

Today our Martin came to Jamshedpur for some work. He had a "facelift", looked very young with his short haircut, though he said that he had more grey hair than I had.

I am happy that you got the DVD and enjoyed watching it. Our Donald and Amit Tigga worked on it. Donald is doing his PhD in Communications in Chennai.

I am in Jamshedpur, provincial's office. For any postal mails, the address below should be fine.

Thanks Tom,

Jerry Cutinha, SJ

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In related news...

Several Christians including three Catholic bishops were Friday, March 5, arrested and later released during a march for reservation status to Dalit Christians and Muslims.

Bishops, priests arrested at dalit rally Cathnews India

Police arrested hundreds including Catholic bishops and priests today in Chennai as thousands gathered for the culmination of a month-long dalit rally, a Church official said.

Police have detained Archbishops A. M. Chinnappa of Madra Mylapore, several bishops and some thousand people, said Father G. Cosmon Arokiaraj, secretary of Indian bishops’ commission for dalit Christians.

“They are kept inside marriage hall as police cannot take the large number of people to jail,” he added.

Thousands of Christians gathered in Chennai today to conclude a “long march” that Catholics and Protestants together organized demanding quota for dalit Christians.

The “long march,” began Feb. 10 in Kanniakumari with some 50 people walking to state capital. They reached Chennai yesterday as planed.

The organizers planned to end the march with massive public meeting and presenting a memorandum demanding reservation for dalit Christians.

The 50 people began a march through the streets of Chennai. “But police objected and arrested morning Bishop Anthonisamy Neethinathan” of Chingelpet who joined the team in Chennai, Father Arokiaraj said.

The bishop’s arrest made “more bishops, priests, nuns and join the marchers’ team, which soon swelled into some thousand people. The police blocked all of them took them inside a kalyana-mandampam (marriage hall). The police have not released them yet. We are in contact with the officials,” the priest said in the evening.

The chief minister was also not prepared to meet the delegation of Bishops and leaders, the priest said.

Christian leaders are demanding the central and state governments to implement the Ranganath Misra report to grant Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims quota meant for socially poor groups.

Archbishop Chinnappa, president of the Tamil Nadu Bishops Council, yesterday told media that Dalit Christians and Muslims are upset by the inordinate delay in implementing the Misra report.

He said the Misra Commission report clearly states that non- inclusion of SC Christians and Muslims in the SC list is discrimination based on religion that goes against the Constitution of India.

The Indian Constitution allows quota in education and jobs for dalit or oppressed castes to help their socio-economic advancement. However, dalit among Christians and Muslims are excluded for the past 60 years on the ground their religions do not follow the caste system.

The marchers have demanded the federal government to implement the Ranganath Misra Commission report that recommends extending the quota to all dalit regardless of religion.

They also demand the repeal of the Constitutional Order 1950, which limited the quota only to Hindus. The order was amended twice later to include Sikhs and Buddhists, but continued to exclude Muslims and Christians.

The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything

Father Martin: The Priest Who Prays for Stephen Colbert - TIME

Father Jim Martin did not seek the title of Stephen Colbert's TV priest. All he was doing was waiting in the wings for his third appearance on the comedian's show, on which the ebullient, bespectacled cleric was scheduled to be quizzed on poverty — why Martin embraces it when its allure escapes so many other Americans. Then the priest suddenly heard his host direct the audience to welcome "The Colbert Report chaplain."

"I remember being surprised and delighted," says Martin. He shouldn't have been too shocked. In the decade since he joined the staff at America, the Roman Catholic weekly run by Jesuits like himself, he has utilized just about every existent platform in becoming one of the highest profile religious "explainers" in the country, a status that should only be enhanced by his user-friendly new book, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.

Every creed has its pop experts — the backgrounders and sound-biters parsing their traditions for a sometimes-perplexed nation. The Buddhist slot, for example, is occupied by Uma Thurman's father Robert, a professor and former Tibetan monk. In the 1990s reporters looking for a conservative Catholic voice sought out Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the journal First Things; for a more liberal take they called America's then editor Fr. Thomas Reese. But Neuhaus passed away and Reese (who remains a brilliant analyst) was controversially fired by the Pope. Since then Martin, America's culture editor, has out-outreached them both in their primes.

His ability to communicate with church outsiders may derive from his six-year stint as a General Electric executive — "before I saw the light," as he informed Colbert, deadpan. He is also less edgily polemic. David Gibson, a veteran religionista and columnist at Politicsdaily.com, notes that while Martin does champion "marginalized" Catholics like gays and women, as well as nuns, who are currently undergoing a Vatican doctrinal investigation despite their declining numbers and often-heroic works., he excels at spiritual and pastoralnuns (currently under a Vatican microscope), he excels at spiritual and pastoral issues. "He's like a campus chaplain at a very large non-Catholic school" says Gibson. Raymond Arroyo, a popular host at the conservative Eternal Word Television Network, concedes, "I think his cultural writing is interesting and has its place," while noting that "some have offered that at times the attempt to be relevant has caused his magazine to muddle and nuance church teaching."
(See how Pope John Paul II dealt with the Jesuits.)

At America Martin moved quickly beyond informing the mainstream press to charming it: Newsweek's religion editor referred to him in a cover story as "my friend." And — full disclosure — he is contributing a chapter to a book I am editing. Moreover, he is himself a very prolific journalist. In addition to writing and blogging for America, he blogged about Pope Benedict's U.S. visit for the New York Times, contributes to Slate and the Huffington Post, stars in Beliefnet videos, and comments frequently for both CNN and NPR. He's written a brace of previous books including the hagiographic memoir My Life with the Saints, which has sold 100,000 copies. Less predictably, after advising on a production about Judas, he became a member of the off-Broadway LAByrinth Theater Company, attending readings and participating in exercises. Says Philip Seymour Hoffman, the Oscar winner and LAByrinth co-founder, referring to the company's eclectic religious mix, "people might have preconceptions about [clergy], but he wasn't judgmental."

Nor is The Jesuit Guide. It helpfully unpacks core precepts like "finding God in all things." But at heart it is self-help book based on the "spiritual exercises" of Jesuit founder St. Ignatius Loyola and other Jesuit practices for a non-Jesuit, possibly non-Catholic, maybe even non-believing audience. This makes it unusual. Unlike Buddhists or New Agers, notes religion author and book critic Jana Riess, Christian writers may evangelize others, but save their how-tos for members of their own flock. Not Martin. His guide suggests "six paths" that might appeal to different kinds of readers, including "the path of disbelief," "spiritual but not religious," and "exploration." Several of its techniques — including the "examen," Ignatius' 20-minute review of the day's events — can work across or outside formal religious contexts. "You could be Richard Dawkins and find this stuff helpful," effuses Martin, referring to the famous atheist.

Yet Dawkins he is not. To understand the Guide's totality "you have to understand that that it is focused on God," he says. Martin simply thinks the paths of exploration, spiritual-but-not-religious and disbelief, if seriously pursued, eventually lead to God: and so they must all be addressed respectfully and seriously, "with invitations rather than condemnations."

And at this rate, it won't be long before he's invited most of us.

To order his book click The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin, SJ