By Tracey Primrose
In May of 2023, Jesuits West’s vocation director, Radmar Jao, SJ, had an idea: Let’s start a Discernment House where young men thinking and praying about the possibility of a Jesuit vocation might be able to work in a Jesuit ministry and live together in community. Four months later, the house was open. By any measure, it was a record-setting pace.
The first hurdle: where? Matthew Pyrć, then the associate pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, the Jesuit parish in Seattle, suggested the rectory of nearby St. Patrick’s Parish. St. Patrick’s had merged with St. Joe’s, and the rectory was no longer in use. Chris Cartwright, SJ, the pastor of St. Joe’s was immediately onboard.
After a busy summer painting, renovating and readying the house, three discerners moved in last September. Radmar knew each of the men well and felt they were ready to “take the leap to see if this life was for them. We were really, really blessed that the guys got along, and they were very flexible and amenable to the process and to the program.”
From September through June, the discerners worked at local Jesuit ministries, including Seattle Nativity and St. Joe’s Parish and School. They also spent time getting to know the Arrupe Jesuit Community at Seattle University and the Faber House Community at St. Joe’s.
“The idea is to involve them in some sort of Jesuit work so that they get an experience of apostolic ministry, but they also get a sense of Jesuit life, a sense of our spirituality.”
Of the Discernment House’s inaugural class, one discerner, TA Nguyen, entered the novitiate in August, one decided that a Jesuit vocation was not for him, and one returned to continue his discernment. Three new discerners moved in last month.
The Discernment House is a byproduct of the province’s significant investment in vocation ministry. In addition to Radmar, the team consists of three full-time regional promoters (Andrew Laguna, SJ, Matthew Pyrc, SJ and Joe Kraemer, SJ), one part-time promoter (Dan Nevares, SJ) and a vocation coordinator (Maria Wheeler).
“None of us are marketers,” says Radmar. It’s about building relationships and partnering with our institutions, so that the work gets done locally, and our collaborators become promoters too because they know a young man who might make a good Jesuit. It’s about planting and nurturing a seed.”
Check out Radmar’s Wolf and Kettle report here.
