By Tracey Primrose
In 2013, as part of his Jesuit formation, Stefanus Hendrianto, SJ, a native of Indonesia who had worked as a lawyer and an election commissioner before becoming a Jesuit, was assigned to teach law and political science at Santa Clara University. On July 31 of that year, the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, he was introduced to someone who would come to have a profound impact on his life, his thinking and his vocation.
That first meeting, however, between Hendrianto and Fr. James Schall, SJ, a recently retired, legendary professor and political philosopher, was not auspicious. Fr. Schall engaged the younger Jesuit in a philosophical conversation, which left Hendrianto feeling humbled and ill-prepared. When it was time for dinner, he did not sit with Fr. Schall. “I wished to spare myself the embarrassment of being asked more questions that I did not have answers to.”
As the evening was ending, Fr. Schall invited Hendrianto to visit him at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, the Jesuit retirement community where he had recently moved in nearby Los Gatos, California. One Saturday, Hendrianto made the short drive from Santa Clara to Los Gatos, a habit he continued nearly every Saturday for many years.
The story of how the two Jesuits, one from Pocahontas, Iowa, the other from Sungailiat, Indonesia, separated by half a century, came to be such close friends is the basis for Stefanus Hendrianto’s new book, Saturdays with Father Schall: On Fatherhood, Intellectual Life, and Friendship. If it reminds you of a bestselling memoir about the poignant friendship and life lessons shared by a dying professor, that is no accident. His book, Hendrianto says, is “the Catholic version of Tuesdays with Morrie.”
Fr. Schall served for 35 years in the government department at Georgetown University before giving his last lecture, “The Final Gladness” a meditation on learning, philosophy and friendship before a capacity crowd in December of 2012. In a National Catholic Register story about his retirement, Fr. Schall said this about his vocation: “At least one of the purposes of the Society of Jesus was to combine the priest and teacher into one person. To teach is to make present to another what is true and how to see it by himself. Teachers do not own knowledge. It is free. Both teacher and student pursue the same thing: the truth itself. If they do not, both are lost.”
Fr. Schall, who was the author of more than 30 books and numerous essays on theology, political philosophy and related subjects, passed away on April 17, 2019, at the age of 91, just months before Hendrianto was ordained. Now a professor at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where he holds the Waite Chair in Jesuit Education, Hendrianto is affectionately known as “Fr. Hendri” by his students.
The book, inspired by an essay Fr. Hendri wrote for Fr. Schall’s 90th birthday, reflects on their relationship. It explores themes of “another sort of learning,” intertwining intellectual and spiritual growth, meditations on life and death, and the vocational journey of becoming a priest. Drawing from personal memories, it aims to honor Fr. Schall’s impact on Fr. Hendri’s faith and education.
Fr. Hendri says, “I think, for me, Fr. Schall was a kind of father figure and a mentor, both intellectually and spiritually. Despite his many accomplishments, he was humble and willing to spend his time with a Jesuit scholastic. He tried to see something good in me despite all my shortcomings. When I think about him, I remember his encouragement, his humility, his support.
“My friendship with Fr. Schall in many ways has strengthened my vocation, not only in that I want to be a priest like Fr. Schall, but more importantly, because he taught me a lesson on what it means to be a priest of Jesus Christ.”
For more, visit En Route Books and Media.
