Jesuits USA Central and Southern

09/07/2026

Now that we've introduced our novice entrance class, we wanted to share some glimpses from inside the novitiate on Entrance Weekend.

Our vocations director, Fr. Robert Murphy, SJ, celebrated Mass with the novices and their families in the chapel of the Novitiate of St. Stanislaus Kostka with concelebrants Novice Director Fr. Mark Thibodeaux, SJ, and Fr. Michael Wegenka, SJ, vocation promoter.

The novitiate formators were excited to welcome this year's entrants on the feast of the Assumption, August 15. Father John Vowells, SJ, socius to the novice director, offered warm hospitality, and Fr. Dan Finucane, SJ, provided music during the novitiate community's first liturgy together.

Please continue to pray for the nine first-year novices and six second-year novices as they embark upon this year of Jesuit formation through prayer, study, community life and apostolic service.

09/06/2026

"Ask for joy with Christ in joy."
-- St. Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises 48

09/04/2026

Congratulations to SLUH's 40th president, Fr. Matthew Stewart, SJ!

09/04/2026

We have 11 more spots available for the upcoming Day of Reflection in Grand Coteau, Louisiana! Join Fr. Anthony Wieck, SJ, and a community of province friends and benefactors for time in prayer and fellowship on the peaceful grounds of Grand Coteau Retreats.

Find more information and register by Friday, September 11, on our website: https://www.jesuitscentralsouthern.org/event/day-of-reflection/

09/03/2026

09/03/2026

Join us this evening, September 3, at 8:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM CT for a global celebration of St. Phoebe, the deacon commended by St. Paul in Romans 16.

As a Participating Organization with Discerning Deacons, the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province invites you to this virtual gathering featuring prayer, witness, and celebration of St. Phoebe and of the historic Church teaching on women's leadership that emerged from the recent Synod on Synodality.

Register and learn more at https://bit.ly/phoebe-2026

09/03/2026

"At Yale, our Catholic community is doing its best to accompany those students in their quest for answers.

Every week, our chaplaincy sets up a table on Yale’s main quad where students are able to come up, grab a snack or a rosary, and pick the brains of Jesuit Father Gregory Waldrop or Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Mary Rose Irvine on the pressing issues of today. This provides an increasingly “Catholic-curious” student body with an outlet to the Church. It’s not unusual to see a student we meet on the quad wander into the chapel a few days later."

Read more about how Fr. Waldrop, a Jesuit of our province, and the community of the St. Thomas More Catholic Student Center at Yale accompany young people to a hope-filled future:

COMMENTARY: Throughout my past two years as a Yale undergrad, I have witnessed a growing presence of Catholic faith and philosophy on my Ivy League campus.

09/02/2026

Nine men entered the Society of Jesus on August 15, 2025, at the Novitiate of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Denver. Over the next two years, they will learn about the Society of Jesus and deepen their relationship with Jesus. A mix of prayer, apostolic service, community life and study of Jesuit primary documents will help each novice discern how the Lord calls him to live his life generously.

For the first two weeks of their novitiate experience (called first probation), the new novices spent time learning about the Society of Jesus and getting to know one another as companions in the Lord. They put aside outside distractions like cell phones and social media to focus on how to offer their gifts and talents for the service of the Church.

The new novices ended first probation in a three-day silent retreat led by the second-year novices in order to prepare them to fully enter the work of the novitiate.

They join six second-year novices and are accompanied in their studies and discernment by Jesuit Fathers Mark Thibodeaux, novice director, John Vowells and Daniel Finucane.

Please join us in giving thanks to God for these men who have answered the Lord's call to test a Jesuit vocation in the novitiate. Read more about each of the new novices on our website: https://www.jesuitscentralsouthern.org/stories/province-welcomes-nine-novices/

09/02/2026

The Rasuwa flood has taken hundreds of lives, left thousands of people missing, and buried whole villages in mud across Nepal.

American Jesuits International is working with Jesuit network partners in Nepal—including the local Fe y Alegría school network—to conduct rapid assessments and mobilize emergency assistance. We invite you to stand together in solidarity with Nepal by supporting relief and recovery efforts.

Donate at:
https://americanjesuitsinternational.org/?form=FUNBAMURTZD

09/01/2026

“Sign me up for the student Mass, for the morning Mass, for confessions, I’m ready!” he said.

“One of my favorite descriptions of what it means to become a priest after a decade or more of pastoral ministry comes from one of my brother Jesuits,” Father Finucane said. “He said for him, getting ordained was like realizing he'd been doing ministry with one arm tied behind his back, only to discover, ‘Oh, I have this other arm!’”

Read more from newly ordained Fr. Dan Finucane, SJ, as he begins ministry in Denver at our novitiate and at Regis University in this great story at Denver Catholic
https://www.denvercatholic.org/newly-ordained-jesuit-begins-priestly-ministry-in-denver

Just three months after his ordination, Father Dan Finucane, SJ, is beginning priestly ministry in Denver. He's accompanying Jesuit novices, serving the Regis University community and embracing what he calls the “ministry of presence.”

“I am really grateful for the humble opportunity to accompany people.”

Read more: https://www.denvercatholic.org/newly-ordained-jesuit-begins-priestly-ministry-in-denver