Finding God here: A Jesuit educator bears witness to students’ journeys in faith

"Who would make a great speaker at Ignite?" I pose this question multiple times a year to the Ignite student team as we brainstorm whom to invite to offer words of inspiration and faith to their peers at this weekly Catholic community gathering at Marquette.

Invariably one of the team members will say: "Someone authentic." All heads in the room immediately nod. Verbal affirmations leap forward: Definitely. Yes, authenticity!

"What do you mean by authentic?" is oftentimes my next question.

A fascinating conversation usually follows. What emerges is the strong desire and felt need in students to meet people of consistency and integrity - folks striving to practice what they preach. Perfection is not desired. Our students long for real people who struggle, make mistakes and yet, day in and day out, strive to live a life of faith dedicated to loving God and loving their neighbor.

At the heart of their hunger lies the question: Is living fully as human beings possible? Do I have it in me to live such a life?

This desire for authenticity may be found in the Gospels too. In John 1:37-38, Andrew and a friend begin following Jesus, to which Jesus asks: "What are you looking for?" They respond by asking him where he is staying. Jesus says: "Come and you will see." Andrew and his friend take Jesus up on that invitation to encounter him, his friends and family members, and his way of being in the world. As their relationship unfolds, Jesus' disciples find in him the answer to their hopes and a resounding affirmative answer to his question.

To be in the room with students as they unpack their experiences, savor the consolations and wrestle with important questions is an incredible gift.

I have also witnessed this innate human hunger inside the classroom. As part of my section and other sections of THEO 1001, Finding God in All Things, the foundations course for theology, students read Laudato Si', Pope Francis' encyclical on caring for creation. For many students, this is their first time reading an official document from the Catholic Church and first time engaging Catholic thought in a systematic way. Francis' tour de force resonates deeply with them, especially his challenge to Christians to follow God's call by being good stewards of the earth. Students express a kind of joy filled with awe in what they discover.

To be authentic, belief needs to be lived and tried in the real world. As students in class express, there is a deep resonance when a community proclaiming to follow the God of love embodies this love on important issues of our day. Or as St. Ignatius reflects in the Spiritual Exercises, "Love ought to be shown more in deeds than words." Francis' encouragement buoys students in seeing their own environmental efforts as part of a worldwide movement.

On Monday nights, Midnight Run site coordinators gather to reflect on the past week. A Campus Ministry program led by students, Midnight Run is Marquette's largest weekly service group and is focused on supporting neighbors experiencing food insecurity. During the meeting, student leaders name moments where their hearts were broken and where they were invited to expand and grow. They discuss how their eyes are becoming acclimated to seeing a new world in the making - where economic stability, immigration status, race, education and employment level are superseded by our common humanity; where what divides us as members of the human family gives way over a shared meal, in a shared space, at a shared table. They see life anew even if these movements at times seem to come in fits and starts.

To be in the room with students as they unpack their experiences, savor the consolations and wrestle with important questions is an incredible gift. Their own process of "coming and seeing" through their day-to-day lives at Marquette is inspiring.

Throughout the world, Jesuit educators, including us at Marquette, are called to "accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future." As we face a world with many grave challenges and I listen to students naming and identifying concrete ways that God's dream continues to unfold, find expression and give them hope, I am reminded that God very much continues the good work that has begun in my life, students' lives and throughout our world.

Thinking back to my question posed to the Ignite team: "What do you mean by authentic?" I am struck by students' resilience in naming their sources of hope, their desire to seek this out in community, and the way that faith illumines the journey. All of that is a way of leaning into the lifelong process of Finding God in All Things.