Klovenbach's Eye Opening Definition of the Jesuit Mission

  After reading Klovenbach's The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education, I feel like I understand the Jesuit mission more clearly. Although we were all berated by the “Jesuit Mission” from the moment we are accepted to Loyola, but I feel like I never fully understood the reasoning behind most of the points. This article helpfully outlined some of the debates around the Jesuits in the Christian community and how the Jesuits responded, highlighting their core values and the reasoning behind them. For example, Klovenbach describes how “the faith dimension was too often presumed and left implicit, as if our identity as Jesuits were enough” (28) while others “clung to a certain style of faith and Church. They gave the impression that Gods grace had to do only with the next life” (29). This highlights the emphasis on both sides of “The service of faith and promotion of justice.” Later on, Klovenbach describes the reason behind the core value “cura personalis,” he states that “Tomorrow’s whole person must have, in brief, a well-educated solidarity. We must therefore raise our Jesuit educational standard to “educate the whole person of solidarity for the real world.” Solidarity is learned through “contact” rather than through “concepts” (34). I think this is a more robust definition of any I have heard from the university and really puts into perspective the motivation behind so many of the programs here at Loyola. Another passage that perfectly highlights the motivation behind Jesuit higher learning is when Klovenbach says “Students, in the course of their formation, must let the gritty reality of this world into their lives, so they can learn to feel it, think about it critically, respond to its suffering and engage it constructively. They should learn to perceive, think, judge, choose and act for the rights of others, especially the disadvantaged and the oppressed” (35). This especially speaks to the “promotion of justice” half of the Jesuit motto. Overall, this reading has helped me frame my Jesuit education better and fully understand the core values of Loyola, something I thought I new but now have a new appreciation for.