Little
did Wesley College student Kieran Gill know when
gleefully scoring a goal against Xavier College as a soccer-playing
schoolboy in the 1990s that he would one day decide to join the opposition and become
a Jesuit priest.
Last
night, surrounded by their families, Kieran and fellow novice Rob Morris took
their first vows at a mass at Canisius in Sydney,
two years to the day after joining the novitiate.
Although
he grew up in a Catholic family, Kieran says his journey towards religious life
was gradual. He was introduced to the Jesuits through his volunteer work at a
housing project for asylum seekers when he was 18. 'But even at that point I
never thought that I would be here, in the Society of Jesus!'
By
the time he finished his arts-law degree at the age of 21, Kieran had decided
that he wanted to join the novitiate, which he did in February 2008. It was an
edifying experience, he says.
'You
come to live the real life of a novice, to love the Society more. It's a time
to test and confirm that this is really the right path for you.'
While
in the novitiate, the now 26-year-old Kieran spent time at St Ignatius'
College, Athelstone, and with Jesuits working in East
Timor. While these experiences were challenging in their own way,
Kieran says this is part of life. 'You wouldn't grow if you weren't
challenged.'
As
the younger of the two new scholastics, Kieran says his calling to the
priesthood is not something he can explain, but is one of God's mysteries. 'We
can only seek to understand these things at a deeper level, in our hearts and
in prayer. So in one sense it is totally impossible [to become a priest] but in
another sense, nothing is impossible for God.'
Drawn
to caring for people, and aspiring to the priesthood as a young boy,
37-year-old Rob became an orderly and then a nurse aide in a hospital in his
hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand. 'I saw a lot of needs
that medicine just couldn't meet. It stirred in me the desire to be a priest
again.'
He
also realised he 'needed to get an education'. While doing a degree in history,
he read about the Jesuits. 'I was really captivated by these men', he says.
It
was while travelling abroad that Rob met a group of Jesuits and felt
instinctively that he had 'come home'. He returned to New Zealand and told his family of
his decision to become a priest. Not long after, he joined the novitiate in Sydney.
Rob's
experiences as a novice have helped him to 'peel away the layers and reveal my
strengths and my weaknesses'. He worked at St Canice's
parish in Sydney's
Kings Cross, a 'confirming' time in his life in which he felt a deep sense of
brotherhood with the Jesuits who live and work there.
'It's
a very earthy sort of place with the people who come to the door and the
problems they have. You realise that the marginalised and the poor occur in
different contexts. You have to stretch your definitions', says Rob.
Having
spent the past two years confirming their desire to join the Jesuits, the
first vows mass was a happy culmination for Kieran and Rob.
'It
was very overwhelming and very humbling to be there in the presence of so many
Jesuits, young and old. It was a joyful occasion', says Kieran.
The
mass was even attended by Rob's parish priest who made the journey from Christchurch. 'He's not a
Jesuit, but he has a great love for the Jesuits!' says Rob.
Rob
says the mass gave him the sense that he was entering a bigger family. 'We
walked out after the mass into the midst of all the Jesuit priests, who hugged
us. It was beautiful.'
The
two will spend the next three years studying philosophy and theology at Jesuit Theological
College in Melbourne. After that, 'it's out of our hands
where we will be sent', says Kieran. 'There's a lot of water still to go under
the bridge. You've just got to take one day at a time.'
By Catherine Marshall