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Gerry McKeon has been here before. An undergraduate at Holy
Cross in the early 1970s, he returned some 25 years later
as an assistant chaplain. Some things have changed, he says.
And some things haven’t. Yes, we live in a period that
he views as more materialistic and individualistic than was
his own time at Holy Cross. But students continue to search
for ongoing spiritual support and guidance. And community
service remains an important value on campus and an important
component of Jesuit education.
Like Fr. Bill Clark, Fr. McKeon has spent extensive time—eight
years, in two, four-year, stints—living in Jamaica.
He describes his experiences there as both humbling and useful—and
he encourages students to participate in both the immersion
programs available during vacation periods and postgraduate
programs like the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, which bring them
into closer and more sustained contact with poorer communities
and with different cultures, both foreign and domestic.
Beyond the educational and spiritual value of such work,
Fr. McKeon says, the goal is justice: “to become men
and women for others and with others, in solidarity with
those who struggle, to really work to build a more just world,
a more caring world, and a world that really brings greater
equality—that tries to narrow the gap between rich and
poor.”
In the way that he speaks about the students’ need
for support, he is careful to emphasize their need for structure
as well. He talks about love, but he talks about tough love.
“You want to affirm them,” he says of students
seeking guidance, “support them on their journey. You
want them to know that they’re loved because self-esteem
issues are important to a lot of students. We offer an adaptation
of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This
is a very important part of our retreat program. Through
the Spiritual Exercises many students come to a personal
experience of God’s unconditional love. This experience
of God’s love is something we really want to encourage
among our students.”
“And the Spiritual Exercises,” Fr. McKeon continues, “also
enable our students to acknowledge that ‘I am a loved
sinner,’ and to really come to grips with this truth.
It would be unfair to our students if we did not help them
to look at this reality in their lives. So I’m a loved
sinner. I’m in need of redemption. And I think it’s
our role as chaplains to help students get in touch with
areas in their lives where they experience unfreedom, where
there are obstacles to their spiritual growth.”
While spiritual guidance, pastoral counseling and social
justice programs are key to the work of the Chaplains’ Office,
Fr. McKeon also stresses the broader mission of the College.
“The whole sense of finding God in all things is key
to this institution,” he says—“realizing that
everything is a place for the sacred, that God can be found
in every interaction. In your studies, in your relationships,
in every aspect of your life, not only in church. God is
there, concrete and substantial. And we are called to be
reflective in our actions, to contemplate and to seek God
in everyday life.”
“We give glory to God by developing our intellectual
capacities,” Fr. McKeon says. “We give glory to
God by developing the whole person. Educating the whole person:
spiritual, intellectual and physical. That’s very much
part of our tradition.”
Donald N.S. Unger is a free-lance journalist from Worcester,
Mass.
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