Recognizing Men and Women For Others
C. Hightower, S.J.
JesuitSpeak V
Men and Women for Others
In an interview with the Italian journalist Renzo Giacomelle, Peter Han Kolvenbach, S.J., the former Father General of the Society of Jesus, described the hope and desire of Jesuit schools everywhere:
The Society hopes its former pupils will be socially recognizable as such,
not only or not mainly by certain traits most easily specified –
competence, qualifications – but by their commitment to the service of
fundamental Christian and human values. It would like them to be
mature personalities, rich in kindness, and anxious to commit themselves
to the cause of true justice or to the generous service of the people of God.
A few years earlier, in a speech to U.S. Jesuit colleges & universities administers, Father Kolvenbach was more to the point, stating that Jesuit education means teaching our students to make “no significant decision without first thinking of how it would impact the least in society”. This is what it means to form our students to become “Men and Women for Others”.
In the past two weeks, I have received hundreds of texts, E-mails, and cards following the death of my niece Molly Mackenzie Hightower in the Jan. 12th earthquake in Haiti. My oldest brother Mike and his wife of twenty-five years, Mary, along with Molly’s siblings Jordan, Zach, and Sean have received thousands of cards, prayers, and well wishes. It is truly humbling to be supported by so many people who knew members of our family or of Molly. In the days after the quake, we knew that Molly was trapped in the rubble of her 7 floor building, (we knew she was on the 5th floor) but did not know if she was alive or dead. As other volunteers were pulled out alive, we rejoiced and continued to pray and hope. After three days filled with both pain and joy we recovered Molly’s lifeless body from the rubble.
During those days, Mike gave a number of interviews with both the local and national press. One question he was continually asked in various ways was “How could you allow your 22 year old daughter to go to Haiti in the first place”? His response was always the same; “how could we not”? Mike and Mary had made their decision years earlier to send their children to Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma. As parents, they too went through a formational process which allowed them to rejoice and take pride as their two daughters and two sons grew to become “Men and Women for Others”.
Another Molly walked into my office a few days ago. She is a 2001 graduate of Gonzaga. She works for Catholic Relief Services on Delmas Street, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. There during the quake, she was in Spokane for a few days of rest after the chaos of the past few weeks. Her professional life is serving refugees in poor areas around the world. She had been in Haiti for seven months, the same amount of time as my niece. Molly will be returning to Haiti in a week or so to continue her work with CRS. I am hoping she runs across two 2009 graduates who are serving with the 82nd Airborne in Petionville, Haiti. There are a number of other Gonzaga graduates and community members working hard on behalf of a country that can only be described as the poorest of the poor.
We expect our students to be competent in their area of study. We rejoice when they are recognized as Men and Women for Other.
If you would like to continue to read about Molly Hightower see the following links:
http://mollyinhaiti.blogspot.com or the CRS site http://crs.org