I am trying to create a Frequently Asked Questions section for this blog, with questions that you or other people may wonder about the Jesuits, life in the novitiate, or anything else you might think would be illuminating. Please either email them to me at johnroselle@gmail.com, post them on this blog, or Facebook them to me. Feel free to be honest without worrying about being intrusive.
Since I hope this blog will give friends and family (as well as those interested in the Jesuits or considering joining) a sense of what life is like here, I too want to be honest and upfront in clearing up any sorts of questions people may have.
Hello from South Dakota John!
ReplyDeleteI have a question! Pretty simple really...Why is it that you wear the Roman collar as a nSJ? Are you mistaken for a priest when you wear them?
I guess I could liken it to my wearing a white coat as a med student. There is one distinction, med students wear short waist length coats and aren't allowed to don the long white coat until graduation.
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteGood question! Seminarians and religious in formation occasionally wear the roman collar. It is a profound honor, since so many holy men through the ages have worn it, and it is a wonderful witness to other young men that indeed Christ is still calling men to the priesthood. We are clear with people that we are NOT priests however. Impersonating a priest is an impediment to ordination. Thanks again for the question!
Why did you choose the SJ and not OMV or MC?
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt, my personal contacts with the Jesuits helped foster the discernment of the order, but I also found a lot of harmony between myself, Jesuit spirituality, the life of our founder St. Ignatius, and the mission and way of proceeding of the Society. I have a deep respect for the Missionaries of Charity, for example, but they have a very specific charism of being with the poorest of the poor (a beautiful charism) and a specific way of living strict poverty, but the Jesuit/Pauline way of "becoming all things to all people so that some may be saved" speaks more to my desires and skill-sets to influence others for God who can in turn influence others.
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