Meeting New Jesuits: Brook Stacey, SJ

Interview by John D. O’Brien, S.J. 

Brook Stacey is 25 and from Toronto, Ontario. After two years of novitiate, the first stage of Jesuit formation, he recently professed perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience at the church of the Gesù in Montreal. He is now living in an academic community for philosophical studies in Toronto.

                                 You obviously had a life before becoming a Jesuit novice. Tell us about about yourself and that life?

Well, I was born into a family of four, with one older brother. We got along great –despite our regular brawling – and I ended up following him most places he went. I attended the same Catholic high school and even university as him. I always looked up to him. But it was while studying engineering at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and my first time away from home,  that I encountered the inevitable obstacles of life pushing me either towards or away from maturity. In encountering these adversities I encountered God.

You have taken the fairly unusual step of vowing yourself to God for life. What were the main influences that first brought you to the doorstep of the Jesuit novitiate?

It all began with a desire. When I entered into my faith in a new and personal way, I discovered an upwelling urge to love and serve. It was a response to the love that I had always longed for but had been starving from or too long. It was the love of God. Experiencing this brought with it a new-found joy and sense of purpose, and so began the seeds of my vocation. The initial tug, or hint, of a religious vocation came to me while attending Mass, and hearing the priest pray for “those men and women discerning a call to religious life, that they would receive the courage to respond to it.” I knew in my heart that the prayer was for me. The thought of responding to the call gave me deep joy. Forthe next three years I was brought onto the adventure of a lifetime. I went on a Catholic mission trip to Ottawa, walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain and I met the Jesuits. Meeting my first Jesuit was the link God used to guide me towards my vocation. And so I arrived at the Jesuit novitiate, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Looking back to the two years you have spent as a Jesuit novice, what did you learn that was most essential in confirming this decision for you?

Knowing that God was with me. The novitiate was tough and I went through many trials and struggles during it, but up to the very end, after two years of mining away at the depths of my soul, I realized that all that mattered was that God was with me. Wherever I went, whatever I did, I knew that was the most important thing. I still am unaware of the total gravity of the decision I have made, and I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know that God is walking with me side by side, and that brings me peace.

What were some other highlights of your novitiate experience?

The greatest highlight of my novitiate experience was going to Belize for five months. I basically lived in the jungle beside the Caribbean Sea. I taught a choir in an elementary school, drove a truck through jungle terrain, taught catechism and led retreats in the Mayan villages, and made some amazing friends. It was the most exciting, adventurous, and joyful time of my life.

There are still may years of study ahead of you, and God’s will can obviously reveal itself in different ways down the road. But what aspects of the Jesuit charism draw you in particular? Is there already anything you see yourself doing as a Jesuit later on?

I found deep insights into my own vocation just from the journey itself. Discerning, experiencing, praying – all these were essential for me in recognizing God’s will for my life. I wish to help others with the same. I would love to see my self down the road guiding young novices, or aspiring Jesuits discern their vocation. It would be a joy to see God working so deeply in another’s life.

What is your greatest and recurring consolation in daily Jesuit life?

My community. My Jesuit community is the house I live in, but also all those men across the world who share our vocation. It is always amazing to be able to meet someone from the other side of the globe and be able to call him brother. There is a tremendous feeling of support that I find connected to all these men.

What is your favourite novel and movie and why?

Novel: “Holes”, by Louis Sachar. At times I felt just like the young kids in that novel sent away to dig holes for being the “trouble makers.”

Movie: “Gladiator”. Who doesn’t love this movie? It is one of the greatest stories of a man living for something beyond himself, and willing to die for it.

What about a favourite song?

“Is this love” by Bob Marley. Reggae music soothes the soul, and Bob never fails.

Do you have a favourite scripture quote at the moment or of all-time?

“Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” [Mark 12:31]

Do you have a quotation from anything else that helps shed light on life’s meaning or of living a “good life”?

This is a quote from Sir Laurens van der Post:

The Bushman in the Kalahari Desert talks about two “hungers.” There is the Great Hunger and there is the Little Hunger. The Little Hunger wants food for the belly; but the Great Hunger, the greatest hunger of all, is the hunger for meaning… There’s ultimately only one thing that makes human beings deeply and profoundly bitter, and that is to have thrust upon them a life without meaning…

There is nothing wrong in searching for happiness… But of far more comfort to the soul… is something greater than happiness or unhappiness, and that is meaning.

Because meaning transfigures all… Once what you are doing has for you meaning, it is irrelevant whether you’re happy or unhappy. You are content—you are not alone in your Spirit—you belong.

Having just entered the vowed life, do you have any advice you would give a young person who might be discerning a religious vocation?

Pray. Be honest with God and honest with your self. Allow God to see you as you are and love you as you are. The rest will come.

Wise words. Thanks for sharing your comments, Brook.