Each morning, before I start my day, I sit quietly and think about what I will be doing, who I will be seeing or working with and where I will be throughout the morning and afternoon. I think about each person and event and how my experience with them may help me to learn, to discover something new or to complete a project. This is my version of what Jesuits call " the examen ", something I learned 40 years ago during my year as a novice with the order in the Guelph novitiate . It was just one of many things I learned that year, one of the best years of my life.

I remember the Jesuit building itself, our modest accommodations, the wonderful company, the conversations and arguments during meals and the capacious grounds out beyond the farm buildings, where I took long, solitary walks to reflect, to read and to pray.

I remember the rich wisdom and the kindness of our Novice Master, George Leach S. J. , who met with me and my novice companions each day to direct and instruct us as we started the long journey towards ordination as a Jesuit priest. We were all surprised and puzzled when George met with us one Sunday evening shortly after our arrival and said our first assignment would be starting the next morning ; we were going to St. Joseph's hospital where we would be trained to work as orderly assistants for three months. We sat in our lounge, wondering what the point of this assignment was, when George returned and said, " Guys, get up extra early tomorrow, we're going to walk to the hospital". Our first example of Jesuit endurance.

Then, after walking back from the hospital each day, and taking time for rest and a meal, George would gather us in a circle, point to each of us and ask, " What did you see today ? "Of course, each day in the hospital we saw pain, suffering and death, but we also saw healing , recovery and birth. George noted that, as Christians, we believed that the life and light would always overcome the darkness and death, and, if we couldn't believe this, then we had to re-consider and strengthen our faith and that we most likely could not continue our studies forthe priesthood. We all stayed.

Then, after this enlightening work with the physical realities of our lives, it was time to turn to the spiritual, and we began the 30 day retreat – the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. Now, far from the noise and hectic activities of the hospital, we spent each day in silence, spiritual reading, prayer and contemplation of the Exercises. After just a few days, I was restless and uncomfortable. Seeing this, George called me to his office.

" What do you want to be doing ?"  

" I  need to see the Church in action and service.; to be with people working for social justice ." 

As I spoke, George was listening and calmly making notes. " Here ", he said, giving me a sheet of paper and $ 20.  " Go ona pilgrimage. " On the paper was a list of Jesuit contacts between Guelph and Chicago , each name being someone working in various cities with poor and oppressed people.

I left Guelph and hitch-hiked to my first stop, St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario, where they were starting one of the first food banks in Canada. Then, I was away, stopping in Jesuit centres and Catholic communities through Windsor, Detroit and into Chicago, where I stayed in an inner-city Jesuit parish where there was no money to heat the church, but where the pews were full of families proud and thankful to be part of a church community that assisted them with food, clothing and counselling and that celebrated with them as the grace of Christmas approached.

I returned, exhausted and full of stories and experiences about Jesuits in action in the mean dark streets :  serving and celebrating with people in places where others would not go. Again, the caring and insight of George Leech and his understanding of the centuries of Jesuit action and tradition, enabled me and my novice companions to fully understand the Gospel messages of service, spirituality and prayer and to realize, through all these experiences as novices, whether or not we had a vocation to the priesthood. 

I decided to leave the novitiate after even more memorable  experiences, including an assignment with Jean Vanier's L'Arche agency. That included a rough, endless bus ride to Winnipeg and our adventures en route with several homeless men and a young mother, travelling alone with an infant, but those stories are for another article.

My time as a Jesuit novice led me to a life of work in education and literacy for social justice. My understanding of the power of knowledge and learning to overcome poverty and isolation comes directly from my time as a novice. So that each morning, my examen includes a prayer of thanks for the goodness and insights of George Leech, S. J. and for the traditions and current works of the Society of Jesus.