In our respective roles in Alumni Relations and University Communications, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to interact regularly with BC alumni and students whose selfless acts, kind gestures, and indomitable spirits have inspired us with their capacity to love, care for, and serve others.
In so many cases, when we offer our praise and admiration, their response is the same:
“It is what Boston College taught me to do.”
There is distinctiveness to a Boston College education that manifests itself is so many ways, big and small. Throughout its 154-year history, Boston College has urged its graduates to develop their God-given talents and use them in the service of others. It is the Jesuit way. But that commitment to serving others and making a difference in the world seems invariably tied to the faith-based education they received here. In so many cases, members of the BC community tell us that the faith dimensions of their BC experience helped to profoundly shape the course of their lives and the choices they have made, often in ways they never imagined while students.
Pope Francis reminds us that our faith must be a living faith, put to work in everyday life. It is the practice of faith that matters. By all accounts, a Boston College and Jesuit-inspired education prepares people to put their faith to work throughout their daily lives.
In this edition of C21 Resources, you will hear the stories of several of our alumni who have led meaningful lives that were inspired by their faith-filled BC education. Whether it was responding to a call to serve, overcoming adversity, or taking principled stands in the name of justice, they are people who were shaped by the Jesuit education they received at Boston College.
That education enabled BC grads Jeremy Zipple, James Hairston, and Chuck Clough to respond to God’s calling to ordained ministry, and Jerry York to devote his life to building young men of character both on and off the ice. It is what inspires Grace Simmons Zuncic to be a leading businesswoman and loving mom, and Jenny Chin Hansen, Mike Motyl, Ann Riley Fink and Luly Castellanos de Samper to devote so much of their lives to service. It manifests itself in the mentoring offered by Matt and Sarah Hasselbeck, and in the hope for the future expressed by recent graduates Juan Lopera and Mathew BeDugnis. And it is surely faith that inspires Patrick Downes’ desire to live the rest of his life as an instrument of peace.
We are truly humbled by their witness to a living faith. In our own cases, we too recognize that our Boston College education played a unique role in our spiritual formation.
Joy: For me as an alumna and AVP of Alumni Relations, I still reflect – with much gratitude – on when I was first introduced to the Jesuits by way of taking the core courses of Theology and Philosophy as a freshman. Prior to attending BC, I had never met a Jesuit and knew very little about the Jesuit principles, values, and teachings. I was not Catholic, but that didn’t preclude me from having the space and encouragement to deepen my own faith while learning and developing as a young woman within the Jesuit, Catholic identity that is Boston College.
Every encounter I had with a Jesuit was one of care, concern, support, reassurance, inspiration, and a genuine desire to help me succeed. The Jesuits made me believe in myself in a way that I didn’t know was possible and helped to shape who I have become and the paths I have taken throughout my life.
For example, I well tested my faith in both God and myself during a challenging appointment of heading up a school in South Africa, away from family and friends. The four years I spent there required me to draw upon the deepest levels of my faith-based resources. Though almost fifty at the time, the experience reassured me that I could stand at the crossroads of my life and, with God’s help, stretch myself in my commitment to service. And while I went there to serve others, as is so often the case, I learned more than I taught, received more than I gave. That experience in South Africa helped me to strengthen my core as a woman, a mother, a wife, and a person for others. Even in midlife, my Jesuit and faith-based education was still well at work and sustaining my journey.
At BC, you are educated in a particular way that urges you to go beyond your professional calling, beyond your personal accomplishments and self-interests to consider how you might use your talents and skills to serve others. That is what being men and women for others is all about.
As I continue to deepen my understanding of Jesuit values, I have come to realize that I am expected to do more and to live my faith daily and to find God in all things that orbit my world.
Jack: For me as an alumnus, AVP of University Communications and University Spokesman, my Boston College education has provided me with a foundation upon which to build a life devoted to family, faith and service.
Outside of the selfless example set by my parents, my Jesuit education was the single-most influential factor in my life.
That education began at BC High, where Jesuit teachers demanded the most out of me and helped me to believe in myself as a student. Their encouragement played a role in cultivating a love of the written and spoken word that has stayed with me throughout my life. It continued at Boston College, where I was challenged to give the best of myself, both in and outside of the classroom. While here, I was constantly reminded of Jesus’ own teaching: to whom much has been given, much is expected, which helped to shape a commitment to service that has guided my life.
I remain forever grateful for the faith-based education I received at Boston College, and I take immeasurable pride in seeing my own children enjoying the same experience as BC students today.
I am fortunate also in that I have had the opportunity to work at both of the Jesuit schools I attended. Doing so has served to heighten my appreciation for this special ministry and the unique gift that a Jesuit education provides. For nearly two decades, I have had the privilege of advocating for Boston College, an institution I love and believe in. This wonderful experience has taught me the true meaning of gratitude. I realize every day that I step onto this campus that I have been truly blessed by God.
The following essays serve as a powerful example of living faith in action, and remind us of the profound goodness that emanates from this great Jesuit University and from the network of Jesuit-sponsored schools throughout the world.
JOY HAYWOOD MOORE and JACK DUNN are were guest editors of the Fall 2017 issue of the C21 Resources Magazine
PHOTO CREDIT: Boston College Office of University Communications