After spending ten weeks out on our experiments, tertians all returned to Dublin, safe and sound. We were in Armenia, Iraq, Malta, Scotland, Hungary, Wales, Belgium, Albania, Italy, Kosovo, and even just down the road in Dublin. We brought back many experiences and the stories to go with them, so naturally the first days back were spent sharing lessons learned and graces received.

Still feeling the metabolism boost from working in the apostolate, we returned to lectures as usual on topics like the virtues of a good Jesuit, lay collaboration, recent history of the Society of Jesus, psychology and spiritual development, spiritual direction, and more on the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus. As has been the pattern, the presenters were from various backgrounds: lay and religious, local and imported. They all did a wonderful job.

These last weeks of the tertianship looked a lot like the first, at least from the outside. We continued with our regular diet of Masses, classes, and jovial repasses over our lives as Jesuits thus far. Conscious that this is the end of the latest chapter in our Jesuit formation and the last formal one, the spirit of gratefulness was palpable, but so was a readiness to tackle our next assignments with the grace of God.

We finished up our eight days of silent retreat and closed out the final lectures. Fr. John Dardis made his final visit to us as the European Tertianship for 2016-2017 drew to a close. The overwhelming feeling was  of gratitude for the program and the opportunity to be pupils in this “school of the heart” while feeling the pull of our missions that await us. We are indebted to all who have made this possible, especially our benefactors, Frs. Paul Pace and Jan van de Poll, and the Jesuits in Dublin.

Saint Ignatius envisioned the Companions of Jesus as a body with diverse members, spread out to bring the Name of the Lord to the whole world. Please pray for the tertians of 2016-107, that we may stay true to this vision.