Jesuits are “companions of Jesus” called to serve a world in need, sharing Christ’s mission of justice and reconciliation.  We are religious priests and brothers sent to all corners of the world to share the Good News of our faith, to promote justice, and to foster greater dialogue between different religions and cultures.  We seek the greater glory of God and the development of a more humane and sustainable world.

The life of the Jesuits is based on the spiritual experience of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who learned to “find God in all things”: in prayer, in people, in world events, in nature, in our daily actions, in our own hearts. Inspired by him we too strive to discover God working in all the realities of our world… as Contemplatives in Action.

The method of Ignatius is written in his Spiritual Exercises. It’s a small book that can help anyone to be free from unhealthy attachments so they can follow the still, small voice of God that speaks in the deepest desires of their hearts.

Being a Jesuit opens our lives to risk and adventure. St. Ignatius sought companions who would generously offer themselves to be sent to any part of the world where greater service to God and help for people is expected [cf. Const 603]. We still seek to go where there is most need and it is most urgent: where others do not want to go or cannot go; where we can do greater good for individuals and communities.

Jesuits are centered in their personal love for Christ and their identity as friends in the Lord.  We are not civil servants or professionals.  We are ordinary men from every culture and country united by Christ to continue his work, and to share our lives as Jesus did: in deeply human and concrete friendships.

Our international formation brings us together as we share community life and mission across cultures.  Anywhere in the world where we find a Jesuit community, we feel among friends.  For Jesuits, “the world is our home.”

Ignatius and the first companions were known as men who were “learned and poor.”  To do good for others, we know that we need both intellectual and spiritual depth.  This comes not only from our excellent education, but also from living close to the poor and suffering.  This combination makes us men who are not detached in ivory towers, but rooted in the reality of the world and the hope of the Gospel.

This unique calling has enabled Jesuits to be renowned as educators, helping people to find an intelligent faith and serving as an intellectual voice for the Church.

Faith and world, action and prayer, interiority and apostolate, individual and community, poverty and apostolic means, studies and closeness to the marginalized, universality and local inculturation, Church and existential frontiers.  We Jesuits receive from Ignatius and the first companions an experience of a God who shows him/herself in the tensions and contradictions of life.

Ignatius is the saint of mundane mysticism;  he lives in the world as in a burning bush inhabited by the love of God, who assumes the tensions of life, harmonizing them, uniting what is apparently contradictory.  Ignatius has left us the most human of God’s experiences;  How divine our human experience would be if we followed his path thoroughly!

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How to Take the Next Step

If you feel inspired, a Jesuit in your area can help you listen to how God might be calling you to religious life. He can answer your questions, listen to your hopes and dreams, and accompany you as you begin to imagine how to find more joy, freedom, and fulfillment in your life. If joining us as a companion of Jesus continues to call you, we can guide you so that you can discern with greater clarity and increasing freedom your desire to be part of our life and mission