Dear Parishioners,

I have really been touched by your expressions of support and affection as I approach Final Vows in the Society of Jesus. In each case, the caring is also matched by the questions – What exactly is this and what does it mean? Good questions. As most things, Jesuits tend to do things a bit differently from other religious orders. Moreover, being a religious order priest is different from being a diocesan priest. We all have something special to offer the Church based on our distinct charisms (those gifts of the Holy Spirit for the good of the universal Church).

Basically, I professed my first, simple, perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience at the end of the first two years of Jesuit formation, the novitiate, in 2005. With those vows, I also promised that I would spend my whole life in this global Society of Jesus. Final Vows is now full-incorporation into this religious life, allowing me to be missioned to leadership positions of even greater responsibility. August will mark 20 years as a Jesuit for me, which shows that this is quite the process of discernment and formation for mission.

Perhaps the best way to explain the vows is to merely show the words I will prayerfully recite on the Feast of St. Ignatius, July 31: 

I, Thomas Michael Simisky, S.J., make my profession, and I promise to Almighty God, in the presence of his Virgin Mother, the whole heavenly court, and all those here present, and to you, Reverend Father Provincial representing the Superior General of the Society of Jesus and his successors and holding the place of God, perpetual poverty, chastity and obedience; and, in conformity with it, special care for the instruction of children, according to the manner of living contained in the apostolic letters of the Society of Jesus and its Constitutions.

I further promise a special obedience to the Sovereign Pontiff in regard to the missions according to the same apostolic letters and the Constitutions.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Fr. Tom, S.J.
Pastor