Posted: November 19

A Tale of Two Macs

(Fairfield, Conneticut) Today was my fourth Sunday in the United States during this trip. It certainly feels like it’s time to go back to Rome, but I will go to the airport tomorrow with a contented smile. The conference in Denver on adult learning and distance education has already begun to bear fruit. Since it ended I have been doing one of my main jobs as Secretary of Communication—what I call “apostolic tourism”—which is getting around to see first hand what Jesuits are doing in the apostolate of communication. Fairfield University, about 50 miles north of New York City, and America magazine in midtown Manhattan are my last two stops. Both of them are doing good work, the first in education, the second in magazine publishing. My great surprise in both cases, though, are two young Jesuit priests: Jim McDermott and Mark McGregor. Usually when I talk about Macs, I am referring to the computer brand I prefer, but in this case the reference is to movie-makers.

Jim McDermott is an associate editor of America magazine and does his share of correcting copy as well as writing his own articles. He has started a project of creating an oral history by videotaping famous Jesuits who had a role in important moments of our history or well-known historians who have developed a rich lore of stories which they are continually invited to share at conferences. McDermott is getting those down on tape, in a straightforward manner that emphasizes what the story teller has to say. His first subject was Fr. Vincent O’Keefe, whom former Superior General Pedro Arrupe named as his Vicar-General when a stroke ended the charismatic leader’s ability to govern the Society of Jesus. He has also interviewed Fathers Howard Gray and John O’Malley who speak from their considerable expertise on the history of the Society. I encouraged Jim to think about Jesuits from other parts of the world who could speak about key moments of change in their areas. Jim is aiming the material at formation houses, but I can see other uses for such good material. This could be the start of a very extensive project.

Mark McGregor is an associate professor in the New Media/Film/Television/Radio department at Fairfield. He arrived back at Fairfield just as I reached the campus. For the past semester he has been in Los Angeles editing an hour-long documentary film called “Posada” which tells the story of four teenagers who were caught up in U.S. prisons as they fought to stay in the country and pursue their dream of a home safe from poverty and danger. McGregor interweaves their stories with the traditional Latino Christmas custom of La Posada in which neighbors reenact the story of Joseph and Mary seeking shelter and being rebuffed until they finally find someone willing to open their doors to the couple in need. “Posada” becomes the metaphor for the shelter these four youth are seeking and what the Church and Jesuit apostolates in California are trying to provide. Mark met three of the four teenagers when he was working as a chaplain to immigrants in the prison, and he found a way of combining his professional work as a communication educator with his pastoral concerns as a priest for serving the poor who seek the same hospitality that Joseph and Mary once sought. Of course, the issue of immigrants is tense and divisive right now in the United States, so I am proud that Mark has made such a touching film that humanizes the issue and presents the Church’s stance in favor of immigrants.

Seeing the creativity of these two young movie-makers gives me hope. Even though flying is not much fun any more, even less so after this summer’s scare and the stricter screening that resulted, I realized that it is important for me to leave the office and go visiting. What I do is not exactly tourism, but it is apostolic.