Jesuit’s final vows mark a surprising new beginning

“Are you ready to be surprised?” Father Peter Bisson, SJ, the Provincial of the English Jesuits in Canada asked.

The feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist was a triple celebration at the parish of St. Mark at UBC.

First it was the Sunday of the annual parish picnic where the community gathered to feast after Mass.

It has also been announced that we would also be celebrating the 50th anniversary of ordination and birthday of Father Bill Wilson, SJ, that day.

Then, as the parish handed out Anima Christi prayer cards in celebration of Father’s Day, it was quietly announced that Father Rob Allore, SJ, would be making his final vows as a Jesuit the following Sunday during the regular 11:30 Mass.

Father Rob (as he is known around campus) has been a Jesuit for over a quarter of a century, so it took most parishioners by surprise since they assumed he had made his final vows years ago.

In his homily, Father Bisson explained some of Father Rob’s journey and explained the Jesuit way of feeling loved by God and how falling in love with Jesus is mission. Preparation for saying yes to mission can take a long time. This was Father Rob’s day to say “yes.”

The music chosen for the Mass included two prayers from the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius – the Anima Christi and Suscipe – with more contemporary musical settings but the same intensity in the meaning of the words: “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess … Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”

The parish family gathered, little children and infants beside parents and grandparents, married and singles at Mass as on other Sundays, but after the consecration, as the celebrant elevated the host and chalice, Father Rob knelt before the altar and read his final vows aloud for the whole community to witness.

How did Father Rob spend over a quarter of a century getting to this day? First, he had to recognize he had a vocation during a period of consideration. In responding to this call of vocation with the Society of Jesus, he then became a novice for a period of two years.

During the end of the first year he would have made the “Long Retreat,” a 30-day silent retreat in which a participant completes the full Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius.

At the end of the second year he would pronounce first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, followed by first studies, where one studies theology and philosophy for three years until the regency period where he would work at a regular Jesuit job for two years or longer.

Following this, Fr Rob would proceed to theology at a graduate level and then ordination, first as a deacon and later a priest.

Finally there is the tertianship stage of Jesuit formation, which Father Rob did in 2007-2008 alongside Jesuit author Father James Martin, SJ, author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life, as well as Jesus, A Pilgrimage and many other books, articles and YouTube videos.

During this time, the 30-day retreat would be completed again. The Jesuits would then send the young Jesuit out to wherever he might be needed in the world, where he could be uprooted and moved several times. Then, when invited, Fr Rob would make his final vows … over a quarter of a century later.

It takes a long time for a Jesuit to reach the stage of final vows, but he is basically reaffirming something he has been living a long time. This stability that comes from a long formation leads to surprises for those of us who walk alongside Jesuits as they walk alongside us.

It is this “alongside” that is so important in our spiritual journey together. Jesuits won’t give you all the answers to your questions, but a Jesuit will help you to discover the answer yourself.

Father Rob’s final vows don’t make a great deal of difference in the day to day of this parish on campus. Father Rob remains the Father Rob we knew before. He still went to the lab on campus as he had on previous Tuesdays, heard confessions, and said Mass in the days that followed.

For those of us who have now walked alongside him in this special event as he has so many times walked alongside us, being invited to witness this rare event when a Jesuit repeats his first three vows and makes his fourth vow in the midst of our parish family was a wonderful surprise!

The writer is a member of St. Mark’s Parish at UBC.