…during those years, I served alongside colleagues who were wholly committed to the mission of Jesuit education…
And I don’t know just where I’m going tonight
Out where the sky’s been cleared by a good hard rain
There’s somebody callin’ my secret name – Lucky Town, Bruce Springsteen
After the clock chimed midnight on my time at Regis Jesuit, I reluctantly began to consider other career opportunities.
That led me to a role that was both familiar and brand new: Vice President of the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, the organization that would become the JSN. It had been a constant presence throughout my career. I had attended every Colloquium they offered, graduated from and taught in their Seminars in Ignatian Leadership, and presented at numerous gatherings. When the opportunity to join the JSN and succeed Dr. Bernie Bouilette whom no one could (in my estimation) ever replace – a man who would become my mentor and on whom I still rely today arose, I was lucky and so deeply blessed to get the position.
The JSN, part of the Jesuit Conference of North America, supported more than eighty secondary and pre-secondary schools. Our offices were in Washington, D.C. – just four blocks from the White House – but I was able to remain in Denver, traveling regularly to lead programs and support leaders around the country.
It was an incredibly exciting next chapter. I loved every minute of it.
But sometimes, when you least expect it, God speaks one word—and everything changes.
That word still echoes in my mind: “Authentic.”
When Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, said that word during a homily at an international gathering of Jesuit educators in Rio de Janeiro, I was seated in the front row of the chapel and was close enough to feel the conviction in his voice. He was talking about leadership in Catholic schools and the responsibility we bear to lead with honesty and deep self-awareness. His challenge was clear: to lead others, we must be in touch with who we are. We must be authentic.
Authentic.
At that moment, I realized something I had not yet admitted or understood. I was doing meaningful work, but I had not yet answered the deepest call of my vocation: my first, best destiny some would say. I had not yet served as a Catholic high school principal. Not as an acting principal, that I had done at Regis Jesuit. I had not been: A. Principal.
I felt at that moment that there was something more for me to give and something else to do.
That moment in Rio changed everything.
But let me rewind.
I was in the fourth of four wonderful years working for the JSN and, during those years, I served alongside colleagues who were wholly committed to the mission of Jesuit education. We logged thousands of miles together, traveling thousands of miles. I met hundreds of educators and school leaders who helped shape my thinking, challenge my assumptions, and expand my heart.
I was transformed by the experience.
Many of the people I worked with remain dear friends—some of the most important relationships of my personal and professional life.
One of them, Dr. Tim Sassen, is more than a friend. For a person who has sisters but no biological brothers I have been blessed in three men who are as close to me as if we were biologically related. Tim is one of them. We still text and talk, and a casual “two minutes?” message often turns into a holy hour of laughter.
All of the people I encountered in my time at JSN made me who I am. I am better because of them.
In the fall of that fourth year with the JSN, the entire professional staff received an invitation to attend an international conference of Jesuit educators in Rio. Truthfully, “invitation” does not quite capture it—it was an honor. Leaders in Jesuit education from all over the world were coming together to reflect, pray, and discern how best to lead our schools. I did not belong in the room with such folks. This is a fact. It is also a fact that that is not why I wanted to say “no thank you” to this invitation.
International travel has never been my comfort zone, and when I looked at my already-packed calendar that fall, I realized I would be home in Denver for fewer than six days during that October. I tried to decline.
Thankfully, Father Bill Muller, my colleague at the JSJN (he would not like for me to call him “boss”) had a better perspective. “We’re blessed to be invited,” he said. “You’re going.”
Roger that.
And so, I boarded a plane in Denver, connected through Houston, and landed in Rio de Janeiro, completely unaware that I was about to experience the most profound spiritual moment of my professional life. That homily. That word.
Authentic.
It shifted something in me. I came home with clarity and conviction. I told my wife what I had heard in my heart and, frankly, what I believed I heard from the Voice of God, and without hesitation, she supported me fully. Her faith in me made my next step possible. Without a job lined up or applications submitted, I walked into Bill Muller’s office at the JSN and let him know that I would be leaving at the end of the school year.
“It’s time for you to run your own show,” he said. What a gift Bill Muller is.
Not long after that, my wife asked, “What’s your dream job? If you could wave a magic wand, what would it be?”
That was easy: a principalship at a co-ed Catholic high school in Denver.
At the time, no such job existed. So we started to look at schools that would mean a move and require a leap of faith (more on that in a few weeks)..
Two weeks later, that exact position opened.
Funny how religious experiences work.
Next week, Lucky Town – Mullen High School