Br. John Campbell, SJ

Hanging on the wall of my former office at the Jesuit Seminary & Mission Bureau was an old Jewish proverb that said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your future plans!”  That proverb, in a roundabout way, is pertinent to my vocation as a Jesuit brother.

My discernment to the brotherhood began in the late summer of 1953.  My future plans were threefold:  (1) after 5½ years of night school at St. John’s University, I would receive my degree in business administration in June 1954; (2) I would then receive a promotion at my position with a large engineering firm on Wall Street; and (3) I would spend more time with a girl whom I had been dating for 4 or 5 months.

All that changed when my girlfriend informed me two weeks before Labor Day Weekend that she would be spending that weekend with her family – visiting relatives in Florida.

Since I had no plans for Labor Day, I decided to make a weekend retreat sponsored by the Knights of Columbus at Mt. Manresa Retreat House on Staten Island.  I had not made a retreat since my second year at Cardinal Hayes High School.

The retreat, facilitated by Fr. John Magan, S.J., was on Ignatian Spirituality.  Although I had never met a Jesuit, I was very impressed by the subject matter and felt moved after the retreat to find out more about the Jesuits.  A few months later, I met with Fr. Magan at Fordham University who then served as the Vocation Director.  In my discussion with Fr. Magan I found out that although my academic marks at Cardinal Hayes and St. John’s were acceptable, I did not have any Latin or Greek, which was then required for the priesthood.  So, if I wanted to pursue a vocation as a Jesuit, priesthood was off the table.

However, Fr. Magan gave me a small book on the Jesuit brothers entitled God’s Ground Crew.  The picture on the front cover was of a plane fueled by the ground crew.  In essence, the booklet described the priests as the pilots and the brothers’ support as the ground crew.  While that image of Jesuit Brotherhood may be a bit outdated today, nonetheless it has stuck with me all these years.  In looking back over my 55½ years as a brother, I can honestly say that I have met very few Jesuit Priests on whose plane I would not serve alongside of as support crew, all of us working for Jesus.

After many hours of prayer and guidance by Fr. Tom Lewis, S.J., I applied to the Society of Jesus and was accepted.  I was blessed that my family and girlfriend were very understanding of my decision.  After receiving my degree in June, I entered the novitiate at St. Andrew-on-Hudson alone on July 4, 1954 as a then postulant (pre-novice).

On the question, has my vocation changed over the years:  I would have to say in all honesty that I have been blessed to serve our seminarians and missionaries as treasurer of the Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau for 49 years.  Both the seminarians and missionaries have stood as positive role models for me.  I also want to thank the many Provincials of the New York Province who have been kind enough to me stay in an apostolic work that I enjoyed very much.

On the question, how do I see my vocation now in contrast to 1953-54:  I would have say due to the aging process in my life and semi-retirement, community life and the support of my brother Jesuits all have been vital and necessary for me.  I cannot thank the community enough for their prayers when I was at the province infirmary recently for four weeks.  I also want to thank the community for their support when my two sisters died within a three-week interval in November-December 2006.  I particularly want to thank the rector, Fr. Jim Van Dyke, for saying the funeral mass for my sister, Grace, with no advance notice, since the pastor was ill.

In conclusion, in 1992 on a trip to our Jesuit Missions (in Japan and the Philippines), I spent a few days in Honolulu.  One evening I saw the film A Few Good Men.  It was about the Marine Corps., and starred jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.  Well I can say in all honesty, that over the past 55 years, of which 50 have been spent in the 83rd Street Jesuit community, I have not met A Few Good Men.  Rather, in this community, both past and present, I have met hundreds of good men.  I want also to thank the 11 men who served as the rectors there for all their guidance and thoughtfulness to me.

Thank you to God and to the Society of Jesus.