James Martin: Seven Last Words
Victor Fuhrman: Your biography details your service working with the seriously ill, in hospice with the dying, ministering to the homeless, to prison inmates and many other labors of love, compassion, and kindness. Was this something that came naturally to you or was these acquired gifts?
James Martin: I think mainly acquired gifts—or, at least, graces. Frankly, I had never done any sort of service work before entering the Jesuits. Zero. It simply wasn’t part of my upbringing or my education, and certainly not my work at GE. Of course, in some ministries one feels more naturally at home: prison ministry, for some reason, always seemed very appealing to me. For one thing, the inmates are always happy to talk with someone, because they’re so lonely, so you tend to feel “needed.” (This is sometimes not the case in a hospital where people often want to be left alone.) I also enjoyed working with refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, where I helped refugee groups start small businesses. That too felt natural and easy and enjoyable. Some other ministries were more difficult, especially at first. Like working in a hospital. I was quite afraid of doing that. But I worked with some patient hospital chaplains who helped me to understand what I was feeling. At the same time, my spiritual director helped me to bring a great deal of what I was experiencing into prayers. Much of my prayer had to do with embracing my own powerlessness: I was powerless to “heal” or “fix” the people in the hospital, but I could accompany them, listen to them, and help them to find God in their situation—as best I could. That freed me up a great deal.
Victor Fuhrman: All of this hard work, study, and preparation culminated with you taking your final “fully professed” vows on November 1, 2009. Please share with us what that experience was like.
James Martin: A relief! I entered the Jesuits in 1988; pronounced my First Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience after two years of novitiate; then studied philosophy for two years at Loyola University Chicago; then worked for two years with the Jesuit Refugee Service in East Africa; then worked a year at America magazine; then studied theology for four years at Boston College; then was ordained in 1999; then worked for a while longer in America; then did another stage of formation and then, finally, took my Final Vows. I could have been a brain surgeon in less time!
