Students from all across the world come to study at JST, and connections and friendships forged at our school on holy hill in Berkeley, California, span the lengths of the world.
After completing their studies at JST, our Jesuit graduates return to their home provinces to be ordained as priests. Fellow classmates often travel across the United States to witness and celebrate their friends’ ordinations. This past June, a large contingent from JST traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to see their fellow classmate and friend, Oscar Momanyi, S.J., M.Div. ’17, S.T.L. ’18, be ordained as a Jesuit priest. Scattered across the world, the group descended upon Nairobi, Kenya for the joyous celebration of their friend’s ordination.
Part of a Global Church
Sara Prendergast, M.Div. ‘16, who teaches at Jesuit High School in Portland, OR, Sullivan Oakley, M.Div. ’16, who works at the Ignatian Spirituality Center in San Francisco, and Caroline Read, M.A. ’18, traveled from California. Victor Setibo, S.J., S.T.L. ’17, Th.M. ’17, joined the group from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he has been running a refugee camp for Jesuit Refugee Services; Jeremy Dunford, M.T.S. ‘17, traveled from Texas, where he just concluded his first year as a teacher at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston; and Luke Hansen, M.Div. ‘17, came from Rome, where he has been studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Kathleen Shrader, who was a Jesuit Volunteer in Berkeley, ’16 - ‘17, and came to know the JST community well during her JV year, joined the group from Malawi, where she had just concluded a year working with Jesuit Refugee Services.
The group enjoyed the generous hospitality of the Jesuit community in Nairobi where they stayed, explored downtown Nairobi, and even got a chance to go on safari in the Masai Mara National Reserve. While they enjoyed their sightseeing, the group remarked on how special of a privilege it was to be present for their friend’s ordination. Kathleen Shrader remembers that “seeing Oscar with his family, his home parish community, and the vibrant community at St. Joseph the Worker parish where the ordination was celebrated was such a gift. A particularly special moment was when Oscar said an outdoor Mass the evening of our safari in Masai Mara – it was a beautiful way to cap our celebration of him and our time in Kenya.”