Brent Gordon

Even as a diocesan seminarian, I had an interest in and attraction to the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, as well as to the community life and shared spirituality of the religious orders. On top of this, I knew that I really enjoyed teaching — and that as a diocesan priest, I would be needed in parishes, not schools. Still, I had decided that God wanted me to sacrifice those desires in order to serve him and the church. During a silent, 8-day retreat, it struck me all at once that God had not asked me to sacrifice any of those things (I simply thought he did without consulting God about it at all). Turning (finally!) to the Lord and praying over where to look next, I found the Jesuits to be the best fit, not just for my personality and interests, but as a community in which I was supported to keep talking with — and listening to — God.

When I first applied to the Society, I had no thought of being a Brother. I had spent three years studying to be a priest and I assumed that I would continue building off of that. Yet the idea of being a Brother stayed with me, even though I did not know why. I spent some time trying to nail down what it meant to be a Jesuit Brother (and still think about it often). For me, a big part of this vocation is helping to form and maintain spaces where others, and especially fellow Jesuits, can come to better know and more closely follow the Lord. At the core, who draws me to be a Jesuit Brother is Jesus Christ. This is the life to which he invites me: why this is so and what it means remain mysteries to be lived.

One of my first assignments as a novice was to support Trinity Catholic High School in north St. Louis. While I was not sure what I would be doing specifically, I knew the school had a majority Black population, many of whom were from nearby Ferguson, and so imagined my work would somehow be connected to racial reconciliation. What was most needed when I arrived, however, was a maintenance man and a plumber. Neither of these were skills in which I had any background, but after shadowing a plumber — and watching many YouTube videos — I became fairly competent in fixing toilets. Not two weeks in, there was an emergency need for someone to teach several sections of American history and current events (subjects for which I was only marginally more qualified than plumbing). My week became alternating days of teaching and plumbing — a fact much enjoyed by the students. This experience taught me that service means listening to needs and responding as best as one can. Many times there are doubtless going to be people who are more experienced or qualified for any given job that I may be given; but I am to do what I can until those people arrive.

The Great British Baking Show. I am a huge fan of most baked goods (especially breads), and I also appreciate that there is less drama than there is in other competition-based shows. More than anything, though, what I like about it is that, on any given Thursday evening (when we watch), there are around 10 Jesuits gathered around the TV to watch the show — maybe two or three of whom have any interest in actually baking themselves.

For a few years in high school and in college I was an amateur balloon artist. I would occasionally volunteer at school events or birthday parties and could make the standards: dogs, giraffes, rabbits (which, to be fair, are dogs with slightly different proportions), hats, swords, flowers. Not bicycles though (so many people would ask for balloon bicycles).