What does a tugboat have in common with a Jesuit church in New York City?
Not a whole lot, to be honest.
“It’s very easy to find God in places of beauty,” says Michael Matulewicz.
Mike’s a tugboat operator in New York Harbor. He offers this insight while standing in the nave of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, the Jesuit church on Park Avenue. Mike’s gaze is captivated by any number of beautiful pieces of art and architecture adorning that holy place. He stands as he speaks, spinning slightly, his arms spread out as though trying to hold the fullness of the church in his grasp.
Unlike the beauty of that sacred space, “tugboats and ships in general are not designed to reflect heaven,” he says with a laugh.
But Mike is formed in the Ignatian tradition. And his job offers him ample opportunity to practice Ignatian spirituality. He finds God in all things, from the wafting smoke of candles lit in the back of a quiet church to the rocky waves of a tugboat out on the water.
We spent time with Mike late last year. We shared meals and conversation and wandered around the harbor together. He showed us what it means to be a tugboat operator, how important that job is for the economic security of the whole country and beyond, and he shared with us both the joys and challenges that such a job entails. But most of all, Mike — well-formed in the Ignatian tradition as both a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and of the Contemplative Leaders in Action program — gave us a glimpse of what it means for one man to live out the Ignatian charism through his unique vocation.
So, what does a tugboat and a Jesuit church have in common? They’re both, in a sense, Mike’s spiritual home, places where his vocation comes to life, where it is sustained and encouraged to grow.
I am not a tugboat operator. But Mike’s witness, his reflections on his own personal journey, inspire and challenge me. Our own vocations do not unfold solely bound by the walls of a church. They’re not nurtured one day a week. Nor can they be simply boiled down to our office space, our output or our job title.
For each of us, as for Mike, our vocations are nourished when we tend to our full selves. We find God in all things not because God is an avid fan of hide-and-seek. We find God in all things because all things can and do conspire together to help us become the person God dreams we will be.
God tugs on our hearts from many places — the church, the open water and everywhere in between.
Click here to learn more about Mike’s story in our latest video on Ignatian spirituality. And check out his monthly podcast, “Pierogi to Prayer.”
