In Chapter 10 “More Deeds Than Words” of the Jesuit Guide, I found a few takeaways that could be applied to my life and life at Georgetown in general. I thought that Presupposition was significant. The competition, ambition, and envy in the academic and professional environments are major causes of depression, loneliness, and lack of purpose, I think. It made me think of the pre-professional A-type environment at Georgetown. Students are constantly competing for the best internships, exam curves, recommendations etc. This is not beneficial to anyone. I wish James Martin, SJ could come to our school and just teach students how to apply Presupposition into their relationships with peers. Also, the part about the Jesuit community having various types of members was important because people generally view religious communities as closed and dogmatic. Yet it is the opposite case for the Society of Jesus. The last idea that I thought was important is the barrier of “Overactivity” in healthy friendships. When I moved to D.C., I realized that people love to look busy and are scheduling everything, including dates with their friends. I found this lifestyle to be damaging to naturally evolving human relationships because friends should not be a burden to you, like Father Martin says, “point here is not to add burdens, but to relieve them.”
In response to the second question, I asked Fr. Jerry about his implementation of Franciscan asceticism to his daily life. The main idea behind his answer was doing his best to live as a minimalist without taking his lifestyle to an extreme. I thought that this approach was very healthy and practical. Firstly, he seemed aware of the necessity to adapt certain religious practices to our modern day world. Secondly, he motivated me to give up my perfectionist mentality when it comes to mental/physical health and instead develop a more manageable perspective that allows me to be flexible rather than be hard on myself. He reminded me that it is OK if you do not know what you want to do for the rest of your life from such a young age. He talked about his own religious journey and how his family is still not used to the idea of him being a priest. Since I started working on my college applications, I have been obsessively thinking about what career path I should choose. This is clearly not healthy. According to PERMA, I should have a purpose, but I think that purpose does not translate directly into one’s occupation and I am still struggling with that idea. Especially during the current summer internship application period, listening to his talk really helped me reconsider my ambitions and desires. Do I want an internship because everybody wants it or am I truly interested in it? Would I be happy spending my freshmen summer in an office or should I take a break with my family?
