Justice Through Encounter

Committed to Doing Justice is an essential part of the formation of young men at Strake Jesuit. As acknowledged in the Graduate at Graduation, a Jesuit education calls students to recognize the dignity of every human person, develop awareness of social realities, and respond generously to the needs of others. To answer this call, Strake Jesuit provides four years of meaningful experiences through a collaborative formation process that challenges students to move beyond themselves and engage the community through acts of faith, compassion, and solidarity.

I witness how involved our school community embraces this formation process from three different perspectives. First, as a father of a sophomore, I listened to the stories from the service days. After breaking the teenagers’ monosyllabic response barrier, accounts of the service day with their classmates are often comforting and humbling. Moreover, for the upcoming academic year, my son and his classmates will participate in one of eight dedicated service days serving diverse communities across Houston. Each service opportunity places our students alongside people and organizations working to address poverty, food insecurity, environmental concerns, education challenges, and other community needs. No matter which grade level or level of involvement, each young man is called to reflect upon the impact of each act of service.

Second, as a faculty member, I can tell that behind organizing each service day stands a tireless network of administrators, faculty, and staff. For us, it is an all-hands-on-deck activity. No joke! Consider, for a moment, the logistics of scheduling, organizing, and transporting a student body of 1,400 to multiple sites in the Houston area. Then, we accompany our students, reflect alongside them, and help connect their experiences to the values of the Gospel. Such dedication and zeal of my colleagues is contagious and inspiring.

Third, this formative journey continues beyond the school year through Strake Jesuit’s mission trips. In 2023, I accompanied  Mrs. Elizabeth Jamerlan as she led a group of students through the Costa Rica service immersion program. In 2025, I continued as a faculty leader. During both experiences, students improved school and community facilities, lived with host families, and experienced the warmth and generosity that characterize Costa Rican culture.

What I remember vividly through Mrs. Jamerlan’s guidance was a deliberate effort to challenge faculty and students to connect our mission work to a global context. Those experiences reflected two important themes of the Society of Jesus’ Universal Apostolic  Preferences: accompanying young people and caring for our common  home. The setting of Costa Rica’s remarkable biodiversity and commitment to environmental stewardship provided students with a living example of the principles articulated in Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’. Our hope is that our students value God’s creation as a gift entrusted to our care.

As both a parent and a faculty member, I sense that the immeasurable value of these formative experiences lies in our students’ spiritual growth as they learn to encounter others with humility, gratitude, and compassion. I have witnessed our young men’s commitment to justice begin in their households, continue through school, and be ignited by their immersion in service. To me, that is Jesuit education working at its finest: forming young men who recognize God’s presence in others, care for the world they inhabit, and commit themselves to building a more just and compassionate society.