Here's me overseas . . .

. . . 'cross the Pond, by the Alps if not by the Dover Peaks (which I've also been photographed in front of, purely for the sake of a musical reference which will likely be lost on most readers). This photo was taken on the roof of the Jesuitenkolleg in Innsbruck, my base until late August. The Jesuit presence in Innsbruck dates back to 1562, when St. Peter Canisius established a Jesuit college at the invitation of Emperor Ferdinand I. The institution that Canisius founded survives to this day as the Akademisches Gymnasium Innsbruck, which is no longer under Jesuit administration but remains one of the leading secondary schools in Western Austria. The Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Innsbruck also traces its origins to the Jesuit college founded in 1562, though the university itself wasn't founded until 1669. The building that you see behind me in the above photo is the Jesuitenkirche, built during the first half of the 17th century and administered by the Society of Jesus for the better part of four hundred years. Suffice it to say, then, that the Jesuits have deep roots here in Innsbruck.

The German-language program that I'm enrolled here lives up to its billing as an "intensive" course, as most of my waking hours over the past couple of weeks have been occupied with some form of study. On weekdays I have three hours of class before lunch, with several pages of grammar exercises assigned each day for homework. As always, Jesuit community life provides a mix of blessings and challenges. The permanent community at the Jesuitenkolleg is made up of around thirty men representing various ages, backgrounds and apostolic commitments; while a majority are linked to the University of Innsbruck as students or teachers, others are engaged in various apostolates in the area or live in active retirement. In addition to the regular apostolic community here, the Jesuitenkolleg is currently home to a dozen young Jesuits from around the world who have come here to study German for the summer. The global dimension of the Society of Jesus is accordingly very palpably present here.

Though community life here has been very enjoyable for me, trying to learn a new language in an environment like this one brings two distinct challenges. On the one hand, living in a German-speaking Jesuit community has forced me to stretch myself by communicating throughout the day in a language that I'm only beginning to learn; in other words, my daily immersion in German begins the moment that I sit down at the breakfast table and continues until I've said Gute Nacht to the Austrian Jesuit I cross paths with in the kitchen when we're both looking for a midnight snack. At the same time, though, the pervasiveness of English in a globalized world makes true immersion in another language practically impossible. While many (but not all) of the local Jesuits speak English, the language is also a lingua franca among the international Jesuits who are here to study German - it may be a second, third or fourth language for most, but it's still the most widely-shared common language in the group. Tired by the rigors of study and limited in our ability to express ourselves in German, we can too easily succumb to the temptation to withdraw into an Anglophone bubble.

Soon I hope to write in greater detail about my experiences here, but for now I wanted to at least post some general thoughts to let readers of this blog know that I haven't forgetten them. Until my next update, please know of my prayers for all readers and please pray for me and my fellows as we continue our studies. AMDG.