Meet the 2018 East Coast Jesuit Ordinands

On June 9, 2018, six Jesuits from the East Coast provinces will be ordained priests at the Fordham University Church. Their priestly ordinations come after extensive formation experiences that are deeply rooted to the traditions and the vision of our Jesuit founder, St. Ignatius Loyola. Their ordination symbolizes life and hope for the Church, the ongoing proclamation of the Gospel, and humble and loving service of God’s people.

Ordination mass will be streamed live online beginning at 10:30 a.m. on June 9. 

As these men prepare to stand before God and the Church, please remember them in your prayers.

Fr. Brian G. Konzman, SJ, grew up in Scranton, Pa., where, as a student at Scranton Preparatory School, he first met the Jesuits, a relationship that deepened when he attended the University of Scranton. Brian earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and philosophy while serving as a resident assistant, participating in student government and working on the student newspaper. Counseling his peers as a resident assistant inspired him to discern a vocation to the Society of Jesus.He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Syracuse, N.Y., directly after graduation in 2008, and as a novice, Brian was sent to Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., to teach theology and direct their Campus Kitchen, redistributing food to the needy. In 2010, he enrolled at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, earning a master’s degree in philosophical resources, later returning to Gonzaga in 2013 for two years to teach computer science and serve as director of worship, coach cross-country and minister as chaplain for the swim and dive team and baseball team. From 2012 to 2015, he was a managing editor and writer at The Jesuit Post, a website dedicated to faith-based commentary targeting young adults. Next, he completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California.

Ordained a deacon in October 2017, Brian served at Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish, the Newman Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and as a chaplain for Cal’s rugby team. His Jesuit formation has included summers in China studying Mandarin; in Nicaragua studying Spanish; and in Wernersville, Pa., working as a spiritual director. Brian will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving at the University of Scranton, which coincides with his 10-year college reunion, and will celebrate another at Gonzaga College High School. His first assignment as a priest will be at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola in New York City. (Maryland Province)

Fr. Keith A. Maczkiewicz, SJ, was born and raised on Long Island, N.Y. Keith attended Emerson College in Boston before transferring to Fairfield University in Connecticut, where he met the Jesuits. At Fairfield, he was involved in campus ministry and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and American studies in 2004.Keith then began a service-teaching program, Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers (PACT), through Providence College in Rhode Island. He served as director of campus ministry for two years at Cathedral High School in Springfield, Massachusetts, while living in community with other volunteer teachers and earning his master’s degree in secondary education from Providence College in 2006. He next worked at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania in university ministry and lived in the dorm as a resident chaplain.

Calling his vocation “quietly obvious,” given all his work in campus ministry and with the Jesuits, Keith entered the Society of Jesus in 2008. As a novice, he worked as a teaching assistant and in campus ministry at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He then studied at Loyola University Chicago, receiving a master’s degree in social philosophy in 2013. Missioned next to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., Keith worked for two years in the chaplain’s office and in the office of the vice president of mission.  This past May, he earned a Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, Calif. He also served as a deacon and director of faith formation at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Oakland. After ordination, Keith will return to the Jesuit School of Theology to complete his Licentiate in Sacred Theology. He will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at his home parish, St. Joseph Church. (USA Northeast Province)

Fr. Patrick C. Nolan, SJ, grew up in Massapequa Park, N.Y., the youngest of seven children. Jesuits were always a part of his life as Pat’s favorite uncle, Fr. James Dolan, and close cousin, Fr. Donald Devine, were both Jesuits. Pat’s family was active at their local parish, St. Rose of Lima, where he attended grade school and served on the altar, something that was deeply meaningful to him even at a young age. After graduating from Massapequa High School, he attended Loyola University Maryland, where he was inspired by the Jesuits and their care for students. He played club lacrosse, studied abroad in Australia, served as senior class president and took part in a retreat where he had a deep experience of God’s love.After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history in 2001, Pat moved to New York City to work in sports marketing. After several years, he began searching for greater meaning in his life and started discerning a vocation to the Jesuits. He entered the Society in 2008 and, as a novice, taught in Micronesia at the Jesuits’ Xavier High School and the local parochial school, St. Cecilia’s. Missioned next to Loyola University Chicago, Pat earned a master’s degree in social philosophy while serving as chaplain of the men’s and women’s cross-country and track and field teams. His next mission took him back to Micronesia, where at Yap Catholic High School, he taught religion, English and Micronesian history for two years while serving as the newly founded school’s first director of college counseling. Missioned next to the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, he earned a Master of Divinity degree while working as a deacon at Gate of Heaven and St. Brigid Parishes in South Boston.

After ordination, Pat will join the pastoral staff at St. Anthony’s Church in Oceanside, N.Y., for the summer before returning to Boston to finish his Licentiate in Sacred Theology, work as a Jesuit vocation promoter and teach at Boston College High School. Pat looks forward to celebrating his first Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Rose of Lima and sharing that experience with his family, particularly his great aunt, Sr. Frances Devine, S.C., a Sister of Charity, who has been a big influence on his vocation. (USA Northeast Province)

Fr. Timothy W. O’Brien, SJ, was born and raised in King of Prussia, Pa. His family was active at Mother of Divine Providence Catholic Church, where Tim attended grammar school and served on the altar. After graduating from Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pa., he met the Jesuits at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. He had a profound experience of the Spiritual Exercises during his junior year, which marked the beginning of his pastoral and academic engagement with Ignatian spirituality.After graduating from Holy Cross in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Tim worked for two years in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Department of Justice. He began to discern his vocation to the Society of Jesus at that time, while immersing himself at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where he was a catechist and an RCIA sponsor. In 2008, Tim entered the Society of Jesus and, as a Jesuit novice, served as a campus minister at the University of Scranton, also helping teach a course. His next mission took him to Chicago, where he earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s degree in historical theology from the University of Chicago.

During this time, he also served as a writer and editor for The Jesuit Post, a website offering faith-based commentary geared to young adults. At Loyola University Maryland, Tim taught theology for two years while giving retreats and serving in the office of mission integration. In 2016, his Jesuit formation took him to France, where he is completing a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at Centre Sèvres, the Jesuit faculty of theology and philosophy in Paris. During his time abroad, Tim has worked for Jesuit Refugee Service, offered spiritual direction and served at Centre Saint-Guillaume, the student chaplaincy of SciencesPo. Ordained a deacon in April at the Church of St. Ignatius in Paris, Tim will serve in retreat ministry this summer. Upon finishing his degree this fall, his first assignment will be at his former parish, Holy Trinity in Washington, D.C. After ordination, Tim will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving at his home parish, Mother of Divine Providence. (Maryland Province)

Fr. Henry J. Shea, SJ, grew up in St. Louis Park, Minn., where he attended Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School and was a member of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church. During fishing trips with his grandfather, an alumnus of Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland and Xavier University in Cincinnati, Henry learned about the Society of Jesus. While studying at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., he felt called to become a Jesuit and experienced “an invitation from God” through the lives of the Jesuits he knew there. After completing a bachelor’s degree in government, Henry entered the Jesuit novitiate in Syracuse, New York. As a novice, he worked with the homeless at St. John’s Hospice in Philadelphia and with cancer patients at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. In his second year of novitiate, he taught theology and coached mock trial at Scranton Preparatory School in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Missioned next to Fordham University, Henry earned a master’s degree in philosophical resources while working at St. Martin of Tours Church in the Bronx (where he will celebrate a bilingual first Mass of Thanksgiving after ordination). For the next three years, he was missioned to Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland, where he taught theology, served as head debate coach, helped with retreats and announced the basketball games. In 2015, Henry enrolled at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, where he earned both a Master of Divinity degree and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology while teaching RCIA, facilitating a Spanish Bible study and serving as a deacon at Saint Columbkille Parish in Brighton, Massachusetts. His Jesuit formation has included summers working in the Dominican Republic, Brazil and Nicaragua; training in spiritual direction at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California; and experiences in research as the assistant editor of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits. This summer, Henry will serve as a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Richmond, Virginia. He will leave Richmond in September for England, where he has been missioned to doctoral studies with the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford. (Maryland Province)

Fr. Eric M. Studt, SJ, was raised in Gardner, Mass., where he attended Holy Rosary Church. He graduated from Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, Mass., and then attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., where he first met the Jesuits and received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2004. During college, Eric was an organist at local parishes, studied abroad in France and attended a Spiritual Exercises retreat his senior year that was influential in his discernment. After graduation, he received a Watson Fellowship to study music in Latin America for a year, including in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. In Bolivia, Eric lived in a Jesuit community for six weeks, where he experienced their generosity and hospitality and was impressed by their simplicity and devotion to justice. He next worked as a volunteer teacher for a year at the Nativity School of Worcester before entering the Jesuits in 2006. Eric worked with immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso and helped at a parish and high school in Jamaica as a novice. He then studied at the Hochschule für Philosophie in Munich, Germany, receiving a master’s degree in philosophy in 2012. After completing his degree, he spent time in Jordan teaching English to refugees. Missioned next to Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia for two years, Eric taught philosophy and worked in campus ministry, helping with retreats. He then went to the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and received a Master of Divinity degree and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology and served as a deacon at Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. During his formation Eric also spent a summer teaching philosophy to Jesuits in Vietnam and worked with the Ignatian Spirituality Project in Boston, giving retreats to homeless and formerly homeless men. After ordination, he will spend the summer working at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., and then head to the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to begin work on a Ph.D. Eric will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving at Holy Name Parish, where he served as a deacon. (USA Northeast Province)