James O’Sullivan, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology and religious studies, addressed an audience of St. Joe’s community members in the Forum Theatre lobby through a story of discernment in the latest installment of Agape Latte on Feb. 19.
Telling the story of his time with Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), O’Sullivan explained that from 2005 through 2006, he was stationed in Baltimore, Maryland. During this time, Baltimore saw its murder rate begin to rise towards numbers it had not seen since the previous decade, according to maryland.gov. O’Sullivan remembered feeling unsure about himself and his abilities when he saw the complexity of the situation at hand.
“Perhaps this was not the ideal placement I wanted to go, but it is something that could be good [for me],” O’Sullivan said at the event. “The question then becomes, ‘What can you learn from this given the reality as it presents itself?’”
Fast forward to time spent in graduate school post-JVC, O’Sullivan attended Boston College, the birthplace of Agape Latte. It was there that O’Sullivan first encountered the program and knew he wanted to eventually be a part of it at St. Joe’s.
“It’s really important to see both in the academic setting what is occurring and having professors be able to apply their craft but also see their personal side,” O’Sullivan said. “For my role in particular, it’s important to see not only the academic side of theology and social ethics, but also how do those fit into my life story.”
Catherine Kirwan-Avila, A.C.J., campus minister, oversees Agape Latte. For her, the meaning of the word “agape”—love—is more multifaceted.
“Agape is a Greek word and it means a particular kind of love,” Kirwan-Avila said. “It’s the kind of love that’s self-gift. We’re hoping that this is a space that people can talk about that in a setting that’s accessible and isn’t a theology class or lecture, but more of a storytelling format, which is often easier to relate to.”
Kirwan-Avila said creating a space like Agape Latte was in reaction to student needs. Agape Latte offers a different way for students to take part in a Campus Ministry event, according to Kirwan Avila.
“One of the things [Campus Ministry] would like to offer are programs for people who have different desires, ways of plugging in and getting involved,” Kirwan-Avila said. “The speakers all speak on different aspects of life, on different aspects of their experience, and they come from different experiences. To be able to also offer something that has that variety is something that responds to a need.”
Lamar Bustion ’20, peer minister for Agape Latte, is one of the people in charge of deciding who the speakers for each session will be. When looking at potential speakers, Bustion keeps in mind that it should be a story students want to hear while also being one they can connect with.
“It’s kind of like a TED Talk series in my opinion,” Bustion said. “It’s important for students to be able to find those moments with their professors that are more intimate where they don’t necessarily get to connect in the classroom. It’s kind of a way to see that your professors are human beings and not teaching robots.”
In an attempt to dismantle the appearance of a “teaching robot,” O’Sullivan delivered a message which emphasized that every decision, no matter how small, could be the most important decision you could possibly make.
“You don’t know the reverberations of small decisions and they can indeed be very large,” O’Sullivan said at the event. “In the unknown I discovered a courage and a wisdom that comes from that that I didn’t know I had.”
For O’Sullivan, finding courage and wisdom wasn’t enough. What really gave these discoveries meaning for him was understanding the failures he encountered along this road to discovery.
“What courage ultimately consists of is not boundless fearlessness of the future,” O’Sullivan said. “But realizing what your limits are, what your possibilities are and that you can indeed persevere, even in the midst of mistakes and setbacks.”
