“I’m a very wealthy man,” claims Saint Louis University’s Director of Campus Ministry, Michael Doody, S.J.
Although a listener might conclude that the annual pay for Jesuit priests has drastically increased, the “wealth” that Doody refers to is not monetary. Doody, 55, believes that he is wealthy “in faith, friendships, relationships” and the atmosphere that surrounds him: tremendous people.
Thirteen years ago, this business man and priest was raising funds for a seminary in Washington D.C., but he was concerned that his work was no longer challenging or interesting. Doody began to look for another occupation, this time in the area of campus ministry. While he was searching, a friend and fellow Jesuit from SLU called to inform him that a job was opening in the University’s Office of Campus Ministry.
After learning more details, Doody was intrigued by the fact that the president of the University, Lawrence Biondi, S.J., wanted Jesuit faculty to live in the residence halls. Other middle-aged priests might have balked at the “opportunity” to return to dorm life, but Doody saw this as an excellent opportunity not only to influence students, but also learn more about their lives, relationships and aspirations.
Doody arrived on campus several months later and immediately noticed a problem: not enough students were attending Mass. Back in 1989, the only Masses held on Sunday nights were the 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. liturgies. Doody knew that in order to draw students together to worship a later Mass needed to be started.
In January of 1990, the first 10 p.m. student Mass was held in the St. Francis Xavier (College) Church basement; 25 students attended. By 1992, that low number had grown to 200.
The liturgy has continued to grow in popularity. Approximately 1500 students gathered at College Church to celebrate this year’s Welcome Liturgy, an indication of Doody’s impact on SLU.
Doody points to other changes that have been made to SLU’s campus life since his arrival.
“When I first got here, I did a lot of roaming around the residence halls. One year 3 or 5C had a Christmas party in the hallway with several kegs and a punch bowl with Everclear and vodka. Back then, there were no RAs so the rules were more lenient, but this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.”
Doody recalls several trips he had to make with students to the hospital, the results of such celebrations.
“We were there to catch them…Not to point fingers or punish them but to help them learn from their mistakes,” Doody said.
This religious and faith-filled man didn’t always dream of being a priest. During his senior year at Fairfield University in Connecticut, Doody began to question whether or not he would enjoy being a Jesuit. “I was friends with several of the Jesuits on campus and they seemed very friendly and happy.”
Although Doody admired the priests he knew, he wasn’t totally sold on joining them. “I kept walking away from it. Something kept bugging, nagging me until I finally decided to give it a year to see what I thought of it.”
Recent experiences, such as Sept. 11, have shown Doody how powerful faith is.
“If we learn to share blessings, there is less room for evil. How can we replace hatred with love? We need to share what we have,” he said.
Doody was amazed at how most Americans reacted to Sept.11 by reaching out and comforting one another. “There was not a get-even mentality. It was a healthy dose of gospel reaction.”
Robert Phillips, S.J., one of Doody’s closest friends and co-workers, said “his (Doody’s) leadership of Campus Ministry has made this campus ministry one of the best in the U.S.”
Phillips also appreciates the facts that Doody is “very supportive of student endeavors” and “works more with people than over them.”
Such comments help to explain why Doody has become a much-loved campus icon and why he continues to inspire all of the SLU family to become better ministers of the Jesuit mission.
