Entered Society: August 23, 2008
As a Jesuit: Fr. Spotts has taught history, theology, and philosophy classes at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, ministered at San Quentin State Prison, and served as a deacon at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Oakland, Calif.
Assignment Following Ordination: Administration and pastoral ministry at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill.
While my vocation is first and last God’s gift to me, God’s grace was mediated to me through many people along the line. After thanks to God, my first thanks go to my family. My parents have been models of how to grow and live a Christian life for as long as I can remember and gave me the gift of raising me in the faith. My siblings are, at once, my greatest supporters, friends, and role models, as my siblings-in-law have become as well. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins are all part of a bigger family that raised me. God also has given me the immeasurable treasure of friends who have become like family, who have been there over the years. Words cannot suffice to express my gratitude for these people.
Many other people participated in forming me. My thanks go to those who formed me in Catholic parish life and schools at St. Andrew-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Milford, Ohio. Both the Jesuits and the lay faculty and staff at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati introduced me to Ignatian spirituality, without which I doubt I would be here today. The Jesuits and others at Fordham University fanned those spiritual gifts into flame. From the novitiate to these last years in theology, too many Jesuits to name have formed me, but I hold all of them in deep gratitude.
Last, but not least, I am aware that my call to serve as a priest also comes from God’s people. God’s people have been the most important teachers of what it means for me to be a priest. Among the many stops I’ve made in formation (and the people who have changed my life along the way), I’d like to single out my students and colleagues from Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, the people of Our Lady of Lourdes in Oakland, Calif., and my “professors in blue” at San Quentin State Prison in California. Thank you for teaching me how to be a priest for you.