Father Jim Barnett, O.P.
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My first assignments after being ordained a priest were in campus ministry at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and the University of Houston in Texas. It was tumultuous times in the Church and in the country (the late 60s, the 70s) and it was tremendously exciting and challenging for me to be in a university setting. I loved it, though after about ten years I decided that I should hand over the reins to younger, more energetic folks.
That was thirty years ago. But then my Dominican Provincial called me last Spring and said, "We think you’re ready for more active ministry and so we’d like you to consider returning to campus ministry at St. Tom’s at Purdue." Thirty years later!
"We think you’re ready…" does have particular significance because I’m a cancer survivor and have had numerous surgeries and heavy-duty chemotherapy in the late 90s. But I’ve been in remission for almost five years and now feel great , thanks be to God. Being here at St. Tom’s is itself a terrifically energizing experience for me!
The "...more active ministry" that my Provincial referred to has to do with the fact that for the last four years, I’ve been living in an "ashram" which I co-founded. An ashram is a center for meditation open to all seekers, and ours is a Dominican ashram called "The Friends of God" and attempts to re-capture the charism of contemplation in the Dominican life. It was for me a very peaceful and deepening time in my life, no doubt preparing me for the activism of St. Tom’s.
I’ve been blest with a variety of magnificent ministry experiences in my life as a Dominican preacher. I’ve been greatly influenced by the Church’s strong teaching on justice and peace. I was once an organizer for "Clergy and Laity Concerned," a peace group during the Vietnam era, and just last September I was one of four Dominicans (priests, sister, laity) who took part in a 30 day, water-only "Fast And Prayer for Peace and Non-Violence" at the United Nations and Union Square, close to ground zero in New York. I have also been a jail chaplain, spent three years ministering full time with "Marriage Encounter," preaching retreats for couples and families, and giving parish missions. For my Dominican family, I served as Master of Novices for four years.
But perhaps the most formative and significant time of my life as a priest was the fourteen years I lived as a missionary in Central America—seven in El Salvador in the 80’s during the time of their civil war, and seven years in Honduras in the 90’s, during the time of an AIDS epidemic, "Hurricane Mitch, " and the rise of sweat shops. I discovered a beautiful and powerful faith in simple, uneducated folks there: the community of 10,000 displaced people where I was pastor in El Salvador, and the street people and children with AIDS in the four hospices where I ministered in Honduras. I think it’s the closest I’ve come to the Gospel, living with the poor and "seeking Christ in his distressing disguise as the poorest of the poor," as Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said.
And now at St. Tom’s? I’m looking forward to being able to share some of these experiences and to accompany you in the wonderful, energizing faith-life you have here. All my life I’ve felt tremendously blest by God and being here seems like a new and affirming blessing for me.
