The contemporary mission of the Society of Jesus is the service of faith and promotion of that justice of the Gospel that embodies God's love and saving mercy. Our ultimate goal is to respond to the call of Christ to be in solidarity with the least and with all, and to grow in our personal and communal call to holiness, generosity, and availability in following Jesus and serving the Church through the Ignatian charism.
In all this we follow the spiritual tradition of Saint Ignatius Loyola that sees God present in all things. God reveals divine love to us in and through all of creation, and especially through the goodness of human persons. Most specifically God's love is made manifest and effective in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of God's Son, Jesus Christ.
We are men who try to discern the promptings of the Spirit and read the signs of the times in order to better serve the Church. We believe that love is expressed more fully in deeds than in words. Therefore, we engage in various spiritual, pastoral, social, educational, and missionary ministries. We operate educational institutions, from middle schools to universities. We serve in parishes and are chaplains in hospitals. We provide spiritual ministries such as giving retreats and offering spiritual direction.
The Jesuits of the Missouri Province are deeply rooted in the local areas of the central United States where our history goes back to 1823, but we move easily to other parts of the globe where we are needed. We are part of a world-web network of Jesuits, united through a superior general in Rome. Jesuits study and work in almost every country in the world, and organizations such as the Jesuit Refugee Service allow us to respond to needs across national borders wherever they occur. Jesuits of the Missouri Province have an especially close relationship with Jesuits of Central America, and we are moving to unite with the New Orleans province within a few years to extend our reach from Florida all the way west to Colorado.
Today the Missouri Province includes the states of Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Belize, Central America. Although the number of Jesuits has declined, the apostolic energy of the Missouri Province continues to spur new initiatives such as the two high schools and one junior high school founded in the last decade. The contribution of lay colleagues and partners is crucial in fulfilling our mission.
The Missouri Province is full of great stories; you will find a few of them on this site.