Father Fernando Álvarez Lara, SJ, is celebrating 25 years as a Jesuit, having entered the Society of Jesus in 1998. He currently serves as an assistant professor of theology and religious studies at Regis University in Denver and as a board member at Seattle University in Seattle.

Father Álvarez Lara was ordained in 2009 after completing a Master of Divinity at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California. He then served as pastoral minister at Seattle University from 2009 to 2012. In 2013, he began his assignment at Regis University, serving as a director of liturgy.

Father Álvarez Lara holds a master’s in philosophy and social studies from Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara in Mexico, a Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, California, and a Doctor of Ministry in Latinx Pastoral Theology from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California. Prior to entering the Society of Jesus, he also earned bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry from Texas Technical University.

Father Álvarez’s Reflection on 25 Years as a Jesuit

Father Álvarez Lara offers a poem by United States Poet Laureate Ada Limón as a reflection on his years of service.

Sanctuary

Suppose it’s easy to slip
into another’s green skin,
bury yourself in leaves

and wait for a breaking,
a breaking open, a breaking
out. I have, before, been

tricked into believing
I could be both an I
and the world. The great eye

of the world is both gaze
and gloss. To be swallowed
by being seen. A dream.

To be made whole
by being not a witness,
but witnessed.