By Therese Fink Meyerhoff
Alumni of several Jesuit high schools in the USA Central and Southern Province recall Fr. Jim Burshek, SJ, with fondness. In addition to serving in province administration, he taught theology at De Smet Jesuit High School and St. Louis University High School in St. Louis and at Regis Jesuit High School in Denver. Now assigned to a ministry of prayer, he resides at St. Ignatius Hall in St. Louis County with other senior members of the province. It is, he says, the best place for him to be.
“They take such good care of me,” he said. “The nurses have my care all lined up. I can’t do everything I want to do because of physical limitations, but there are certainly things I don’t miss having to do for myself.”
Like all the Jesuits in St. Ignatius Hall, Fr. Burshek has a case manager – a registered nurse assigned to manage his care. “She handles everything for me. She does my pill boxes and keeps my meds straight. She knows me,” he said of Cyndi Stotler, director of Jesuit wellness at St. Ignatius Hall.
“The nurses are really quite good,” he continued. “We Jesuits do one job here, and that’s helping people become saints by trying their patience! We all know the English language, but as we get older, we seem to lose all verb conjugations except the imperative. One phrase the nurses hear a lot is, ‘Take me there.’”
Despite the imperiousness of some senior Jesuits, Fr. Burshek describes the nurses at St. Ignatius Hall as dedicated, pleasant and professional. “It’s as much a vocation as a job,” he said, grateful that the core nursing team came to St. Ignatius Hall when the community moved from Jesuit Hall in 2023.
“We wanted them, but they wanted to stick with us, too.”
Father Burshek admits to having trouble letting go of his independence. “That’s the hardest part of aging: letting go, accepting the fact that I can’t do things I used to do. I have to depend on others. The good news is I can find someone to help me here. I can depend on others. More than I thought I could.”
Despite the physical limitations that frustrate him, Fr. Burshek continues to minister to high school students on a part-time basis, including helping at retreats. His instruction is always rooted in the gift of God’s love: “We have to learn in our relationship with God that we don’t have to grow or change or be good in order to be loved by God. We are loved by God so we can grow, so we can change, so we can be good,” he said. “Sometimes we think we have to earn God’s love. But God’s love is not the product of what I do; God’s love can be the strength to do what I should.”
After more than 40 years in the classroom, Fr. Burshek knows students. He says he would like to see kids practice honesty – with themselves, about what they can and can’t do. “They think they should be able to do everything,” he said, referring to the pressure to be perfect that so many teens experience. “They list all these things they should do, and they really are all good things, but I tell them, ‘I’m sorry you only have so much time and so much energy. It’s just not possible.’”
Father Jim Burshek, SJ, this year celebrates the 50th Jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood.
