Five Jesuit Novices of this Province Pronounce Perpetual Vows

Addendum: Robert Buckland, SJ, will pronounce first vows on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at Fordham University Church in the Bronx, New York. 

On Saturday, August 9, 2025, five Jesuits of the USA Central and Southern Province – Paul Gillam, Jackson Graham, Corey Jackson, Tom Laughlin and Viêt Vu – will pronounce perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience at the University Chapel at Regis University in Denver.

The profession of first vows follows two years of novitiate training, including prayer, academic study and ministerial experience in Jesuit works throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Central America. By living and serving through their unique novitiate experiences, each of these men sought to deepen their trust in God’s call and expand their generosity to give themselves to God’s mission in the Society of Jesus today.

Four of these five men graduated from a Jesuit high school and/or university.

The Vow Mass will begin at 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time (noon Central Time) and will be livestreamed at one.regis.edu/university-operations/its/livestream. Follow along with the Vow Mass Worship Aid.

Meet the five men who will pronounce first vows on August 9:

Paul Gillam, 24, is a graduate of St. Louis University High School and Saint Louis University. During his novitiate, Paul taught at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Watts, California, and Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado. He worked at Homegirl Café, part of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, and ministered at Emmaus Catholic Hospice in Denver. He also served at Parroquia Sagrado Corazón – a migrant shelter at the Jesuit parish in El Paso, Texas – and St. Martin De Porres, the Jesuit parish in Belize City, Belize.

Paul shared the following reflection on his novitiate experience:

Over the past two years, God has shown me great tenderness. His patience and gentleness throughout my discernment, and his divine life discovered through apostolic work fill me with wonder and awe. Words simply cannot express the bigness of my delight at the gift of the Society of Jesus and my Jesuit brothers. To all who have accompanied me as friends, mentors, encouragers and fellow encounter-ers – and to those whom I was privileged to accompany – from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Paul is now moving to New York City, where he will study at Fordham University.

Jackson Graham, 21, graduated from Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. During his novitiate, Jackson taught at Dolores Mission Grade School in Los Angeles, Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston and Guadalupe Regional Middle School in Brownsville, Texas. He served migrant communities at Casa Del Sagrado Corazón in El Paso, Texas, and Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries in Brownsville, Texas. He also worked at Homegirl Café in Los Angeles and Gardens at St Elizabeth, a senior living community in Denver.

Jackson shared the following reflection on his novitiate experience:

My time in the novitiate has been marked by the abundant grace that comes from intimate companionship with Jesus. I first encountered this grace in the Spiritual Exercises and continued to find it in every apostolic setting to which I was missioned – from teaching in a classroom to serving migrants at the border. Through these experiences with Jesuits, family, friends and collaborators, I have come to a deeper understanding of what it means to be His Jesuit in the Church and in the world today. I am deeply grateful to our Lord, and to His Blessed Mother, for the people, places and experiences that I have encountered these two years as a novice.

Jackson will go to Fordham University in New York City for the next stage of his Jesuit formation.

Corey Jackson, 34, met the Jesuits at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. During his novitiate, Corey taught at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Watts, California, Arrupe Jesuit High School in Denver, Loyola Academy of Saint Louis and Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston. He also worked at St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles, Immaculate Conception Parish in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Newman Center of Southern University in Baton Rouge.

Corey shared the following reflection on his novitiate experience:

As I reflect on my time in the novitiate, I am filled with deep gratitude for the many graces that God, in His immense goodness, has poured upon me. My experiences have cultivated a heart ablaze with the desire to love and serve the people of God with devotion and humility. I am forever grateful for the inspiration and accompaniment of members of the Society of Jesus, our collaborators and those we are blessed to serve.

Corey will join the Bellarmine House of Studies in St. Louis and study at Saint Louis University.

For Tom Laughlin, 30, the early seeds of his Jesuit vocation stem from a family deeply rooted in the Jesuit mission, with his father serving as the president of Rockhurst, the Jesuit high school in Kansas City, Missouri, and his younger brother studying as a Jesuit scholastic at Loyola University Chicago. During his novitiate, Tom taught at the Dolores Mission Grade School in Los Angeles and Regis Jesuit High School in in Aurora, Colorado. He also worked at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the Harry Thompson Center in New Orleans and Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministry in Brownsville, Texas, all of which serve marginalized communities. He also ministered to the residents of the Gardens at St. Elizabeth, a senior community in Denver.

He is a graduate of St. Louis University High School.

Tom shared the following reflection on his novitiate experience:

As I prepare to take vows, I am very grateful to my family and friends who have encouraged me in life and in my vocation. I’m also very grateful to everyone who helped shape our novitiate experience: the people who helped welcome us at our apostolic sites and those we served, the many Jesuits I’ve gotten to know, my formators, my novice brothers and our benefactors who make it all possible. Finally, I am grateful to all of those who’ve gone before us, to all of those who have prayed for us, and to God for his friendship.

Tom will begin first studies at Saint Louis University in August.

Viêt Vu, 37, discerned a religious vocation with the Jesuits in Vietnam before coming to the United States. During his novitiate, Viêt taught at the Dolores Mission School in Los Angeles, Loyola Academy of St. Louis and Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He ministered to the homeless at Genevieve’s Garden at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Los Angeles, and the dying at Emmaus Catholic Hospice in Denver. He also served at St. Peter Claver School in Punta Gorda, Belize.

Viêt shared the following reflection on his novitiate experience:

I am deeply grateful for all the experiences and the people who have helped me to grow in interior freedom and compassion during the two years of the novitiate. I have grown in trust of the grace of God, who is always with me and accompanies me in this journey. I am especially grateful to my family and friends, my Jesuit formators and brothers and the people that I have encountered along the way. Each of them has helped me learn what it means to be a Jesuit today and how to collaborate with others in the missions of the Jesuits.

Viêt will complete the first studies stage of Jesuit formation at Saint Louis University.