By Elise Gower
I’m drawn to the stories people tell. This compilation of stories weaves together the accounts of three young adults. Echoes of the same vision emerged from each interview. Jesus sitting at the table of the Last Supper, surrounded by his chosen disciples—a living example of our vision of the Church: vibrant, inclusive, and deeply committed to justice and love. I invite you to meet three modern disciples.
Meet Dave de la Fuente
Dave is a married Filipino American whose calling comes alive at the intersection of theology and lay ministry.
His journey toward spiritual belonging continues to evolve. Raised with a strong awareness of his identity, he later struggled with the question, “How do I belong in these worlds?” as he navigated new communities. Through education and hands-on ministry, he began to rediscover who he is, drawing strength from his roots.
“I look back and it seems like the time I spent in this [Filipino Charismatic prayer group] was an incubation period that allowed me to retrieve parts of my identity that otherwise would have been downplayed or lost.”
His peers shared in navigating the messiness of the holy journey.
Dave shared various moments in his life that, through reflection and prayer, have given meaning to his journey. He recalls his first real existential crisis concerning his Catholic, ministerial identity during the second wave of the Church’s history of abuse. The Contemplative Leaders in Action (CLA) community became a container of “meaning-making, unpacking…” His peers shared in navigating the messiness of the holy journey. Over time Dave discerned, “There is a call that I can’t run away from. I need to embrace it and see where love incarnate is pointing to.” He was able to draw from the graces that can come from sharing lived experiences and “what’s happening around us.”
Meet Helen Brosnan
Helen is a queer, soon-to-be-married, Christian woman. She is a neighbour and a gatherer of people. She is confident that her relationship with God is enriched by her God-given identities.
She is confident that her relationship with God is enriched by her God-given identities.
The words of the prayer “Fall In Love,” attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ (but were actually written by Joseph Whelan, SJ), laid the groundwork for her way of being and moving in the world. She tells her own story of falling in love with her partner.
“It totally just raised the ceiling for what I thought was possible in my own life. And for what I thought was possible in the world. It made me believe in something greater than myself.”
She depicts a foundational movement of rediscovering her faith in the last couple years, reconnecting her to people and deepening her commitment to building a more just world.
Helen’s journey wasn’t just about finding love; it was about finding a greater purpose. She laughs at the humbling reality that “vocation is not a Buzzfeed quiz,” one of her Ignatian-Spirituality discoveries. CLA was a starting point for her, but the journey is far from over. “You surely will learn, relearn, or be reminded of the gifts you have. Then it’s up to you to take those gifts and figure out how you want to deploy them.”
Helen’s work in political and community organizing against corporate power’s divisive impact in society and on democracy emboldens her passion to “figure out how we can be less lonely and more connected to one another.”
“There are moments that stand out. These moments where there was a clear capacity for people who were just previously strangers, and maybe even still strangers in some ways, to see you and to love you. It brings me to tears thinking about it now.”
Meet Joaquin Pannunzio
Joaquin was born and raised in Argentina. His family immigrated to Miami, Florida when he was a teenager. Joaquin’s story is one of constant movement, both physically and spiritually.
“I think what I’ve enjoyed is that wherever I land, it’s like piecing together the pieces of a puzzle and gathering community around it—and then somehow weaving in a preferential option for the poor. Because that’s where I thrive, or at least where I find alignment spiritually.”
Joaquin’s is a story of movement. Introduced to the Jesuits at Georgetown, Joaquin merged the spiritual underpinnings of his education with a desire to explore community to expand his understanding of development and economics. Through various academic experiences, he spent time in Nicaragua, Haiti, Peru, and West Africa. Most recently, he volunteered on the U.S.-Mexico border at the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), a decision confirmed after hearing Joanna Williams, KBI executive director, speak in a CLA workshop.
At the border, he encounters God through the journeys and strength of the migrants he accompanies, reflecting a shift in his attention from a policy mindset to a spiritual focus that re-centers the people often lost in the policies intended to help them.
Discerning his next steps, he finds purpose in Ken Untener’s Prophets of a Future Not Our Own (1979).
He uses his own words to describe it,
“We are just humble bricklayers, you know? Here’s my brick, and I lay it here. Then you come with your brick and your energy, and you lay it next to or on top of mine. When we walk away, we might not even know what the room looks like.”
This reflection guides Joaquin. As he ponders the commitment necessary to fully live into Pope Francis’ call to care for migrants, he meets a man from Chiapas, Mexico named Francisco. Francisco, back home, was a brickmaker. Through this chance encounter, Joaquin encountered Jesus.
Holy Tension
These are the stories of young adult disciples navigating life today. You can feel how they’ve each found something special in their relationship with Jesus. Dave illustrates it beautifully.
“Jesus looks like a lot of different people, a lot of different life experiences. And that just keeps enriching my sense of each person that I meet and what that person represents.”
Each of them is on a quest to become the person they believe God wants them to be. They find purpose in discovering the fullness of their calling. And in that calling, there is a holy tension and invitation that surfaced in each conversation—how the Church can better embody the love and compassion that Jesus taught.
“I struggle to see Jesus in the corners or main aisles of the church.”
More people need to come and recognize that this will require acquiring fresh eyes to see Christ’s love incarnate in very unexpected ways.
“In my struggle to encounter Christ in church, I imagine God conversing with me, saying: ‘There’s this institution that’s really behind, and we’re working on it, and sorry, it’s really bad. It’s causing a lot of people pain, but the real church is already happening, and I’m gonna introduce you to it along the way.’
More people need to come and recognize that this will require acquiring fresh eyes to see Christ’s love incarnate in very unexpected ways. And Pope Francis is leaving the clues. And the fact that there’s resistance is a reminder that we can’t miss out on those clues. I think it’s gonna be very exciting to think through the next phase… which could involve talking back to the tradition, loving it, engaging it critically…”
Contemplative Leaders in Action (CLA) is an 18-month spirituality and leadership development program rooted in the Ignatian tradition. Participants in their 20s and 30s, across an international network, are formed as spiritual leaders in community with one another. Dave, Helen, and Joaquin are three CLA alumni.
