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By Colleen Hogan
“I was playing a video game on the computer one day when I was 20,” Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ, shares, “and the idea of becoming a priest came up out of nowhere. I paused the game and thought, ‘What’s going on? I’m just trying to play a soccer game here!’”
Edmund pushed the thought aside and finished his game, but the idea of becoming a priest never completely went away.
Born in Hong Kong, Edmund grew up attending Mass on Sundays and praying grace before meals with his family. Aside from attending a Jesuit school until age 13 — when his family moved to Vancouver — he describes his Catholic upbringing as “very low-key.” But two experiences led Edmund to go deeper in his faith life.
The first came during high school, when Edmund’s older sister attended a church camp. He noticed the positive impact it had on her self-confidence, faith life, and relationships and decided to get involved in the program, too.
The second occurred in 2002, when Edmund attended World Youth Day in Toronto. While not a dramatically transformative experience for him, it left Edmund wanting to go to Mass more often.
“In retrospect,” he shares, “that was a really good outcome, because that allows you to build your relationship with God, which really lays the foundation for a vocation, whether that’s marriage or religious life.”
Edmund began attending daily Mass as an undergraduate. It was during this time that the idea of becoming a priest surfaced — something he reflected on in moments of silence but otherwise didn’t think about. Around the same time, he met Fr. John McCarthy, a Jesuit priest completing his PhD on lichens.
“Although the young man felt that their spirituality resonated with him, he wasn’t quite ready to make such a big decision in life.”
“I was studying cell biology, genetics, and psychology, and I was doing research at that time,” Fr. Edmund recalls. “Befriending Fr. McCarthy and seeing that you could be a Catholic priest and be of service to the Church in the area of science and religion in a meaningful way was inspiring.”
Fr. McCarthy formally introduced Edmund to the Jesuits, and although the young man felt that their spirituality resonated with him, he wasn’t quite ready to make such a big decision in life. Instead, he chose to pursue a master’s degree in neuroscience.
During Edmund’s first year of graduate school, his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He spent that year juggling class, lab work, and caring for his mom. Amid these challenges, the thought of becoming a Jesuit remained quietly present. As he neared the end of his degree program, he realized he needed to make a decision. He describes his discernment process this way:
“Imagine you’re going to a big Catholic gathering with lots of young adults. You get to know a few of them — they’re good people. You get to know some of them in a more meaningful way. You pray the rosary, go out for beers. And then there’s this girl who takes her faith very seriously, and in terms of the big things — faith, family, career, outlook in life — they all line up with yours. She gets your humor, you have shared interests, she gets along with your friends, she’s very attractive, and you know the feeling is mutual.
“The Jesuits were that girl for me. Not love at first sight or hearing a voice in my heart saying, ‘Edmund, join the Jesuits and serve Me.’ It was getting to know them, getting to know myself, and coming to the conclusion that it made too much sense not to give this a good go.”
I go where I’m sent. If I just wanted a career, why would I want to be a Jesuit? – Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ
Fr. Edmund entered the Society of Jesus in 2008 and was ordained in 2018. Since he became a Jesuit, he was sent to Haiti, arriving just a week before the devastating 2010 earthquake. He completed a licentiate in science and religion and has taught at the university level, including a course in Catholic bioethics. He has also served as a formator for the novices, and a vocations promoter.
Now in the role of vocations director for the Jesuits in Canada, Fr. Edmund reflects on the arc of his journey: “To go from the mindset that I could become one of those Jesuit scientists or ethicists to not dabbling in it at all really speaks to our Jesuit charism — to make ourselves available to mission. I go where I’m sent. If I just wanted a career, why would I want to be a Jesuit?”
