On Monday, March 19, 2007, I attended the yearly celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph at Loyola Marymount University. This feast of the Universal Church is of special significance at LMU because of the presence of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.

In years past, this celebration has occurred in Huesman Chapel and later followed with a reception in the CSJ Conference Room in the Malone Building. This year the Mass was celebrated in Sacred Heart Chapel and the reception followed outside in the Sculpture Garden. Both events were attended by administrators, faculty, staff and students.

As an alumnus of LMU, Class of 1980, and a former staff member of Campus Ministry and later the Center for Service and Action, I marvelled at the creative ways in which LMU continues to express the Catholic heritage and Ignatian tradition that are at the foundation of its mission.

As a Jesuit, I was inspired by the sense of partnership between the Society of Jesus, Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, and the lay men and women of the university who were present. This demonstrated clearly the importance of recognizing and celebrating the charism and history that all bring to our apostolic work.

As I later pondered Jesuit-Lay Partnership, I realized the uniqueness of LMU because of its history of collaboration and partnership as a result of the merger between Loyola University and Marymount College.

I think we might all learn something about building partnership from their history and experience.

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