In June, Eric Sundrup, S.J., M.Div. ’14 was ordained a Jesuit priest at Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee by the Most Reverend Richard Sklba, DD, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of Milwaukee. A Cincinnati native, Father Sundrup’s first experience of Ignatian contemplation and prayer during a high school retreat led him to discern a vocation as a Jesuit priest. While earning his bachelor’s degree in biology, Fr. Sundrup fostered his love for ministry through various university service groups. Following his graduation in 2003, Fr. Sundrup entered the Jesuits and quickly discovered a love of Spanish language and culture during a summer trip to Peru. During his Jesuit formation, Fr. Sundrup earned master’s degree in philosophy from Loyola University Chicago in 2008. He was then missioned to the Instituto de Idiomas de Maryknoll in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for four months of intensive Spanish study, followed by a six-month teaching assignment at Colegio Miguel Pro in Tacna, Peru.

Missioned next to Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, Fr. Sundrup taught biology and also served as a college counselor. For the past three years, he has been studying at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree while serving as a deacon at St. Raymond’s, a bilingual parish in Dublin, California.

 

One of the highlights of Fr. Sundrup’s Jesuit formation has been his work on The Jesuit Post, a website he co-founded in 2012 to explore the intersection of faith and culture for a young adult audience. The Jesuit Post’s first book of essays was published this year by Orbis Books. Following ordination, Fr. Sundrup will be missioned to St. Mary Student Parish at the University

of Michigan. “As I pack up to head to Ann Arbor, I’ve been looking back over my old photo files of many different places, people, and works,” he says. “Looking into people’s faces, I can’t help but feel intense gratitude for the countless men and women who have made my vocation and ordination possible. I am so thankful for the people who have supported and challenged me, the good friends who have laughed and cried with me. As I’ve learned over and over, God always goes above and beyond. All those faces provide a concrete witness to the diverse community that makes up the Church I have been called to serve. This wonderful, holy, crazy communion of witnesses will be in my daily prayers. It will be an amazing privilege to serve the people of God as a Jesuit priest.”