May 20, 2025 // Perspective

Zeal for Making God Known, Loved, and Served

Ken Hallenius

I was recently invited to speak to sixth- and seventh-grade students at a local Catholic school about the charism of zeal and how it has played a role in my own life. I need to confess at the outset that middle schoolers are not my typical target audience. I most often speak to (and write for) adults like you, dear reader, so preparing for this talk has been a bit of a challenge.

What follows is my thinking “out loud” about what I might say when I stand before these young people, and so I beg your indulgence – and your prayers, for both me and the students!

First, I need to lay some groundwork by discussing exactly what a “charism” is. A good working definition is, “an extraordinary gift from the Holy Spirit, given for service to the Church and the world.” A charism helps build up or strengthen the community and leads them into a deeper relationship with God. It’s more than just “what” a particular person or community does, but more importantly, it’s the “why” and “how” it is done. Different religious communities have different charisms that are established by their founders and continue to animate their life together in service to the Church.

Zeal is an important part of the charism of the  Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious order that ministers at my home parish of St. Joseph in South Bend and at the University of Notre Dame, where I work. The founder of the order, Blessed Basil Moreau, wrote to his brothers that “zeal is the great desire to make God known, loved, and served, and thus save souls.”

I’ve had the privilege of working with the Congregation of Holy Cross for nearly 25 years, both at the University of Portland and now at Notre Dame. I count many dear friends among the priests and brothers of Holy Cross with whom I’ve worked and prayed during these years. The priests who presided and preached at my wedding were members of the congregation. I’ve been on Italian pilgrimages and road trips across the United States with Holy Cross priests. I’ve prayed at countless Masses and celebrations, both spiritual and social, with these sons of Blessed Basil Moreau who, through their personal witnesses, make God known, loved, and served. I have seen their zeal for their shared mission in the context of university life among students, in parish life, and in the world beyond campuses and church doors.

But zeal is not unique to the Congregation of Holy Cross, and part of my assignment is to speak to the students about how I have personally lived the charism. I’ve written before that I am currently in formation as a lay Dominican, a spiritual son of St. Dominic, who founded the Order of Preachers in the 13th century to zealously defend the truths of the Catholic faith in the face of false teaching and spiritual decay. Dominicans through the centuries have become great theologians, philosophers, scientists, and mystics, who have been raised to the honors of the altar as saints.

Zeal for the truths of the Catholic faith led St. Thomas Aquinas to a mystical encounter with Jesus that left him unable to continue to write. After completing a little more than two-thirds of his great Summa Theologiae, this great Doctor of the Church told his secretary that “the end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.” We don’t know for certain what St. Thomas meant with his remark, but we understand that he saw something so beautiful in his prayer that this great Doctor of the Church was left literally dumbfounded.

Nearly 30 years ago, as a (then) young man discerning a call to religious life and priesthood, I was excited by the prospect of learning and preaching the truths of the faith as a spiritual son of St. Dominic and a brother of so many saintly Dominicans. I entered the order at age 25 and spent two years in formation as a member of the Order of Preachers, completing my novice year and one year of temporary vows. My time in religious life had a profound and lasting impact on my spiritual life, even as I discerned that God was calling me not to profess perpetual vows in the order.

So then why, after 25 years of fruitful and joyful collaboration with the Congregation of Holy Cross, am I rekindling my relationship with the Order of Preachers as a lay Dominican? The answer lies in a mysterious aspect of charism: As a gift of the Holy Spirit that helps lead to a deeper relationship with God, charisms are not something we choose entirely on our own. We are invited to receive the gift and calling, to spend time prayerfully listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and to go where we are called. In my own case, zeal for making God known, loved, and served is calling me to reconnect with my own formation as a Dominican.

My prayer is that each of the students to whom I will speak will themselves be open to where God is calling them – and that they will respond with zeal. Blessed Basil Moreau, St. Dominic, and all you holy saints of God, pray for us!