I wish I could, like many other congregations, extol the virtues of our founder as wonderful, pious, holy, and perfect. Unfortunately, I cannot, because he was far from flawless. At times he got very angry, battled with compulsive gambling, and revealed his fragility, weakness, and woundedness. However, he was not pretentious, self-righteous or full of false humility, His humility was genuine, arising from an honest acknowledgment of his sinfulness and faults. In other words, he was fully human! And that’s precisely what I like about him.
Ian Travers-Ball was born in Australia in 1928 to a well-to-do family. He received his education at the prestigious Jesuit-run Xavier College in Melbourne. Despite not being at the top of his class, at graduation near the end of World War II, he secured a good job at an insurance company. He already had an inkling of a vocation to the priesthood but his drive to gamble on horses was stronger. Then the day of reckoning, as he used to describe it, arrived one Saturday afternoon in June 1951 when he lost everything on a bet. That day marked a trans-formative experience: he began praying and attending Mass more regularly. Eventually, he confided in a Jesuit priest about his desire to join the order.
Br Carmel Duca MC
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