Dennis Glasgow

9075 Big Lake Road

Clarkston, MI

glasgow@umich.edu

May 21, 1951

None. Seven nieces and nephews. Several grand nephews, nieces.

None. Three great nieces and nephews!

Cuyahoga Falls, Cleveland OH, Paris FRANCE, Oxford UK, Cambridge MA, Rome ITALY, Jerusalem, Ann Arbor MI, St. Louis MO, Clarkston MI

Single. Living vows of religious life as a Jesuit: poverty chastity, obedience. I entered the Jesuits in 1976 and was ordained a priest in 1984. I pronounced Final Vows as a Jesuit in Ann Arbor on April 22, 2005. I just celebrated my silver jubilee of ordination on June 16 this year. The receptions for this event were very affirming. This month, June 16th I celebrated 30 years as a priest

My sister Judy and her husband Geo Beeker moved up near Higgins Lake; my brother Pete and his wife Patti in Canton; my younger sister Pamela who lives in Livonia in a group home connected with the network of Catholic group homes called Angels' Place, devoted to the developmentally disabled. Pam has Down Syndrome. Pray for Pam as she suffers from early Alzheimer's at 53 years old. Update: my sister Pamela passed away October 27, 2015. She was and is an angel of joy.

Very rarely, regrettably, except for the meetings we had for Angel's ball park and for the Class Reunions 30 and 40 and 45 years. I've seen Dan Campbell who visited our Jesuit community here in Clarkston, Michigan.

See the Grand Canyon. Somehow I missed that.

Present tense...I am currently on a health sabbatical at our Jesuit infirmary here in Clarkston MI where our mission is to pray for the World, the Church and for the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). I am focusing on managing my congestive heat failure, bipolar syndrome (only discovered in 2013!), Type II Diabetes, physical, psychological and spiritual health. I spent a year in St. Louis for the same type of program for personal renewal. I was extremely tired after 12 years of campus ministry. Whoops. 14 years.

Here at Colombiere Jesuit community (infirmary) in Clarkston, I have continued some priestly ministry the last six years: Masses, Confessions, Anointing of the Sick, Spiritual Direction. I also enjoy Reading, ongoing Scripture studies, computer searches, TED Talks. I'm hoping to get back to my guitar which I got renovated recently.

Past tense...I was associate pastor at St. Mary Student Parish at the University of Michigan, my college Alma Mater for 13 and a half years (2000-2013). Things were hopping there with nine Sunday Masses per weekend during the school year and I usually did two or three. My language skills had me celebrating our 2 PM Spanish Mass every other week, though I say the Lord kept me humble as I used my least studied language (eight weeks in Curenavaca MEX back in 1980). French and Italian are my strongest modern languages. I have made foreign languages my hobby and my work, having studied French (BA at UM) , Russian, German, Italian and Modern Hebrew and ancient languages for Biblical Studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome: Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin. This interest led me to study in several different countries (France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Israel, Mexico), so travel is something I enjoy--a lot!

Back to my Downriver roots, I enjoy walking along the Detroit River in Wyandotte's Bishop park where we used to catch the Bob-Lo boat as kids. I go there in all seasons when I need to see water and boats. I also love to go to our Jesuit Province "Villa Marquette" in Omena MI where we have lakefront property and several cottages. Traverse City is nearby and is always an entertaining place to go.

Graduated with BA in French and secondary teaching certification from the University of Michigan in 1974. After paying off my debts (substitute teaching!) I entered the Jesuits in 1976 and took first (perpetual) vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in 1979. My three years of theoligal studies in Paris were from 1981 to 1984 when I came back to be ordained a priest in 1984 at Gesu Parish in Detroit. A high point in Paris was that I was able to serve as deacon several times at the Cathedral of Notre Dame with the Cardinal Archbishop, Jean-Marie Lustiger who became a dear friend to me and my family. There was a serendipitous surprise in April 1984 to be asked to serve as Altar Deacon on Palm Sunday on St. Peter's Square with Pope John Paul II (at his right hand!) at the Mass which was the culmination of his first World Youth Days in Rome. My first Mass on Father's day at Christ the Good Shepherd was a great joy for me and my family 35 years ago on Father's Day. After a few satisfying and successful years as director of campus ministry at St. Ignatius High School Cleveland I was sent to Rome for Biblical Studies for eight years at the Pontifical Biblical Institute with one year of special studies in Jerusalem. My whole time in Rome was phenomenal, but my favorite experience was that my parents and my Down sister Pamela (who died in 2015) were able to attend a private Mass I concelebrated with (Saint) Pope John Paul II in his private chapel and then they received Communion from St. Pope John Paul II, publicly in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. I guess the next high point was coming back to Ann Arbor in 2000 to do campus ministry at UM after I had spent four years in Cleveland after having a massive heart attack upon return from Rome in 1996. Surviving and thriving after the MCI and triple bypass has been a special blessing since it was well-timed to have the heart attack in Cleveland and they put me back together by the world class Cleveland Clinic. The UM Health System kept me ticking with my second pacemaker/defibrillator implanted in 2010. The third one was implanted in 2015.

Anywhere in the A continents: Asia or Africa or Australia or (South or Central) America!

My sedentary academic life was best interrupted by hiking, running or shooting hoops or playing tennis or swimming if I could. When I was in Jerusalem I got a special deal swimming at the King David Hotel pool which was just next door to our Pontifical Biblical Institute residence. This exercise was crucial for keeping me sane in the highly stressful atmosphere of Jerusalem. In France the Jesuits had a get-away cottage in the Alps where I really honed my skiing skills for several 2-week vacations. Unfortunately I no longer ski. We are lucky to have an outdoor pool here at Colombiere where we have aquatic exercises.

Hobbies? Besides languages, I have always enjoyed music, especially Bob Dylan. I play the guitar still when I can but I am rusty.

A book I would like to recommend is one by a fellow Jesuit who lived in our Ann Arbor community while he accomplished his Masters in Fine Arts at UM and wrote a good bit of his book here in Ann Arbor. His name is Uwem Akpan, of Nigeria and his book was recommended by Oprah as a book-of-the-month with the title: "Say You Are One of Them." It consists of five short stories placed in various countries in Africa. Uwem's intent is to show the hardship of poverty through the eyes of childlren and thus draw attention to the plight of some of the poorest of the poor. He acknowledges me (among many) in the thank you notes at the back of the book

I like movies, but have seen few recently. I was more likely to catch a foreign flick at the Michigan Theatre just around the corner form our church. The last one I recall before leaving Ann Arbor was "La Vie en Rose" depicting the life of Edith Piaf. The film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film that year.

When I was in Rome I met actor Martin Sheen and we became good friends so I followed his career a bit more closely and had a phenomenal opportunity to spend a couple days with him on site and in the studio for some filming of NBC's "The West Wing." My favorite episode was entitled "Two Cathedrals." I got to meet all of Martin's family and the cast of The West Wing as well as Aaron Sorkin and Tommy Schlamme, the shows creators. One of my favorite cast members was John Spencer who played President Bartlett's Chief of Staff. John's death was a great blow to us all. I last saw Martin (and son) in Ann Arbor for a local premier viewing of the film "The Way," created, directed and edited by his son Emilio Estevez. Martin and I continue writing letters.

The University atmosphere kept me feeling deceptively young, maybe 30, despite the fact that my innards (heart esp.) probably look more like 80! Now that I am in our Jesuit infirmary I feel a little older, especially since at 63 I am the "Benjamin"--the youngest. The oldest is 94!

At Redeemer: Sister Anne Paul who got me so excited about French and intercultural exchange.

I was involved with the Catholic Charismatc Renewal during my years in Ann Arbor and lived in at least ten houses with about 70 different people during my Ann Arbor years and that I lived in the Michigan Union my fresman year due to housing overflow. Since entering the Jesuits I have multiplied the number of houses (Jesuit residences) I have lived in and have lived with scores and scores of people from my smallest community (me alone when I first got to Ann Arbor) to my largest communities (50 in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute; 87 when I lived at St. Louis University; 55 her at Colombiere infirmar). How many houses? More than 13 to be sure! In one regard I am surprised that after so much variety and geographical displacement, I have ended up back in Michigan where it began for me and that I have been here now for 23 years and enjoy being in the home state of Michigan. My favorite Jesuit place is Omena where the Jesuits have a vacation "villa" on Omena Bay between Sutton's Bay and Northport on the Lelenau Peninsula near Traverse City.

The basketball games, especially the City Catholic Championship in 1969 and the one game where Ron Pitts drew that great Lion and the gym exploded when the spotlight hit it. I also enjoyed chorale productions of Brigadoon and Finnian's Rainbow and competing in chorale competitions in the Detroit area.

Savor simplicity.

I already mentioned them in other spaces above. I guess I jumped the gun. A recap: Deacon at Notre Dame in Paris and at St. Peter's in Rome at the first World Youth Day in 1984. In Rome I also got to meet a lot of interesting people: Presidents (older Bush and Clinton) and their wives (Barbara and Hillary) in a formal reception with the pope and about 300 US clergy. I asked Mrs. Bush if she would "Call my Mom when you get home?"--"Why sure I will!" and she did! She talked with Mom, Dad and Pam for about 20 minutes from the White House that Veterans Day. I asked President Clinton to call Dad when he got home, "Why? Doesn't he know how you are doing?" He took my little note and put it in his suit jacket pocket. He wrote Dad a very nice note when he got back, saying how happy he was to meet me in Rome. These were fun ways I could get my family to share some of my extraordinary experiences.

You may have read this between the lines, but I am surviving very well despite my Congestive Heart Failure suffered from my heart attack one month after my return from Rome in 1996. The By-pass operation in 1997 gave me the little "extra oomph" to get me off the possible heart transplant track. I am on my third pacemaker/defibrillator, insulin for Type II Diabetes. My health sabbatical is already in its sixth year. Retirement? Jesuits "never retire." My job right now is the mission of this whole house of 55: Pray for the Church, the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the World. Life for me since 1996 has been quite an adventure in modern medicine and in the hope and trust of faith and prayer. Mother Theresa even prayed for me! I met her several times in Rome. Once I asked her to pray for my mom and she reached into her sweater pocket to give a Miraculous Medal to Mom and Dad.
Out with the medal came a length of yarn which made her giggle. Then she kissed the medal, yarn and all, and said, "I will pray for your mother." But I think it was my little sister Pamela's prayers God heard the most. I would also like to mention that I had a four-month stay at the community of L'Arche (outside Paris) founded by Jean Vanier who died recently. He worked selflessly with the developmentally disabled like my sister Pam. She and Mom and Dad got to meet him in the little village of Trosly-Breuil. I worked a lot with Vanier as a Novice. The last time I saw Jean was in 1996 in Rome where he gave a talk and Q & A session. He asked me, along with a German Jesuit to sit with him on either side to facilitate his understanding questions. Afterwards he and I had a beer at the Gregorian University bar. He was deeply interested in the doctoral thesis I was writing on the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He wanted me to send him a copy. Regrettably I never completed it. I abandoned the project after my debilitating heart attack in 1996. I had gotten a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture, but ended with "ABDD"--all but dissertation and defense--on my doctoral thesis. I hope to eventually write a couple articles on the topic of my thesis which still grabs me. Earlier this week I even dreamed about it.

Where do you hope to retire and what do you initend to do?