Watching Fr. José Moreno, SJ, at work gives the impression that, if he somehow put on the brakes, clouds of smoke and
dust would swirl 'round his feet as the ground ripped the soles from his shoes.
In reality, this energetic Mexican priest and pastor at St. Patrick's Parish on Milwaukee's predominantly Hispanic South Side is moving more methodically than it appears. In fact, everything in his life, while pursued with an almost tangible passion, is achieved by measured formula. His enthusiasm, commitment, and desire should not be mistaken for uncontrollable speed.
His typical day begins at 4 a.m., when he spends time authoring math workbooks and textbooks before taking a swim. After that, he pursues a full schedule that includes tending to the needs of his parishioners and cele-brating Mass (in Spanish or English or both) at a number of jails and prisons. There's also a monthly trip to Monterrey, Mexico, to help poor children learn math and to expand a school there—all directly or indirectly following Moreno's five-step formula for gaining insight and knowledge (see side bar below).
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Fr. José Moreno, SJ, made the transition from successful businessman to preacher, teacher, pastor, and author with aplomb. The spiral bindings on the grade-school math books he wrote are, by chance, a reflection of a cartoon character that personifies his idea of how we learn. |
These five steps are drawn from a pattern Moreno thinks Ignatius followed by intuition and used to understand new ideas. Each of the five segments of any one spiral is slightly larger than the previous one, providing a platform on which to store what we've learned and consider our next steps.
In a figurative sense, every time the five-step sequence is completed, a spiral segment forms part of a growing, upward spiral. "And this spiral is our life. And what we do in our life leads us to heaven," Moreno says.
If the spiral seems like a figment of Moreno's imagination, that's fine with him. In his view, imagination counts as much or more than anything in our intellectual and spiritual pursuits.
"Imagination, intelligence, and creativity are essential elements of our human development," Moreno says. "Knowledge without imagination is useless. To develop our imagination is to develop our intelligence. To develop our intelligence is to develop our creativity. To be more creative is to be more human," he says, posing a challenge in question form: "How do we enter into a more sophisticated level of imagination?"
Moreno didn't always see life as an upward spiral reaching to the divine. For many years he had no idea what shape or direction his life was taking. Born in Mexico City to a family of considerable wealth, Moreno appeared to move smoothly and comfortably in his secular life. While still a mechanical engineering student at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, he borrowed money from his father to open what became a successful factory that made baby seats and safety belts, among other items. When he graduated in 1975, the company was doing extremely well, but success did not seem very satisfying.
His father, an accomplished businessman, advised him to either grow the business or shut it down. He did the latter in what he calls "a Christian way" by selling inventory and other assets and sharing the proceeds with his workers because "they are the ones who built it."
The tug between the material world and Moreno's spiritual desires was not new. At one point a priest he knew even suggested he consider a religious vocation. Though he applied to the priest's order he didn't enter, instead accepting a job as an engineer with Avon, the cosmetics manufacturer, while also working on a master's in math. But a year later Moreno was still unfulfilled and unsure of what to do next.
"I was very confused. I graduated with high honors from the university. I had operated a successful business. I had a good job, lots of money. I had what millions of people would want in the world, but I wasn't satisfied," he says.
 Milwaukee-based Moreno makes monthly visits to this school in Monterrey, Mexico, where students have taken to Espiralito, Moreno's personification of the five-step learning process he's developed. |
Thinking that distance from his present life might offer perspective and direction, he got a government scholarship to study math and biomechanics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While earning a doctorate, he met a Jesuit, now a bishop in the Philippines.
"I asked him," remembers Moreno, "if he thought I could be a Jesuit. He laughed. He said, ‘No way, my friend. You are too free. You are too spoiled.' So I went back to Mexico and got a job at a university teaching math."
Influenced by the works and lives of Thomas Merton, the Christian mystic and Trappist monk, and Teilhard de Chardin, the paleontologist and Jesuit, Moreno could not escape the question of his own religious vocation. He took leave from the university and entered the Jesuit novitiate in Mexico.
"I thought if it didn't work out, I could always go back. But it did work."
The 30-day retreat based on Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises that Moreno made as a novice was more than memorable. "That was so incredibly uplifting for me." As he became more familiar with the Exercises and immersed himself in Ignatian spirituality, the image of the five steps and spiral segments that would influence his life and teaching techniques began to emerge.
Ordained in 1989, his first assignment was to teach math at the Institute Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, the Jesuit university in Guadalajara. He remained there until 1991, then spent four years doing mission and parish work before returning to the classroom in 1995, again as math professor but this time at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.
His four years away from teaching taught him something very important. "I'm a Jesuit because I'm a priest, not because I'm a professor. I love working with the people, especially the poor. What really gives me life is celebrating Mass. I love preaching," he says. "I want to be among the people."
The pastor position at St. Patrick's opened up in 2000, when Moreno was a visiting math professor at Marquette University. He has been on loan to the Wisconsin Province since, but he returns to Mexico every month to give workshops at LaSalle, a grade school for the poor in Monterrey where he has worked and volunteered since 1995. There he trains teachers to use the math workbooks and techniques he spends his mornings in Milwaukee creating. The workbook lessons draw on a five-step sequence that parallels the conversion process Ignatius went through when he was convalescing from his battle wounds. Espiralito (Little Spiral), is Moreno's cartoon personification of the spiral ascension he equates with our life's journey. The kids respond enthusiastically to Espiralito—almost as if he were Mickey Mouse.
Moreno is in the fourth year of a six-year arrangement between the Wisconsin and Mexico provinces that works well for everyone. St. Patrick's benefits from his heritage and passion to serve parishioners, preach, and celebrate Mass. Mexico benefits from the time he has to author textbooks and workbooks while making training trips to the school in Monterrey.
 Phil Nero, born in the Bronx, is director of communications for the Jesuits' Wisconsin Province. He wrote about Br. Mike Wilmot, SJ, who builds houses out of concrete, in our Fall 2001 issue: |
He is not sure where all the spiraling, teaching, and pastoral work will lead, but, ever the mathematician, he draws a picture in the form of a graphic formula with two curves, one the physical life, the other the interior life. The physical life curve peaks between 14 and 21 before beginning a descent toward death. In contrast, the interior life curve ascends, slowly at first but then more steeply as we age. It stops ascending when the physical life ends.
"This is no problem," Moreno says, accent strong, voice soft, as he points to the physical life curve. "All you have to do is eat and you get this." Pointing to the interior life curve he adds, "This is the reason for my hope, the source of my passion, that I can be here building this."
And that is exactly what he is doing. Very passionately. Very energetically. Very definitely and quite figuratively, one five-step spiral at a time. 
Drawing on the conversion of Ignatius from Spanish nobleman to man of God, Fr. José Moreno, SJ, determined that spiritual growth and classroom learning both follow a five-step process at the conclusion of which begins a new sequence based on what was learned in the previous five steps.
Establish the context and/or the concept being taught. Just as Ignatius reads about St. Francis of Assisi while recovering from wounds, a beginning math student first learns about the concept of the nine digits and zero.
Use the senses and imagination to grasp the concept. Ignatius imagines what it is like to be St. Francis, placing his desires secondary to that of others. Children handle the objects and place them in nine different-sized groups but arranged in no specific order.
Reflect upon and fully understand the concept. After weeks of reflection, Ignatius understands how the warm, caring heart of a saint differs from his self-centered heart. Similarly, students exchange objects between groups and grasp the unique value of the original nine groups.
Apply what you comprehend and use the knowledge to take action. Clothed in rags, Ignatius goes on pilgrimage, begging along his way through Spain. Students place the groups in ascending order and assign them a corresponding single-digit numeral and name.
Evaluate what and how it was learned and introduce the next concept or determine the next course of action. Ignatius, realizing there is more to living a saintly life than looking and behaving like someone else, prays and considers the next step in finding ways in which God loves him. Similarly, teachers evaluate students' understanding of the order of ascension in the single-digit column and introduce the concept of 10 and the tens column.
For further information, contact Jmoreno@jesuitswisprov.org