integration 3 Moreau FYE Integration 3 A Death Well-died With the passing of , we mourn his death and call back to the amazing moments and aspects of his life. Living a life of love and selflessness, he had a tremendous impact on everyone he touched, leaving the world a better place than it was when he entered it all those years ago. I hope that everyone here can learn from the well-lived life of Jack and apply characteristics of his life to their own. Jack exemplified a life well-lived, always creating environments that fostered love, care, and respect. Jack worked to create these environments because he fully believed that everyone had the power to make a difference in the world. Similar to what Pope Francis said, “The future of humankind isn’t exclusively in the hands of politicians, of great leaders, of big companies” (Why the only future worth building includes everyone by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven), Jack believed in everyone having the opportunity to play a role in humanity’s future, and always helped me believe my work was making a difference. One admirable trait about Jack is his optimism. No matter how dire the circumstances, Jack always seemed to find the hope and bright spots in life. Jack thoroughly believed that “When the hardships or unexpected things happen to us, we often focus on the things that we do not have” (5 Minutes by Aria Swarr - Moreau FYE Week Six). In reaction to this common thought, Jack always tried to focus on the things that we do have, not what we do not. In tough times, he focused on how great times would be once he got through them. Whenever he caught me dwelling on one of my own mistakes or the way someone had wronged me, he would encourage me to put it aside and instead focus on my many blessings and how I can overcome my mistakes and hardships. I remember one particular conversation I had with Jack when he was discerning how best to live a life well-lived. When discussing what his strengths and values were, he was surprised when I talked about his drive to act with purpose. I told him he loved two things, “people and purpose” (Discernment conversation - Moreau FYE Week Five). Everything Jack did, he did it with a purpose. He hated wasting time doing nothing, but he loved working with people on anything purposeful. Working for something with a higher purpose than himself was of his key attributes and certainly defines his life as a life well-lived. Jack taught me the importance of discerning my interests in the present and my goals for the future. When I struggled with what I wanted to do with life, he helped me break down my current interests and my future goals so I could make life decisions with utmost consideration of all aspects of life. He taught me that the more we know ourselves, the more we know what will truly make us happy and that we are good at, and the more we can use that to help others and the world (Navigating Your Career Journey by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). His words helped me make many great career decisions in life that have put me in the position I am today, and I thank him greatly for it. If you ask anyone what Jack provided to any discussion, the most common answer would be joy. He brought joy to every conversation, making everyone more joyful who participated in the discussion. A conversation could never be too dark or sad for his joy to make a presence in the conversation. When I asked Jack about how remained joyful so often, he responded “I ask myself two things about every choice I make - ‘Will this bring me true joy now?’ and ‘Will this bring me true joy in 30 years?’ If it could do neither, then God was not calling me to it”. (“Three Key Questions by Michael Himes” - Moreau FYE Week Three). God not only led him to happiness but led others to happiness through his joy. Now, he is with God in a place of eternal joy. Another mission Jack found himself in was the work to break down barriers between people, just like Father Theodore Hesburgh (“Hesburgh” produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). Fr. Hesburgh was an inspiration to Jack and he worked to live a life continuing the mission of Fr. Hesburgh. Jack, Like Fr. Hesburgh, had the amazing ability to reach across lines and connect people of great differences. This allowed him to foster a community of love and cooperation with little of the division that so often characterizes our world. One final lesson we can learn from Jack’s life is the importance of slowing down and reflecting. Today, we slow down in honor of his life, but we can take this lesson and learn to slow down at times for the rest of our own lives. In a conversation I had with him, he once told me that “We’re never caught up with our lives” (Why we need to slow down our lives by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). I resonated with this quote from him heavily. In my own life, I find myself rushing from place to place, event to event, never stopping and reflecting. No matter how much I work I do, I’m always behind, always have more things to do to catch up. Sometimes, we need to slow down our lives, and this is something Jack did often. He found that slowing down his life made it easier to “catch up” because of those little bits of time he spent recharging and reflecting. In honor of Jack’s amazing, well-lived life, I’d like us all to reflect on the lessons we can learn from Jack and how we can continue to improve our community and our world and leave it better than we found it.