Terence Lau 10/24 Sec 2E A.M.D.

Denis R. Como was born on January 3, 1936 in Beverly, Massachusetts. He lived in the neighborhood of Beverly Farms, nearby St. Margarets Catholic Church. Being located close to the church, it was convenient for him to interact with the Sisters of Notre Dame there. Going to his grammar school was also convenient because it was located right next to the church. In 1949, he attended Boston College High School. He commuted to school with his father and his sister by train. To help pay for his tuition, he would assist his mom, who raised cocker-spaniels, in selling dogs. At the time, he could even bring the dogs to school. His uncle, Dan Linehan SJ, had a conversation with him that encouraged him to become a Jesuit. Como intended to become a missionary priest and join the Maryknoll missionary work in China. He believed that a Jesuit only studied. His uncle corrected Comos fallacy and it was there in conversation when he recognized his vocation. On August 14 1953, he signed up to become a novice at Shadowbrook/St. Stanislaus Noviciate in Lenox, Massachusetts. During his Scholasticism, Shadowbrook had been burned down and he was forced to relocate to the St. Andrew-on-Hudson Jesuit seminary in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1956. Como thought of this event as a benefit from a misfortune. He loved Shadowbrook, but he believed that he was confined in a world of its own. This was his first experience of being in a place that was foreign to him. In 1957, he went to study Philosophy at Weston College where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. Two years later, he earned his Masters degree in the Arts. Later, he went to Baghdad College in Iraq for his regency. Also in Baghdad, he taught math, religion, and English for three years. In 1963, he went back to Weston College to study theology and also took classes at St. Basils Seminary in Methuen. Later on, he decides to change his Latin rite to the Chaldean rite because he wanted to spend the rest of his life in Iraq. Because of the absence of Chaldean Bishops in the United States, he converts to the Eastern rite instead. He was ordained in the Eastern rite on May 30, 1966 at Weston College. In the same year, he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology. Later on in 1967, he ventured to

India for his Tertianship. Soon after, the government of Iraq had expulsed the Jesuits from Baghdad. Looking back at this situation, Como found this to be a blessing in disguise that opened new doors of opportunity. After Iraq, he ventured to Alexandria, Egypt where he stays for four years. During this time, he had piqued an interest in the Russian Orthodox Church. He remembered asking a blind Russian woman to teach him Russian. She taught him through art because she had taught art at the University of Odessa. While in Egypt, he was asked to give a retreat to nuns in Kenya. This was the first retreat he performed and it was also spoken in Arabic. At the end of the retreat, the nuns performed a dance as a sign of gratitude. While strolling in the city of Alexandria, he was accused of spying at an air base by a military police. This led to the arrest of Como and he was forced to returned to America. In 1975, he worked as a chaplain at Fairfield University in Connecticut for two years. He soon worked in social ministries helping out at a local jail. He also started a three-quarter-way house, which was a place where former prisoners can live after they have finished their time in jail. He selected St. Charles Parish in Bridgeport as the three-quarterway house. When he left Bridgeport, he went to work at Boston City Hospital in 1986. He lived at the old Boston College High School building in which he had to take care of the Jesuits living there. One day, a woman from California called Como, asking if he wanted to go to China. He was to supervise the development of the private schools. He made suggestions about the English program and he eventually taught English. One night, Como was surprised by two kids with a knock his door. They came to ask him if he would be willing to teach their friends English on that night. They rode their bikes all the way to downtown in darkness. Without his knowledge of the location, they had ridden to a stadium with more than 500 boys ready to learn English. This event in his life is an example of The Magis Ignatian Spirituality Point. This was a request made late at night with no preparations. Como could have told the kids that he would teach another day, but he went out to teach anyways. He didnt view teaching late at night as a burden, but rather he saw it as an opportunity to do more. Under a close watch from the communist government, he had stayed for almost two years in China.

After China, he left for the United States again. In 1993, he was asked to be the pastor or chaplain for the Chinese Catholic community. At St. Jamess Church in Boston, he became the new pastor and had even learned how to perform the mass in Mandarin. He was even asked by someone to say the mass in Cantonese. Every time he visits Boston, he also goes to Chinatown for a reunion. Later in 2003, he returns back to the Middle East in Jordan. In the Middle East, he enjoys conversing with Muslims about spirituality. In 2009, he goes back to Weston where he worked in pastoral ministries at the Campion Health Center. Between Denis R. Como and I, we both grew up and were born in Massachusetts and have been students at BC High. One major similarity we have is that we both like to experience new cultures and visit other countries. I would like to travel around the world, immersed in various cultures.

On the first night, a man sitting next to him during their dinner started to cry. The man named Al started to cry because this was his first experience of eating with other people. As a child, he never knew his father and his mother would cook for him but would leave afterwards.

Later, he ventured to Alexandria, back to the United States, China, and again to the Middle East. Through these voyages, he learned several languages like Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Comos desire was to become a missionary worker. He had performed services such as working at a local jail, teaching English, Religion, and math; working at Boston City Hospital, and in Pastoral ministry.