Michael Mohr has felt the call to serve others since his time as a Catholic high school student in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
During Mohr’s junior year of high school, he started making plans to attend Loyola University in New Orleans. After Hurricane Katrina came ashore the next year, he began considering his college options outside of Louisiana. He sought a college with academic rigor and a focus on the liberal arts. He found that and more at Millsaps College.
“I was impressed with the focus on the humanities and the close attention students received from professors,” Mohr said.
Millsaps proved to be the perfect environment for Mohr. “I was and wanted to be involved in everything,” he said. “Millsaps made it easy to be outgoing.”
During his time at Millsaps, Mohr was involved in Greek life and served as the president of his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. He felt the fraternity’s culture of openness and academically savvy students fostered a kind of brotherhood dedicated to a mission. He also performed with the Millsaps Singers and Millsaps Choir, was involved with student government and served on the Student Conduct Council.
While Mohr enjoyed campus life at Millsaps, he found his home in the English department where he felt challenged to open his mind to new ways of thinking.
He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with an emphasis in education licensure and grew close to Dr. Eric Griffin, Janice B. Trimble Professor, chair of the English department and director of the Latin American studies program. Mohr even participated in one of Griffin’s study abroad courses in the Mexican state of Yucatán.
“Michael was so very open to learning new things,” Griffin said. “You could tell his sense of empathy and spirit of outreach was deeply rooted in his faith of Roman Catholicism.”
In addition to campus activities and academics, Mohr participated in a Ford Fellowship and student-taught at Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi. After he graduated in 2010, Mohr took a position teaching American literature at Saint Joseph Catholic School in Madison, Mississippi. It was during his time at Saint Joseph that he began the discernment process of his own life’s mission.
“I had just experienced this intellectual formation at Millsaps, and my students pulled me to a deeper desire to do more,” he said. “After my first year there, I realized it wasn’t about me anymore.”
Mohr was encouraged by his colleagues to investigate what the Roman Catholic church offered, and a colleague suggested that he look into the Society of Jesus—commonly known as the Jesuits.
“I was seeking a life of service and had an interest in the ministry of education,” Mohr said. “I wanted to enter a way of life. The Jesuits offered a well-formed environment that took study seriously, had great spirituality and discernment and focused on the radical ideal of being wholly available to others.”
Mohr spent the first two years of the 10-year long journey of becoming a Jesuit priest studying at the Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked with previously incarcerated individuals in Kansas City, Kansas, studied in Nicaragua and spent three months in South America.
In 2015, Mohr took his first vows in front of friends and family, including Griffin and other friends from Millsaps.
“I was touched by their demonstration of care by coming, and it was a confirmation that Millsaps is a true community,” Mohr said.
Mohr continued his studies in St. Louis and taught English and theology at a local Jesuit high school. In 2021, he was missioned by his provincial superior to study theology at the Pontificia Università Gregoriana in Rome, Italy. He’s thankful for the opportunity to study in the center of the Catholic Church and where the Jesuit order was founded.
“I’m in the middle of it all, meeting people where they are, taking risks and preaching a message of love and salvation,” Mohr said.
Mohr even had the opportunity to hold the incense for Pope Francis at the 2023 New Year’s Day mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. “I have always admired Pope Francis’ tenderness in approaching people,” Mohr said. “He’s a model of what it means to be a pastoral priest. It was a surreal experience and a deep honor.”
Mohr is currently halfway through his theology studies. Next year, he will make his petitions to serve as a Catholic priest with the Order of the Jesuits. From there, Mohr will follow wherever the Jesuit Order and his faith lead him. He acknowledges the role Millsaps played in his life and mission.
“My time at Millsaps helped me discover my own interests. My beliefs would be challenged at times, and I had to open my mind to different perspectives and ideals. In the end, I felt more dedicated to the humanistic side of my beliefs and open to the world.”