McCabe ’02 lives Mission at Villanova University

Since graduating from Georgetown University, Brian McCabe ’02 has devoted himself to serving others. From being a part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, where he worked on combating homelessness, to his work at Villanova University today, McCabe has taken the lessons learned at St. Joseph’s Prep to heart.

“It’s hard to imagine how I would navigate life without Ignatian spirituality,” says McCabe. “Every day I use things learned through my experiences with the Jesuits: discernment; the lessons from the Spiritual Exercises; attention to how I make decisions; a sense of prayer and quiet contemplation. A taste for all of that started at the Prep.”

McCabe went to Georgetown University where he studied Classical Languages and, after graduation, he spent two years in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. First he was assigned to Juneau, AK, where he worked as a community resource supporting young people. His second year in JVC was back home in Philadelphia, where he lived next to the Prep on 18th Street while working for the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness, working one-on-one with people experiencing homelessness. That experience led him to work for Pathways to Housing PA, an organization that also worked in the trenches with people while trying to address “the many significant systemic gaps” that made it difficult for people to find affordable housing.

After this, he pursued a master’s degree at Villanova, where he was also assigned to work part-time in Campus Ministry. There, he found a way to combine his interests in helping others and spiritual development and has been there ever since, now working as Director of the University’s Center for Spirituality and Outreach. 

“It is important to always analyze what we are being called to do and how we are listening to the call of the gospels,” McCabe says. “I enjoy working with college students; it is an age group that is really exciting. Many are experiencing independence for the first time but are often challenged by what they find and what they see. I enjoy being able to talk with them from a faith and justice perspective.”

McCabe’s work now focuses on creating programming, offering spiritual accompaniment, and coordinating opportunities for continued spiritual practices such as mindfulness and centering prayer. He is also a part of the University’s Center for Dialogue, which facilitates engagement for people of different backgrounds and faiths.

“Working at a university, I have to continually grow and learn; there is always something more expected of me,” McCabe says. “I like that and I continue to have a desire to serve people.”

Of his Prep experiences, McCabe spoke fondly of a sophomore religious studies course taught by Ken Kania. “He invited me to have an adult look at my faith and what was required of me to put into it,” he remembers. “That was really important to me at that age.”

He says that Kairos, being a part of the Cross Country team, and a friendship with former Prep President Rev. David Sauter, S.J., helped instill a confidence in him that allowed him to be other-directed. 

“As a retreatant and then as a leader, Kairos gave me a taste of what is possible when people come together to share their lives,” McCabe says. “The Prep continually challenged us to learn how to make it about others. I am incredibly grateful for that.”

“So many of my relationships came from the Prep,” he says, adding that he met his wife Caitlin at that time when she was a student at Merion Mercy Academy. The couple was married in 2012 and have three daughters. “I have so many people who have walked alongside me from that time until today. In so much of what I’ve been able to do, the Prep has been integral to all of it. It is all tied together for me.”