FLATLANDS — As a student at Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, Rajae Clarke (class of 2017) began thinking about becoming a priest, and plenty of people were available to offer advice.
The first in that clerical line was the school’s chaplain, Father Dwayne Davis, who also became the pastor at Clarke’s parish, St. Thomas Aquinas in the Flatlands.
Next, Clarke accepted then-Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s invitation to the annual vocations retreat.
“And it was good,” Clarke told the Tablet on Aug. 24. “I liked what I saw, but something didn’t fit me perfectly. Something was missing.”
Instead of a vocation for the diocesan priesthood, Clarke chose to join the Society of Jesus — the Jesuits.
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On Aug. 9, he was one of three men who professed their “first vows” to the Jesuits during a special Mass in Syracuse, New York.
His mentors in the Diocese of Brooklyn shared his joy.
Joining family and friends at the Mass were Father Davis and Bishop Robert Brennan.
Father Davis has a three-point connection with Clarke — first as his chaplain at Cristo Rey Brooklyn, second as parish pastor, and third as the founding project director of the Youth Leadership Ambassador Program sponsored by the diocese’s Vicariate Office of Black Catholic Concerns.
He said Clarke was a standout ambassador and the first alum of the organization to seek the priesthood.
Clarke’s supporters from Brooklyn drove five hours to attend the special Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse, according to Father Davis.
“We had a lot of parishioners who came up,” he said. “Cristo Rey Brooklyn was there in full force, and the ambassador program was there in full force.”
Father Davis and Clarke’s family are from Jamaica.
They did not know each other in their homeland, but their similar backgrounds spurred instant friendships when the Clarke family joined St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in 2015.
After graduating from Cristo Rey two years later, Clarke studied theology, psychology, and human development at Boston College, which was established by the Jesuits in 1863.
Clarke said members of the Society of Jesus made an impression on him while he attended Boston College. He described them as being “extraordinarily human through their prayer.”
“I got really attracted to the work of these men,” he said. “Some were in the intellectual apostolate; some were in the social apostolate.
“But they’ll do whatever the society asks and whatever the Church asks of them — as long as it’s saving souls and bringing glory to God.”
He prepared to enter formation with the Jesuits while teaching religion to ninth and 10th graders in Massachusetts. He also joined mission trips to the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and South Africa.
The Jesuits’ formula for formation differs from that of a diocesan priest, who, according to Father Davis, is assigned within the diocese where he attended seminary.
Clarke completed a two-year “novitiate” in Syracuse and now continues his education at St. Louis University — a three-year master’s degree in theology and philosophy.
Father Davis said there is a lot of study that goes into becoming a Jesuit, and Clarke is a good fit for that environment.
“He loves to learn, and Jesuits — they’re very learned men,” he said. “They can go back for two, three, four, or five degrees, or even get a doctorate. A lot of times, they’re professors and presidents and vice presidents of universities.”
A Jesuit, he noted, could be assigned anywhere in the world, including mission fields.
Father Davis said Clarke’s leadership skills came in handy when he returned home in 2023 to help plan and lead St. Thomas Aquinas’s delegation to the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal.
“It doesn’t take a long time for people, especially young people, to really like him,” Father Davis said.
Although Clarke’s pastoral trajectory takes him out of the Diocese of Brooklyn, he expects to be lifelong friends with its clergy.
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“They’re great men,” he said. “I love my diocese and my upbringing, and I love Bishop Brennan.
“But, you know, a vocation is like having a child. You don’t know where it is going to lead you. And mine led me to the Society of Jesus, in which I am very grateful for.”