Advent Message

Jose E. Roca | School Principal
As we continue in the Advent Season, we anticipate the birth of Jesus with each passing day.
I realize that we all face many important and not-so-important distractions that pull us away from reflecting and enjoying the true meaning of Christmas.
 
Next Friday our students begin midterm exams, and they must prepare as diligently as possible. However, we should encourage them to use their study time wisely, not procrastinate, and place themselves in God's loving hands before each test in order to reduce stress. This will ensure a healthy mind and body open to the coming of Christ.
 
As a family, I also urge you to prepare for the birth of Jesus by attending mass together and praying in your homes around the advent wreath. Lighting the advent wreath on Sunday nights is a tradition that my parents passed on to me and my sisters, and I now share with my own wife and children. I find that I look forward to these few minutes each week when we join together to reflect on the gospel, offer any special intentions we may have, or simply express how our journey toward Christmas is going.
 
Advent is also a time to foster an attitude of gratitude. We all have so much for which to be grateful. Many of our Belen families have already donated generously to the toy drive we have at this time of year. Other Belen families gather to take gifts to migrant families in need or to feed the homeless in different parts of our city. These are just some of the ways we can spread the joy of Christmas, which is at the heart of our Catholic faith.
 
May we be able to set aside our many distractions this Advent Season so that we may experience God's love and the gift of His Son as never before.
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BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain.  The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline.  In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty.  The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow.  Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.