To the Band of Brothers: 
BYM 2026 Edition
 

7/3/2026
Fr. Willie, S.J. ’87 | President

Just before breakfast, on the side of a mountain in the Dominican Republic, one of the younger alumni helping to chaperone BYM asked, “Fr. Willie, what are we doing today?” Immediately, my search for a response teleported me to the mid 90s and Warner Brothers' “Pinky and the Brain.” Every night Pinky asks Brain, “Gee, Brain, what are we gonna do tonight?” The Brain always responds, “The same thing we do every night, Pinky… try to take over the world.”

No better response can be given to any man who graduates from Belen Jesuit. If ever asked what they are going to do tonight, or this morning, or this afternoon, the response should be, “Try to take over the world.” But not taking it over for personal sake, but heaven’s. In a world that at times seems to have been taken over by individuals who think only of themselves, the Belen man should try to take over the world and give it back to God. Give it back to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On this mountain these young men are taking over. For ten days they flood a sleepy village with no water and scarce electricity and take it over. They become the center of the people’s attention. They become the answer to their prayers. They become the rallying force that gathers locals away from their fields and zinc-roofed homes to pick up picks and shovels and stand side by side, up and down mountains, digging trenches and burying pipes. It may be for a few days, but they have taken over their world.

But it’s simply not about taking over. It’s about knowing what to do with it. Take it over only to give it back better, stronger, more dignified. Take it over for a time so when camp is taken down and the dust settles, the people of La Cuchilla can live their lives with access to life-giving water. Each time they turn on the faucets in their homes to cook a meal or fill a basin to wash their clothes, without having to trek an hour to fill pails, they will remember the band of brothers who took over their town and left it better than they found it.

As the mission trip winds down and the project comes to a close, these young men will head home to the world they have always known. While they took this one for a while to fulfill their obligation to serve the people of God, they will soon head back to Miami to answer the next call to service, the next call to take over their world.

Auspice Maria