To My Boys: September 18, 2020
Good morning!
I lived in Chile for one year and spent some time in both Santiago and Antofagasta. What a beautiful country. I was amazed at how you have everything from the most arid desert in the world to the most luscious forests. The food was great, the wine greater, and the people greatest. I do remember one experience, though, I wouldn’t mind forgetting.
It happened while teaching at Colegio San Luis Gonzaga in Antofagasta, the northern part of the country. I was walking from school to the church one Sunday morning when I noticed something very odd. Horns and car alarms started blaring, people were scampering, and, as I looked out in front of me, buildings and houses started swaying oddly from one side to another. It was the strangest thing in the world. I was convinced I was hallucinating or was living a scene from the movie “Inception.”
In reality, what was happening was an earthquake. My whole life I have lived in various parts of the world and have experienced a lot of different things, but never an earthquake. Being from Miami, contending with mother nature’s fury in the form of a hurricane is commonplace, but at least you got a fair warning about the arrivals of Andrew and his younger sisters Katrina and Irma. Not earthquakes. Like a rude relative who just shows up unannounced and barges his way into your house disrupting your plans, earthquakes give you no warning. They just strike and, if you don’t like it, tough cookies.
Based on that experience, what is most troubling is the sense of insecurity as the ground below your feet begins to rumble and shake with relentless abandon. I noticed at that moment I never pay attention to the ground I walk on because it is always there. As sure as the stars shine above, when you get out of bed in the morning and put your feet on the ground, the ground is there. When that begins to go out, the sense of helpless discomfort is overwhelming. When it’s all over and, if you are still alive, you learn to appreciate the stability of the ground.
I was reminded of this experience yesterday morning as I stood in the front of the school welcoming back the first half of our students. COVID-19 hit us like an earthquake. Unannounced, it caught us by surprise and caused us to scramble and make decisions we thought we would never have to make. During these past few months, we have learned to appreciate the things we always take for granted because they are always there. Going to school, church, the office, restaurants, and stores were all jeopardized because of the pandemic.
So, now that the shaking has subsided, the opportunity presents itself to open the school a little more. Seeing “my boys” brought back a sense of joy and satisfaction, the likes I haven’t experienced in a long while. It was a reminder that Belen is nothing without you guys. There is no focus, no drive, no purpose unless you are here. Don’t get me wrong, I know you’ve been here virtually, but trust me, it’s not the same. Your walking into the school, waving hello, hearing your voices (not through a computer but through the air), makes all the difference in the world.
While we are getting the band together again, it is not complete until ALL of you are here. Some of our families have understandably opted for virtual learning for the rest of the semester but until we get every single one of you back on campus, we will be incomplete. So, for now, we patiently wait. Yes, the ground is shaking at Belen. Not because of an earthquake but because there’s finally a rumble in the hallways. Some of my boys are back!
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@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's 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 is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.