To My Boys: September 22, 2020
Good morning!
On Saturday, one of the stations on cable television was hosting an Indiana Jones marathon. I only know this because I was watching the U.S. Open and decided to flip through the channels during one of the commercials. I confess that with so much streaming going on in our lives, I had forgotten how to surf channels and even what commercials were like (they’re still boring).
When I came across Indiana Jones, my heart skipped a beat. One of the most memorable experiences of my childhood was the day my mother took me to a little theater located in the corner of a strip mall on Kendall and 107th avenue to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark. The year was 1981 and I was 12 years old. I left the theater in awe, convinced that God had called me from my mother’s womb to be an archeologist. I was sure that my calling in life was to dig up artifacts, carry a whip and gun, and battle evil Nazis.
No film, song, television program, or book had ever impacted me as much as that cinematic experience did on that afternoon. I still consider Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones to be the most amazing fictional character ever created. You can’t imagine how shocking it was for me the day, not too long ago, I was having a conversation with one of our Belen students and asked him which of the Indiana Jones movies was his favorite and he responded, “Who is Indiana Jones?” He’s lucky I didn’t expel him.
It goes without saying, the original Raiders is the best of all the movies. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (#2) was mediocre at best and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (#4) was an aberration. But Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (#3) was movie magic. I remember when that one came out, I broke out my fedora, and 1989 became a happy year made better only by the fact that in August I entered the seminary and officially laid to rest my Nazi-hunting dreams.
There is a scene in the crusade movie when Indiana Jones is in search of the Holy Grail and has to pass through a series of traps in a cave in order to get to the prize. A series of clues in his father’s diary help to guide him through various obstacles that, if not answered correctly, will kill him. One of those clues is, “Only the penitent man will pass.” Dr. Jones realizes that the penitent man is a humble man, and a humble man is one who genuflects and bows. Realizing this, he proceeds to bow just when a huge blade whisks by his head, missing him by only a few inches.
Wow, to think that penance and humility have the power to save, and yet, it is such a rare virtue in our world today. I often wonder why this is. Does it have something to do with our easy access to anything and at all times with the push of a button? For example, when I was a kid, information was not as instantaneous as it is now. When I wanted the answer to some question, I had to patiently wait until I had access to the encyclopedia or a book or an expert that could provide the information to me. It wasn’t instantaneous.
Nowadays, the answers to all my questions are in my front left pant pocket. With my trusty iPhone, I can search the internet for any answer to any question and get it instantaneously. I no longer have to wait patiently. I no longer have to humbly admit that I do not know. Now, I do know and know everything.
So how do we bring back humility? What do we do to help its comeback? Well, St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that humility is a virtue and, like all other virtues, requires practice in order to gain and perfect. The man who practices any virtue becomes virtuous; while the man who practices vice becomes vicious. For this reason, the man who is given the opportunity to practice humility will become humble and, according to Indiana Jones, won’t get his head chopped off.
This is where education becomes such an important opportunity for the practice of virtues like humility. Our school should be focused on creating opportunities for you guys to practice virtue and, thus, become virtuous. Humility, of course, is no exception and because the world does not seem to provide too many opportunities for humility to be practiced, we, as educators, have to provide those opportunities for you.
Let me give an example: homeroom mass. When I first started teaching at Belen and celebrating the mass in our chapel, students would not kneel at indicated parts of the mass. I don’t know the exact reason for this, but students still don’t. So, I figure, since you guys rarely bend a knee for anyone or anything, you’re going to bend it here. For this reason, we began the practice of instructing students at mass to hit the floor. By doing this, we hope to help you recognize you are kneeling in the presence of someone greater than, more powerful than, worthier than you are. To express that in body as well as mind requires a lot of… you guessed it, humility.
Who would have thought a reflection on humility, one of the greatest virtues of all time, would be inspired by Indiana Jones, one of the greatest movie characters of all time. Just goes to show, God never ceases to amaze.
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
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.