To the Band of Brothers: October 20, 2020

Fr. Willie ‘87
Good morning!

Here’s one of the clearest images of my childhood. It was a Friday night in a small motel room just outside Disney World in Orlando. It was one of those special occasions when the whole family was able to spend a weekend somewhere other than in Miami Beach. There were seven of us crammed into the room: my parents, three brothers, my little sister, and me. My father had rented a small room with two queen size beds for all of us to sleep in. Trust me, the not-so-accommodating accommodations didn’t bother us in the least because we were all focused on Mickey.

My dad had just walked into the room with the rest of our luggage and proceeded to sit on the edge of the bed with the Yellow Pages he found next to the Gideon Bible. He was looking under “C” for Catholic Church. While the kids were singing Disney songs butchered so badly it probably caused Walt to turn in his cryogenic chamber, my dad was locating the closest Catholic Church in order to plan our Sunday around the mass.
Mass?! We’re on vacation. We don’t have to go to mass, do we? I mean, doesn’t the Church say that we are exempt from our Sunday obligation if we are traveling? Surely, the Church makes an exception for Catholics at Disney World where all things are magical and special and mass-like anyway. I mean, didn’t Jesus himself take an occasional break and ride Space Mountain or Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride? Didn’t the twelve Apostles hangout with the Seven Dwarfs and instead of breaking bread together shared a turkey leg at Frontierland? Didn’t St. Joseph take some time to share some carpentry secrets with Geppetto or Eve exchange apple recipes with the old hag or the Blessed Mother share parenting skills with Mrs. Jumbo? By the way, that’s Dumbo’s mom. 

Yet there was my dad making plans for Sunday mass. No matter where we were or what we were doing, if it was Sunday, we were going to mass. I admit that in my youth I found bothersome anything that would take time away from Pluto and Goofy, even if that “thing” was mass. For my parents though, there was no question where the family’s priority was.

There was no question mass was more important and, if it meant spending one less hour walking down Main Street, U.S.A., then our pictures with Donald and Daisy Duck would have to wait. It was this clarity of conviction, even at the entrance of Cinderella’s castle, which made us realize how important it was to fulfill our obligation to the Eucharist.

Since March, our churches have been limited in the number of people who can attend mass on Sundays. For now, the Archbishop has given us a dispensation on having to fulfill our Sunday obligation because of the pandemic. That makes sense, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that many of us continue to go to restaurants, gather in the Keys, and celebrate parties. If we are bold enough to gather with friends in different venues, why not be bold enough to gather with friends at church for Sunday mass?

Auspice Maria,
Fr. Willie ‘87
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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.