To the Band of Brothers: December 4, 2020
Good morning,
About a week ago I ran into a couple I married two years ago. It was after Sunday Mass when they stopped to say hello. They told me they were excited to see me because they had some great news. She was pregnant. As the words registered, I was taken back to the night when at Gesù Catholic Church I proclaimed them husband and wife. I clearly remember at one point in the ceremony I asked the two of them if they were willing to “accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the laws of Christ and his Church.” I also remember they said “yes.”
Well, here we are. Two years later they are fulfilling their promise. They are having a baby girl and they want to bring her up in the Church. So, we talked about baptism. We talked about where and when. I was excited about it. As I heard the young mother speak, I couldn’t help but think that the birth of the baby and her subsequent baptism would be a fulfillment of a marital vow, a making good of a promise that was obviously not taken lightly. It was consoling to see her speak about the baptism of her baby with the same enthusiasm I saw her speak years ago about her wedding.
Just before we finished our conversation, she asked me to bless her baby. I shuttered for a moment because of a flashback of an incident not too long ago when a young couple asked me for a blessing. After giving it I proceeded to place my hands on her belly to bless the baby. Imagine how I felt when she looked at me and said, “But Father, I’m not pregnant.” Slam-dunk!
Assured that this one was absolutely pregnant, I placed my hands on her stomach and thought of the baby just on the other side. I closed my eyes and asked the Holy Spirit to infuse the child with health and happiness. I prayed that she would help her parents become closer to God who is the source of all life. I was reminded at that moment how a husband and wife are endowed by God with one of His greatest divine attributes: the ability to create life. The love of husband and wife has the power to create as God creates. That is a power not to be taken lightly.
As we continue to move along the Advent season, let us not forget Mary, who, like this young mother, lovingly carried the baby Jesus in her womb. The power of life Mary within her was the one birth incredibly anticipated for so long. It’s amazing how babies can be the source of so much hope and joy. And if there is ever a time we need hope and joy, it’s now.
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.