To the Band of Brothers: March 29, 2021

Fr. Willie ‘87
Good morning!
 
Years ago, I made this declaration and I wanted to make it again: Spring Break is cancelled.
 
You read correctly, there will be no Spring Break this year for any Belen student, faculty member, administrator, or member of the staff. I, Fr. Willie García-Tuñón, S.J., officially call off Spring Break this year and every year after that and declare it tempus non grata.
 
Wait… before storming my office wanting to end the career of a President that believes he still has some gas left in the tank. Before going to your class WhatsApp chat and holding a virtual Good Friday calling for his crucifixion, let me clarify.
 
We will keep sacred the days off from school when students can take advantage and recharge their batteries by sleeping, playing a few extra hours of video games, or heading off to the Keys. We will also keep sacred the mornings when teachers can reach over to the alarm they forgot to change and hit the snooze button as many times as they desire. Safe will be the lazy afternoons when staff members can sit in their patios, watch their televisions, or drink their cafecitos without having to rush out and do anything.
 
All those things will remain.
 
What I am cancelling is referring to this break with the benign and religiously sterile term of spring. The only acceptable term at Belen that can be used is Easter. That’s right, it’s Easter Break.
 
Remember (as if I have to remind you) Belen Jesuit is first and foremost a Catholic school. There are many great and successful private schools out there, but we are not simply one among many. We are Catholic and our identity as such is an extraordinary gift. This is especially true in a world that has seemingly lost its own. Belen is not indifferent to its religious convictions or its Christian faith. We are unabashedly Catholic and, therefore, proudly profess our faith in Jesus Christ.
 
We know the reason Belen exists is to proclaim in every classroom, every hallway, every field, and at every meeting that Jesus Christ is Lord and, on the third day after his death, rose from the dead. We take great joy in joining our voices with the voice of the Apostle Paul when he proclaims, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting” (1 Corinthians 15:55)?
 
The reason we close our doors in a few days is not simply because we are tired and need a break. Our doors will be closed because we recognize with liturgies and rest that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. There is no other moment in the year as precious and significant for us as this. We are oftentimes mistaken thinking Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. It’s not. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is great, but it’s not Easter. As a matter of fact, if Jesus had not risen from the dead, his birth in December would have been one more birth among many, with as much significance as any other.
 
No, it’s Easter that gives Christmas its greatness. It’s Easter that really carries the punch and celebrates a true and definitive birth. Ever wonder why we have bunnies and eggs during this time of year? Because both symbolize fertility and new birth. I know this first-hand because in the years I lived in the Dominican Republic and worked at an agricultural school, the students raised rabbits. In our first year we started off with eight females and two males. By the end of the year we had over 250 furry critters littered throughout the campus. You want to talk about the springing of new birth, those guys set the standard.
 
So, when you head back to school on April 12th and see me standing at the front gate early in the morning or run into me in the hallway, don’t ask me how my Spring Break was because I didn’t have one. Neither did you. We had an Easter Break and I will tell you it was awesome. You know why? Because Jesus Christ is risen… and he is risen indeed.
 
Auspice Maria
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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.