To the Band of Brothers: April 26, 2021
Good morning,
Sitting on a shelf in my office is a picture that I treasure more than most. It was taken in 1987 on the night of my Baccalaureate Mass. In it I am standing at the entrance of the church flanked on either side by two very important people. To my left is Fr. Eddy Alvarez, S.J. ’63, my spiritual director and sophomore theology teacher. This is the guy who guided me for years through my whole vocation discernment process. This is the guy who ushered me into the Society of Jesus. He is currently the pastor of Gesù Catholic Church in downtown Miami.
To my right is Bishop Enrique San Pedro, S.J. ’41. He was the main celebrant that evening. I’ve written about him before. For six months he was my sophomore theology teacher when he was suddenly called by Pope St. John Paul II to serve as bishop of Galveston-Houston in Texas. It was at that point that he left and Fr. Eddy took over.
What I remember most about Bishop San Pedro is his missionary spirit; his readiness to go wherever needed. This is a guy who, even though he was a Ph.D. in theology, spoke seven languages, had been a missionary in Vietnam, China, and the Dominican Republic, was just as happy teaching snotty sophomores in west Miami. I didn’t know it then, but I wanted to be just like him.
I remember my Baccalaureate Mass fondly. It was held at Little Flower in Coral Gables. At the time, I thought the place was packed, even though there were only about 90 of us graduating. Don’t ask me what the homily was about or who read what because it was a long time ago. The one thing I do remember clearly was singing Turn on Your Heart Light by Neil Diamond and Dust in the Wind by Kansas. One of those songs I remember fondly, the other not so much.
In the picture, I was wearing a blue blazer my mother bought at JC Penny for the occasion and a red knitted Sergio Valente tie that I borrowed from my dad. As I look at the picture I can understand why shortly after my graduating year, the school opted for a gala uniform. Even though I am a bit taller, heavier, and older, the enthusiasm of that moment almost 35 years ago is still present.
Tonight we will be celebrating once again a Baccalaureate Mass, only this time it will be for the class of 2021. It will not be at Little Flower, but Our Lady of Guadalupe. With 212 seniors and social distancing restrictions still pretty much in place, this church is better suited to hold us all.
Tonight will be an opportunity to gather together to celebrate an end of a journey and the beginning of another. The Mass is an opportunity to bid a spiritual farewell to the senior class and give thanks. Tears will be shed, prayers will be said, and the Salve Regina will be sung for the last time as a whole by the class of ’21 (with their masks clearly in place). I encourage you to continue to pray for your Belen older brothers.
God bless,
Fr. Willie ‘87
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.