2023 Lenten Reflections

Lenten Reflections

February 22 - April 9, 2023

Welcome and Prayer BC High’s strength is in our rich tradition of praying and being together as a community of faith with our diverse gifts. We continue our communal prayer through this booklet that leads us through the sacred seasons of Lent, Holy Week, and the first moments of the Easter season.

This year, we have implemented a House system and this booklet contains reflections from each of those houses as we walk through the year’s holiest moments. Join with us each week as a member from each House relates the significance of Gospel passage for the school community. Each of the twelve Houses, in alphabetical order, provide their reflection.

We invite you to pray along with us during these sacred times, and, as always, we ask God to bless you, your loved ones, and all who need our prayerful support.

God bless, Fr. John Predmore, SJ

Prayer during our sacred seasons Loving God, you gave Ignatius a vision, a mission, and a prayer for the world. Help us to advance his dream for the world’s healing and grace.

Increase our desire and ability to become people “with” and “for” others so that we may love and see the world as God loves and sees the world. Inspire us to live boldly with hearts and minds attuned to your compassion and mercy. Give us the discernment to make the right choices that bring about your greater glory. As we await our redemption, Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth.

Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust.

Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace.

Let peace fill our lives, so your work may be done through our good works.

We ask this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

The Spirit and teachings of Saint Ignatius of Loyola continue to permeate the halls and classrooms of BC High. Our extensive community of faith continues to be formed and informed by the Spiritual Exercises, a program of prayer practices written by Ignatius as he spent time with God on retreat on the banks overlooking the Cardoner River.

BC High honors our Ignatian tradition during Lent and Easter with an offering of Jesuit-inspired ministries activities. We feel blessed in many ways with so many dedicated students who develop their gifts and talents through the guidance of a highly committed faculty and staff. We express our faith through many charisms and experiences, and we want to express our thanks to you through this booklet of prayer for the Church’s most sacred seasons. Please join us in prayer each week and know that we will keep you in prayer as a gift to one another. We are filled with gratitude for your prayerful support.

- Grace Cotter Regan P'12, President

Lent is a season of preparation and reflection for the Easter mysteries. It is a most significant period in the church year.

Therefore, as a Catholic school centered on Christ, Lent is a particularly important time at BC High. I am thankful to Fr. Predmore for providing the opportunity for members of our BC High community to share their experience. I also want to thank those who shared their reflections. The sharing of experience is central to Ignatian spirituality and our formation in a Jesuit school. I am certain that the reflections shared here will help guide our own prayer and contemplation during this Lenten season and bring us closer to Christ.

- Adam Lewis P'28, Principal

Arrupe Division Reflection

“What it is like to be at the Arrupe Division during Lent and Easter. How does my faith grow?”

During my time in Arrupe religion class, I have gained a new appreciation for participating in my services. Antiochian liturgies are filled with beautiful choir music that lifts up your spirit, no matter how you are feeling. I wanted to give back to my community, so I decided to sing in my church’s choir. Learning about Vatican II helped me learn that the laity can and should participate in the liturgy.

I have also gained a new fascination with fasting, and the celebration that follows. I celebrate Lent by observing the Lenten Fast and doing community service during that time. I love the excitement of Easter morning when we go to church and celebrate the Resurrection; the joy of the moment when “Christ is Risen!” is unparalleled. Religion class has helped change my spirituality. Without it, I would still be stuck in the fixed mindset that I can’t do much for my church. Now that I have opened up to new ideas and my life has been enriched, I would do it again and again.

-Peter Bezzerides '27

February 22 - Ash Wednesday Reflection by Michael Clancy '03, Bowman House, Social Studies Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Gospel Passage: Jesus said to his disciples: When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you to win the praise of others.

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.

And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."

Reflection: “What are you paying attention to?” At the heart of it all, Jesus is asking his followers to consider this simple question. If we live our lives, and practice our spirituality, to draw attention to ourselves then we are missing the point. When the focus is on appearances, the focus is on the self. What we focus on orients us. If, as Jesus teaches us, we focus on our self, we are separating ourselves from the mystery of God’s universal love.

When I think of the people in my life who most genuinely reflect this universal love, these are the people who deeply will never really find what we seek. There is an emptiness and a neediness in attending.

Why are you paying attention?”

These questions are central to of every great lesson. Humility, often said, is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.

February 26, First Sunday of Lent Reflection by Joshua M. Solomita '26, Day House Matthew 4:1-11

Gospel Passage: At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.

Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me." At this, Jesus said to him, "Get away, Satan!

It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve."

Reflection: Three times, Satan puts God to the test, tempting him to use his power in pursuit of worldly gain. Jesus denies him twice, before proclaiming “Get away, Satan!” Pushing away Satan and bringing angels to his side.

Satan believes that Jesus, with his infinite power, would exert it for his own worldly gain. What he doesn’t understand is that, it is exactly because of that power that Jesus found his glory solely in living out the words of God. While we are presented with great temptations, Jesus has empowered all of us with the ability to follow in his example and live in service to God.

March 5 - Second Sunday of Lent Reflection by John-Paul Haber '23, Ciszek House Mt 17:1-9

Gospel Passage: Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.

While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."

Reflection: In Matthew 17:1-9, we see the transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus shows his true Godliness, and transfigures into a form his disciples can not even comprehend, because they are in such fear. This passage shows us both Jesus’s humanity but also his divinity and Godliness, and reminds us that Jesus was not just a person, but our God. This Gospel passage teaches us to remember who Jesus is, and to serve him and live as he taught us. Jesus calls us to not be afraid, but to give ourselves fully and live out as true followers of Christ.

March 12 - Third Sunday of Lent Reflection by Cason Chu '23, Faber House Jn 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

Gospel Passage: "Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty."

Reflection: Jesus and the Samaritan woman lived in a time when Jews and Samaritans had a history of hate towards one another, as well as a time when a man talking to a woman so casually was looked down upon.

Jesus and the Samaritan woman are different. Yet those differences are suddenly washed away when Jesus talks about “living water”, or salvation, for all, and when the Samaritans of that town begin to believe in him.

This goes to show that despite our perceived differences, we are inherently similar; anyone and everyone can be a “true worshiper”. Of course, it’s easy to assume otherwise. After all, we’ve evolved to sniff out difference. Yet, our interactions with others are what we make of it.

It is vital to try to understand and humanize the people around us instead of characterizing them based on shallow, incomplete interactions. There will always be a side of others that you do not get to see, no matter how well you know them. So, go and ask someone for some Gatorade.

March 19 - Fourth Sunday of Lent Reflection by Andrew Mozinski '26, Gonzaga House JN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

Gospel Passage: As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, "Go wash in the Pool of Siloam" — which means Sent —. So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see." So some of the Pharisees said, "You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?"

Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him.

Reflection: John chapter nine or “The Man Born Blind” is a powerful chapter that speaks to the theme of faith and the power of God. It tells the story of a man born blind who is healed by Jesus and given his sight back. The chapter begins with Jesus and his disciples encountering a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples ask Jesus if the man's blindness was a result of his sins or those of his parents. Jesus responds by saying that the man's blindness was not a punishment for sin, but rather an opportunity for God to show his glory. This statement is significant because it challenges the belief that suffering and illness are a result of sin. It also reminds us that God is not a vengeful deity, but rather a loving God who desires to reveal his glory to the world.

The healing of the blind man is a powerful demonstration of God's power and love. It shows that nothing is impossible for God, and that even the most difficult situations can be overcome through faith.

March 25 - Annunciation of the Lord Reflection by Jeppe Nielsen '23, Judge House Lk 1:26-38

Gospel Passage: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.

Reflection: Placing faith in God and trusting that He will decide the best path for you is tough. Trusting others and believing that they will be there for you when you need it most is also tough. But learning how to trust others, especially God, is essential to have a good life.

When the Virgin Mary decided to trust Gabriel, it created new life and salvation for everyone, which is equally applicable to your own life. The angel was able to use reasoning to convince Mary that what she was doing was right, which is what friends do in your life.

Having someone to consult who can give an extra opinion is important, as some decisions are not meant to be made alone.

When I think of God in my life, I believe that He will be there for me when I need him, exactly how my friends would be. God's love is communicated through my friends, and by gifting me with them, He is providing me with guides who will help me through life. Faith and trust have been and will always be two important factors in my life, and when I am in doubt, I know I can turn to others both in the BC High community and outside and to God.

March 26 – Fifth Sunday of Lent Reflection by Matty Duddy '25, King House Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

Gospel Passage: The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.”

Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

Reflection: Showing emotion is a large part of this passage. We see Jesus openly weep for his fallen friend. This was never seen before in scripture. How do you display your emotions? Do you hold it in for eternity or let it out like Jesus? I believe that as students at an allboys high school, we tend to lean more towards the hold it in option. Teenage boys will say it is “soft” to cry openly, but as we see in this parable it is quite the opposite. I am guilty of holding in my emotions, and I can confirm it is not a good feeling. This can alter your mental health greatly. We as a community need to teach the new generation to learn from Jesus and scripture. We need to prove that showing emotion is not soft, but a great showing of strength.

March 26 – Fifth Sunday of Lent -- continued Reflection by Matty Duddy '25, King House Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

Over these past 3 years death is at an all-time high, and not just death of a human life. Over these past three years our world has been plagued with Covid-19. This has caused many changes throughout the world. The church especially, as fewer people attend Mass every Sunday. Many people today don’t feel like attending Mass anymore. I do believe that this is a sign of the church dying. As seen in this passage, Jesus asks his father to hear him and save his friend. I believe that the Church can be seen as Lazarus, dead in the tomb. But by the power of God the Church will rise. I will take part in this rising. I will give it my all to go to mass every Sunday so long as it is possible to do so. Jesus will put an end to this era of death just as he did when Lazarus was resurrected. Simply just praying in the chapel or just finding time during the day to reflect and thank God for everything is a way to resurrect your faith life.

April 2, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion Reflection by Tommy Conley '24, Miki House Mt 27:11-54

Gospel Passage: Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate, who questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?" But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. Look to it yourselves."

And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.

Reflection: This passage contains the events leading up to and including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Pontius Pilate, the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, questions Jesus about how he truly feels about the crimes brought against him but is met with only silence from Jesus. Despite the accusations against him, Pilate is reluctant to crucify Jesus, asking the crowds why they would crucify Jesus, specifically asking the crowd, “‘Why? What evil has he done?’”. The governor eventually succumbs to the demands of the crowd and hands Jesus over to be crucified. The soldiers who are responsible for Jesus mock him by giving him a crown of thorns and beating him before his crucifixion.

April 2, Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, continued Reflection by Tommy Conley '24, Miki House Mt 27:11-54 Despite the actions of those around him, Jesus remains silent.

People continue to mock and tease Jesus while he is being crucified, up to and even after his death on the cross. The crucifixion is accompanied by supernatural events, including an earthquake and the raising of dead saints. The passage concludes with the death of Jesus and the fear of the centurions who were guarding him as they realize that Jesus was truly the Son of God. This passage serves as a powerful reminder of the sacrifice and suffering that Jesus underwent for the sake of humanity and how even in the face of death he stuck to his ideals and truth, understanding that his death will not be for nothing and that he will be rewarded in eternal life with God.

April 6, Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper Reflection by Anthony Docanto '15, Pro Head of House, Social Studies Jn 13:1-15

Gospel Passage: Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. So, during supper, he rose and took off his outer garments.

He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.

If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

Reflection: In the Gospel of John, the disciples are stunned by Jesus’s humble act of washing their feet. With this act, Jesus showcases his humanity to the disciples, and demonstrates what it means to be a servant leader. In the act of washing feet, Jesus reveals to us that center to all service is that we are all equal and have dignity in the eyes of God. Jesus, despite being the Son of God, teacher, and master is humble enough to commit this self-emptying act. Then, Jesus calls on his disciples to go and do the same - to be servant leaders.

April 6, Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper -- Continued Reflection by Anthony Docanto '15, Pro Head of House, Social Studies Jn 13:1-15 Being a servant leader means walking with those on the margins and forming radical kinship. When we go to the margins, we must be willing to put our pride and egos to the side. Jesus calls us not to go to the margins to “fix” others. In fact, he calls us to see the humanity, and to see God in those in the margins. Walking with those in the margins calls for radical acceptance of people for who they are and what they have to offer. Those on the margins, and everyone we encounter is a child of God and must be treated as such.

By washing the feet of others, we acknowledge that all of us are humans and all of us are prone to sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The reality is we all have “dirty feet.” We wash our feet and stay away from sin by following the example of Jesus. When we wash the feet of others, we acknowledge their humanity and dignity as a creation of God. By doing so, we ourselves ultimately get closer to God.

April 7, Good Friday Reflection by Tyler Balthazar '24. Romero House Jn 18:1—19:42

Gospel Passage: So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.”

Reflection: Jesus loved his friends when they were at their best and their worst.

And in the end, one of them, Judas, betrayed him. And Peter denied him publicly. Yet Jesus accepted them for who they were and forgave them. It takes a strong person to forgive someone. He chose to love Judas and Peter despite them not being there for him when he most needed their support. He chose love. To move forward you need to live and forgiveness can lead to a peaceful world Jesus’s example to forgive leads us to a more loving world.

April 9, The Resurrection of the Lord Reflection by Samuel Craft '23, Teresa House Jn 20:1-9

Gospel Passage: On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

When Simon Peter arrived, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed.

For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Reflection: This passage represents how a transcendent God necessitates transcendent faith. When Simon Peter and the other apostle saw that Jesus was not in the tomb, they were shocked, but not in disbelief. Although they had no warning that Jesus would rise from the dead, they trusted his holy plan. Often we find God in the most extreme settings, moments of pure shock, or moments where our feelings are indescribable. God goes beyond reason, and beyond what words can describe. I recently noticed God's transcendence while spending time with my family over Christmas break. Being a part of a family that is endlessly loving and creative surrounds me with an abundance of joy whose vehemence I can only attribute to a higher power.

April 16 - Second Sunday of Easter Reflection by Samantha Delaney, Xavier Head of House Jn 20:19-31

Gospel Passage: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them.

Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Reflection: I think this passage in John depicts one of the most relatable human experiences we face as Christians: doubt. I have felt like Thomas more times than I can count when it comes to my faith. As a science teacher, I constantly ask my students to use data to support their hypotheses.

Thomas was able to refute his doubt by physically touching the wounds of Jesus. I used to envy that Jesus gave Thomas such substantial evidence to believe. After reflecting on this passage, I realize that Jesus calls us to reach out and touch his wounds all the time at BC High. This is one of the reasons that BC High is such a sacred space. He calls us in our encounter with our unhoused neighbors on the St. Louis project, in our conversations with our new friends studying to take their citizenship tests, in our peers or colleagues that are struggling with difficult circumstances at home, and on Kairos when we share our own wounds. During this Easter season, I challenge you to reflect on the ways in which Jesus presents himself to you.