Jesuit Journal Lent/Easter 2016
Contents Reflections Joel Astbury Jack Madden Reid Hatzmann Henry Vance Noah Santoni Gabe Farrell Jack Griffiths Sean Tehan Jonah Brunel Evan Jackson Grant Davis Pierce Strong James McClure
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Stations of the Cross Luke Gonzales Nick Buehler Leo Tanzi 2 Eric Miller 3 Noah Jennings Braden Barale Evan Sonnier Jorge Lopez Eric Bennett Chris Pontikes Lake Domstead Z Hine 13 Spencer Vilicic Matthew Tamez William Name Mason Ward
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Editor John Wengierski ’16 Moderator Mr. Ian Berry ’07
The Jesuit Journal aims to provide students interested in creative writing and visual art with a space to showcase their talents. The Journal’s final issue this year commemorates our school’s experience of Lent and Easter.
Artwork by Nick Buehler ’18 JOEL ASTBURY ’19 How has your relationship with God changed this year? How has your faith developed or grown? A relationship with Christ makes a Christian a Christian. Without this relationship, one’s faith erodes. This year, my personal relationship with Christ has evolved from simply having faith in what is told to me, to contemplating on a far deeper level, exactly what it means to be a Christian. Naturally, this increased contemplation sometimes leads to some serious doubt. For instance, I question God’s reasoning for creating Earth, where hatred thrives, or why He would even create the concept of free will if it brought so much pain. Through this doubt, my faith has been strengthened, by affirming many of my beliefs, and damaged, by forcing me to realize that I do not and simply never will be able to understand all of God’s reasoning. However, overall, doubt plays a difficult, yet necessary role in my walk with Christ. While many of my questions will never be answered, I trust that God will continue to meet me where I’m at.
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Artwork by Leo Tanzi’ 18 JACK MADDEN ’19 What do Lent and Easter mean to you? To me, Lent and Easter are not just a religious season, or an excuse to get out of school, or a time to give something up, but to me, it is a period of reflection in which the purpose is to get closer to and celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus. While it is true that this is my belief now, going into the Lenten season this year, I was more concerned with not failing my biology test than I was about furthering my relationship with Jesus. However, this all changed when we had the mass on Ash Wednesday. It was here that I had somewhat of an epiphany, realizing that it was much more important to focus on my relationship with God than it was to focus on earthly things, that it is better to live for God and the spirit than it is to live for the flesh. As Romans 8:5 says, “for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” After this experience, I decided to spend Lent reflecting on not only why this season is important and why it happens to be worth celebrating, but also on how I can improve my spiritual life. Upon the end of the Lenten season, I had concluded several different things. The main thing that I concluded was that I am not worthy of the saving grace that Jesus died to give me and that the least I can do is to praise him and follow his word by doing his work on Earth—by doing things like community service and using the gifts he gave me in an effort to help others. I really think it is that last one, the one about working to help the less fortunate and using our natural gifts to help others, that is the most important, because it is the one that all people can get behind and do, no matter what your race, religion, or creed is. Another thought that I have about that conclusion is that the lesson you are supposed to learn from the season is that you are supposed to live that way throughout the year, not just during Lent. I also concluded that Easter is meant to be more than a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus alone, for the much more important thing is the grace that Jesus gave us, since it allows us to enter into Heaven. The second thing that I learned from my reflection is what this season truly represents: the conquering of death. This season shows how, with virtue and selflessness, we can conquer death and live forever in Heaven due to the sacrifice of Jesus. 2
REID HATZMANN ’18 What was your experience of Lent this year? What graces did you receive? This year during Lent, I feel like my spirituality grew more than it ever had. Through prayer and sacrifice I felt I found a closer connection to God and to my faith. During this season of Lent, I believe I found the gift of patience. The Lenten season is a long and sorrowful season, mass has a different tone, the stations of the cross are said more often, and the season concludes with the solemn celebrations of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and The Easter Vigil. With that in mind, I felt a strong pull this year to do more than just let the season pass me by. I found the gift of patience in the sense that this year as I proceeded through Lent, I was more actively involved and thus the season didn’t pass by, but rather was more of a sacrificial or conscious thing in my mind. To deal with this, and also help me with my patience, I participated more actively in the events our school had to offer. Taking the story of Christ’s passion and death into a smaller meaning in my life, I began to sacrifice time from my lunch to spend time with him. Each week, I would take 15 minutes out of lunch every Wednesday and Friday to pray a rosary with my classmates and teachers, and to pray the Stations of the Cross. It was in these small groups of prayer where I grew closer to God, began to more fully understand Christ’s suffering, and also watched my patience grow as I had to actively wait for Easter. Despite the sacrifice and the solemn season, this year I fell in love with Lent. I fell in Love with the constant prayer and opportunity to spend time with Jesus. Lent changed how I approach my everyday life and it was during Lent that I began to see the benefits of everyday prayer, and that is why that habit of mine is no longer a Lenten practice, it’s a yearlong practice. Lent made me a more spiritual person, and I’m so glad I took the chance to take advantage of the season; it has changed my spiritual life.
Artwork by Eric Miller ’17
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Artwork by Noah Jennings ’17 HENRY VANCE ’19 How has your relationship with God changed this year? How has your faith developed or grown? This year I have grown closer to God through my mom. About a month before spring break, my mom told my family she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily, the doctors caught it before it was even classified under stage 1. Because of this blessing, her surgery was not urgent, and she was able to go skiing with my family before her surgery to remove it. Although it was like most vacations, filled with fighting and (my sisters) crying, I somehow enjoyed more than any previous trip knowing my mom was in God’s hands. By the time she finally had her cancer removed, she recovered faster than anyone else with her procedure. Throughout the entire process, I experienced emotions I had never felt so deeply: the depression of possibly losing her and the outrage that she received this curse. Once I finally decided to look towards God for help, I immediately realized everything would eventually work itself out. I could truly feel his presence with me and still do as my mom continues to recover. Although I would rather my mom had not been diagnosed with cancer, in the end I had finally discovered the friend I always needed.
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NOAH SANTONI ’19 What does Lent mean to you? What did you give up for Lent? Describe the experience of this sacrifice. “Remember we are in the holy presence of God.” We hear and repeat these words almost every day as part of morning prayer. Lent embodies the same thing: during this time of preparation, we are supposed to become more aware of God’s holy presence. One way we accomplish this is through fasting. Traditionally, fasting is abstaining from meat on Friday, and giving up something of value to ourselves. The idea behind this is that whenever we abstain from one of these objects, we will consciously take a moment to remember why we are abstaining. When we ask ourselves “why,” this should remind us of one of the most important moment in our faith as Christians, the passion of Christ and the forgiveness of our sins. Through this daily remembrance of God’s sacrifice of his own son for humanity, we not only strengthen our relationship with him, but we also prepare for Easter. All we have to do is give God a little extra time. Along with the required fasting from meat on Fridays, I did something different this Lent. I found that throughout my day I have a thoughts come into my mind. These thoughts relate to the nature of God based off of the interaction of people and events in my life. Normally I would not give these thoughts any time, pushing them out of my mind, and justify it by thinking “I am too busy right now.” Then it would be gone, and I would go on with my day. During this Lenten season, I have decided to give time to these thoughts. For me it has become a way to see God’s holy presence in my life and in the world, and every time I do so I learn something. It lets me slow down in my day, and think about how I connect to the rest of the world. Honestly, I have enjoyed it: taking just a minute or too exploring a connection to God’s greater plan in my life is calming. I give God a little extra time in my day, and in this way I am preparing myself of Easter. Lent is a time of preparation and Easter is a celebration, give God some extra time before he gives us his son.
Artwork by Braden Barale ’19 5
Artwork by Evan Sonnier ’17
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Artwork by Jorge Lopez ’19 GABE FARRELL ’19 How has your relationship with God changed this year? How has your faith developed or grown? At the beginning of this academic year, I entered Jesuit a socially awkward, erudite freshman. I tried different sports, I kept my grades up, and I didn’t expect my daily routine to change from my public school life last year, let alone my deeply ingrained beliefs. However, The Jesuit community transforms people. I am not Catholic, nor am I Atheist, but a Southern Baptist born-again Christian, and I looked forward to my theology class in particular. This course, taught by Ms. Progar, (wonderful woman, you should get to know her) intrigued me. I was introduced to many different ideas in-depth, including transubstantiation, and an more educated look at the Pentateuch, as well as most of the Old Testament. The chance to study the Bible in an atmosphere focused on the scholarly aspects, as well as the religious implications of the verses, has grown my faith in many ways, as well as increased my knowledge exponentially on the subject. The prayer services and occasional liturgies every Friday also were a welcome change. Jesuit has given me the opportunity to more easily reach out to God in many ways, whether it be the environment, where men and women -- including students-- encourage others in the faith constantly, or the daily Examen, during the most consistently chaotic and stressful part of my day, which allows me to take a break, clear my mind, and speak to God without distractions. Jesuit has forever altered my view of and education about the faith, and during my years here I hope to make an impact on Jesuit in a similar manner, encouraging others in the faith, and witnessing to others the gospel upon which this school was founded. 7
JACK GRIFFITHS ’19 What do Lent and Easter mean to you? A fog of fragrant incense clouds the altar, as a semi-drowsy yet cheerful crowd sings, glancing at an elevated book that shines brighter than an Olympic medal. As the joyful hymn fades, the priest begins to proclaim the most influential and meaningful story God’s Sacred Word has to offer. Although the people have already listened to this tale countless times before, something about the story seems to touch their hearts every time they hear it. As the narrative of flabbergasted women, bewildered disciples, a radiant angel bearing a triumphant message, and a deserted tomb concludes, the people settle in rows of church pews, ready to open their ears to the heart of this message given by the priest’s homily. They learn of a selfless Savior of the name of Jesus Christ who willingly sacrificed His life to emancipate mankind from the murky forces of sin, Christ who conquered death by rising again. The actions of this hero, both divine and one of us, serve as motivation for all of us to serve each other and endure the many challenges of life. The day and season of Easter does not serve as simply a holiday in which we cherish gifts of treats and the arrival of spring. Easter plays a crucial role in our development as children of God because it gives us the hope of achieving life within the Kingdom of God. Through Christ’s Resurrection, we can fully experience life without endlessly wallowing in the dark labyrinth of sin. Jesus’s actions unlocked a previously sealed passage to Heaven, and now He beckons us to join Him in paradise. The openness of the Kingdom of God will never lock itself from anyone who seeks to enter it; the goal of each child of God to discover God’s Kingdom allows us to overcome and thwart any obstacle that might be thrown in our paths. As maturing men of God, committed to serving God and others, we partake in a grueling war against the forces of fatigue, peer pressure, and fear of failure throughout our days at high school. Sometimes, it can appear as if we cannot surmount these challenges despite our best efforts, and we wish to surrender to these obstacles. However, we must remember that nothing is impossible with Christ. Just as Jesus endured caustic mockery and an excruciating death on a cross, we must place our trust in God, who is far mightier than anything we might encounter on earth. Because an eternal life with God was made achievable through the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the day of Easter serves as our very purpose as Christians—to build God’s Kingdom on Earth through our words and actions, motivated by the triumphant victory of our Lord.
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SEAN TEHAN ’18 What do Lent and Easter mean to you? The Easter season is upon us. Peeps selling out in stores, terrifying Easter bunny costumes, and showing up to Church an hour early in order to get a seat are all staples in the secular and religious culture of modern society. I enjoy my time off, rejoicing in the five day weekend that accompanies the season at Jesuit. Of course, reflections often consist of many people reminiscing on how they used to think that giving something up for lent was a burden and it was not until recently that they understood the true meaning and sacrifice behind it all. I will not be taking such an approach. I have always given up something for lent, and I pride myself on being the only person in my family every year that sticks with their respective sacrifice. This year was ice cream, which was difficult at some points, but I managed. But what resonates with me even more is the Sunday before Easter. Most people think of the Sunday before Easter as Palm Sunday, including an extra-long homily and palms to craft tiny crosses out of during the service. In the church, the real name of this day is Passion Sunday, with Palm Sunday as its nickname. On this day, we remember the true sacrifice of Lord. We imagine ourselves as walking down the Via Dolorosa, which literally translates to the “Way of Suffering.” We put ourselves in the shoes of Simon and think, would we be brave enough to stand up for Christ, or would we coward away and hope we are not called upon to help Him. This has been a real point of contemplation over my Easter season. The world today barrages us with messages contrary to Catholic beliefs. The proliferation of underage drinking, substance misuse, and other abusive practices can be seen throughout high school and the media. When coming across this, will we deny Christ three times like Peter, or will we answer his call to pick up our own cross and be counter-cultural? As Jesuit students, we are called to exercise this doctrine of being counter-cultural to be religious, like the Grad at Graduation, although, the temptations to fall into bad habits are ever-present. I can often struggle with taking the easy way out. You can cheat and not have to do the work, or can suffer through it and be a better person when it is all over. I can skip church or service to do a number of things, but would that make me a “man for others”? Jesus is love. He is the apotheosis of Ignatian teachings and all that is good. Through prayer and contemplation I would like to grow over this course of this Easter season to truly have an ongoing dialogue with Him and never forget his sacrifices for me. Life can be rough and difficult; life can feel overwhelming and stressful at some points. It is in these moments I need to remember my relationship with God and prayer for the wisdom and courage to conquer anything. Like I said, Jesus is love, and to know that there is something out there that was willing to die for me, die so I can live and have the opportunity to live in eternal happiness in paradise, just blows my mind. I may truly never understand the mystery of this, and I hope I never get to a point in my life where I think I do, but the comfort of this fact can always push me onwards to grow in my relationship and strive to be the best Catholic I can possibly be.
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JONAH BRUNEL ’17 What do Lent and Easter mean to you? Easter is a tremendous church holiday. When celebrated, we recall the pinnacle of sacrifice in human history and exclaim songs and prayers of praise and joy regarding the glorious Death and Resurrection of Christ. Such an important celebration calls for a serious time of preparation, the season of Lent. As a young kid though, I easily bought into society’s misconception of Lent, choosing some type of food or drink and giving it up until Easter (except on Sunday’s, of course). While I believe that this superficial paradigm is okay when introducing kids to sacrifice and the spirit of Lent, I think sometimes we continue believing that by giving up soda or desserts we automatically enter into the mindset and preparation necessary for Easter. Around eighth grade, I naturally began questioning how my giving up candy translates to a readiness for the coming of Christ. I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t, and something needed to change. So I began pondering how a young teenage boy could prepare for such an immense event as Easter. Since then, I no longer give up anything material or focus solely on myself; I focus instead on the church community as a whole. I believe that with intense focus, love, and forgiveness throughout Lent, we can establish an environment which cultivates a communal preparation for the Resurrection of Christ. It is through this nurturing environment that self-preparation will begin to take place. I think back to all the Lenten seasons where I avoided those menial indulgences just for the sake of giving them up, and I see now that I completely misinterpreted the idea of sacrifice. The sacrifice I knew emphasized withholding, or keeping myself from a certain action or object, and I think it’s the incorrect way to approach it. Easter is truly about entering into the greatness of God, embracing his love and worthiness, and yet I was preparing by avoiding. Sacrifice, therefore, should engage the community and be for the greater glory of God. Sacrifices of forgiveness, love (even when it is difficult), and compassion emphasize the grace that we Catholics should embrace. Our sins are forgiven due Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, so by embodying this loving and forgiving spirit, we prepare as best we can for the glorious celebration of the death and resurrection of our Savior.
Artwork by Eric Bennett ’18 10
Artwork by Chris Pontikes ’19 EVAN JACKSON ’17 How has your relationship with God changed this year? How has your faith developed or grown? My relationship with God has changed this year in that it has grown from a seed planted within me, to a plant growing from inside of me Although I have always known that God is present, and reciting Bible verses has been second nature to me for as long as I can remember, I have never truly had a strong relationship with God. After departing for a pilgrimage to Philadelphia, in order to hear from the pope, a single word resonated with me, encuentra, a Spanish word meaning simply in English to encounter, however it truly means much more than this. This word to encounter, in my opinion, most nearly means to experience, and through this experience in Philadelphia, I believe that my relationship with God has blossomed. I feel that I truly experienced God as over 50,000 like-minded people gathered on a grass park in the middle of Philadelphia to hear only one man speak. As the pope walked onto the stage to give his homily, it was very difficult to understand as most of it was either spoken in Spanish or broken English, however I could still encountered God through the community of believers surrounding me. Although I could not understand much of his speech, I could definitely understand one phrase, this being his call for us all to join hands to say the “Our Father” prayer in unison. As the multitudes of people stood there reciting a usually mundane and common prayer, I feel like I finally encountered God and experienced the Holy Spirit the way St. Ignatius described. Through this idea of encounter, I have been able to finally understand God in a different light by experiencing God through my everyday interactions. This Ignatian idea of experiencing God in all things, truly has transformed my relationship with God, bringing intimacy to a previously distant relationship. Through different acts like listening and reading the examen, or through saying a rosary in the prayer garden, God has changed from being a distant onlooker to someone I encounter in several facets of my daily life. 11
GRANT DAVIS ’17 For most Catholics (myself included), Lent brings to mind giving up something that we especially like, but I would venture a guess that most of us don’t know why. As kids we were told to give up something for lent, like our favorite candy without realizing why we giving up this in the first place other than it was something we had to do or forced to as Catholics. The purpose of Lent, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, is to turn our lives more completely over to Christ and to have him live through us. This goal is not just to avoid sin for the duration of Lent, but to fully convert and root sin out from the entirety of our lives. Keeping this in mind, I decided that instead of abstaining from something as simple as Xbox or chocolate this year, I would dedicate a few minutes every night to pray to God in order to grow closer to Him. I first would pray for others that we experiencing difficulties in their own lives, thank God for the good he has done for me and finally confess what I could have done better in my life. This time would also be spent trying to hear God’s voice, to recognize that voice, which would guide me to our ultimate destination, heaven. Through those forty nights of prayer I grew closer to God and deepened my faith. In the end, I believe that praying to God each night brought me closer, than simply giving up chocolate would have.
Artwork by Lake Domstead ’17
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Artwork by Z Hine ’18
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Artwork by Spencer Vilicic ’17 PIERCE STRONG ’19 What do Lent and Easter mean to you? Since going to Jesuit, I have been encouraged as I grow in my faith. I have been challenged to think deeper about what I celebrate religiously and why. As we shift from Lent into the Easter season and the time of fasting turns into feasting, many forget that the Lenten season itself is a time of spiritual and personal reflection. Lent is a time of the year that is spiritually motivating for me because lent is a time to grow closer to Jesus through self-denial as we share in the tradition of fasting. However, I don’t think that fasting is the only way to relate to God. Just as Jesus was 100 percent God, he was also 100 percent man. That is something many people forget. He bled, thirsted, and was tempted in the same way we are. He was vulnerable and self-denial was hard for him. As a young man I connect to Jesus’ humanity. This helps me relate to him on a deep personal level, not just as some distant almighty deity. When I am struggling spiritually, especially with temptation, knowing that Jesus has gone through all that I have and more is something I can really connect with to help me grow in my faith as a Christian and as a man for others.
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JAMES MCCLURE ’17 Describe your experience of Lent this year. This year’s Lenten journey was much different than any other I have experienced. Looking back on this season, I can honestly say that I am ashamed of the lack of effort I put into the spiritual preparation for the Passion of Jesus Christ. Like many other students I felt overwhelmed with assignments and did not reserve the time needed to develop spiritually. But, I did encounter a deeply impactful moment during this Lenten season that I wish I would have experienced earlier. This moment, occurring during Holy Thursday, fulfilled an emptiness that I had no previous awareness of. This all started at the end of the mass when all of the altar servers (myself being one of them), the Masters of Ceremony, deacons, and priests rose from our seats and formed in position as we stood in front of the altar. The smoke from the incense poured like an open faucet out of the thurible as it filled the empty room. Our procession led us to the chapel where an open monstrance, greeted by the priest, was filled with the precious body of Christ. Then a loud click occurred and the lights were out, we all knelt, and in complete silence gazed in awe. I thought to myself, I have seen and been in the presence of the body of Christ before, why was this moment different? This question I have still been unable to answer, but the moment itself was truly powerful.
Artwork by Matthew Tamez ’16
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Artwork by William Name ’17
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WE WANT YOUR SUBMISSIONS! We strive to highlight the creative talents of Jesuit students, whether in the form of drawings, paintaings, short stories, poems, essays, photography, or any other type of artistic expression. To do that, though, we need your submissions. We accept all school-appropriate creative works, regardless of topic, from all current Jesuit students. These do not have to be from a Jesuit art class, nor do they have to be new. Anything you have made or will make would be greatly appreciated. We hope to see one of your creations published in a future edition.
Please email all submissions to thejesuitjournal@gmail.com. If you have any questions, contact John Wengierski ’16 or Mr. Berry ’07.