Listen carefully to the master’s instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart.

Rule of Benedict, Prologue

�ԴǾ�����.���ԴDZ�����.������������. The ceaseless clatter of our modern world often threatens to overwhelm us. The cacophony and rush of our daily lives, framed by shrieking news cycles and never-ending social media commentary and imagery, play around us like a strobe light, crowding out time for stillness, reflection, and understanding. It is easy to forget what silence and solitude look or feel like. It is easy to forget why we sometimes need to pause to look inside and listen inside.   

And then there is Lent.  

I fear that Lent has long suffered from bad branding, led by the question, “what are you giving up?” While fasting of some kind is certainly an important part of our Lenten journey, by itself it suggests little more than enduring or grinding out the 40-day period. It misses the larger point that, when combined with the other two themes of Lent – prayer and acts of charity and love – this time of year calls us to look inward to live more fully outward.    Lent challenges us not to step out but to step up. To listen carefully to the needs of those whose voices are too often lost in the din of the noise around us. To listen carefully for the presence of God. To hear God in the shadows and whispers of our lives. Lent does not call us to step away but to draw closer.   

As Lent guides us toward Easter, we can look to the Rule of Benedict for inspiration: It is high time for us to arise from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven [to] run while you have the light of life (RB Prologue). We practice Lent inwardly through reflection, prayer, and personal conversion. But we live Lent outwardly in the ways we connect with each other and the world around us. Like a carefully tended flower, we bloom, and others with us. 

It is no small irony that this marvelous season of reflection and renewal – expressed through prayer, fasting, and charity – concludes with the joyous, and decidedly loud, celebration of Easter. Reflection and renewal seed new hope and great joy.

I wish our entire Prep community the blessings and hope of the Easter grace that awaits!  

JonMcGee
Head of School

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The Thanksgiving message below is from Saint John’s Prep Head of School, Jon McGee.

“Only one response can maintain us: gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.”
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “I Asked for Wonder”

Dear Saint John’s Prep Families,

Time accelerates between Thanksgiving and Christmas as the semester rapidly winds to its end, as we race to holiday concerts and gatherings, as we search for “just the right gift,” and as we prepare for the joys of Christmas day. A year of activity in just one month.

More than any other time of year, Thanksgiving and the Advent season that will begin on Sunday ask us to reflect on both gift and gratitude. When we think of gifts, we most often think of presents wrapped and given. Objects. But the root of the word gift is give. A verb. Gift and giving derive their power as actions, given and received, most often expressed in the form of friendship, solidarity, solace, empathy, and, most importantly, love.

Giving is not a time, date, or event-bounded activity confined to one time of year, but rather a disposition toward life and community that involves the whole self. Even so, powerful as they are, gift and giving remain incomplete without gratitude. Gratitude and thankfulness complete gift and giving. We are grateful for the opportunity to give love and grateful for the opportunity to receive it. We are grateful for what we are able to give, grateful for what we have been given, and mindful of those for whom love and gift are all too scarce.

We have much to be thankful for at Saint John’s Prep. I am grateful for the gift of our students and the curiosity, joy, and energy they bring to school every day. I am grateful for the gift of our talented faculty and staff who teach and nurture our students in so many ways. And I am grateful for the gift of the parents, family and friends who support our students and our school throughout the year. Family, community, gratitude, and love are the gifts that bind us.

As we begin this season of gift and giving, thanks and thanksgiving, I offer this prayer to our community:

Creator God,
Thank you for the gifts of creation and community, friendship and fellowship
As we prepare for Thanksgiving and begin the Advent season, we pray
For faith in a world where too many walk in fear; may all find hope
For food in world where too many walk in hunger; may all be fed
For family in a world where too many walk alone; may all be loved
For light in world that knows too much darkness; may all find peace
Amen

Blessings for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Advent!
Jon McGee
Head of School

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Physics Teacher and Esports Coach Charles Miller shared the following reflection about almsgiving (giving) is a way to live out our gratitude for all that God has given us, and as way of showing that we are responsible for each other.

When I was a kid, my dad told me a quote that completely confused me. It was from then Mother Teresa, and she said, “The poor give us much more than we give them. We don’t have to give them pity.”

At the time, I thought that quote was so weird. Why would a woman who devotes her life to helping the poor and sick say not to feel pity for the poor? To be honest, I spent most of my life confused by that quote. Then my favorite act of charity happened. Is it weird to have a favorite act of charity? Well, I do, and some of you have heard this story before. But I can’t help myself because it means so much to me,

When I defended my master’s thesis, I travelled to Bemidji State where I earned my degree. One of my best friends, Steve ‘Esteban’ Larson, math teacher extraordinaire (who Prep seniors might remember from his time at Prep), travelled with me.  
I should preface this story by saying that both Steve and I traveled around a lot as kids, him as the son of missionaries living around the world and me the son of a young scientist living around the country. Living in New York, I prided myself on my street smarts. So, when we were walking downtown in Bemidji and an obviously intoxicated man came up to us and asked for money for food, my “big city” radar went off and I knew just what to do. I didn’t make eye contact and I kept moving.
But Steve somehow didn’t have the same sense I did. He stopped, asked the man how he was doing, and if he liked soup. He walked over to a restaurant across the street and bought him some soup and bread in to-go containers. The man accepted the food, and we went on our way, neither late nor short on money.

The reason this is my favorite act of almsgiving is because there were two people in need in this story. The man on the street got food, but I was served an example of what it means to treat those less fortunate than myself as humans instead of as a threat. From that day on, I changed the way I see people, and it’s made me a better person.
Before that, I taught my kids to cross to the other side of the street and to avoid people and avoid trouble. Now I teach my kids save some food aside when we eat out in a town with a large homeless population and get a “to go” box to give away back to the hotel.

Last summer, I would go for runs at my parents’ house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sometimes I would stop for a donut on my way back to their home after my run. I would buy extra and hand them out to anyone I encountered who looked like they may want a donut.
I would ask, “could you use a donut? I bought extra and wouldn’t want them to go to waste.” I usually got a smile and “no thanks”. But one time the reply was, “God will provide generously all my needs. You are an angel, thank you.” That came from a man and his dog who had obviously spent the night together on the street. I was embarrassed, and thanked HIM for helping me with the donuts, and went on my way.

The reason Steve Larson’s act of almsgiving was my favorite is that it helped me fill a hole in my life. I never realized until that moment how much helping others in their time of need helps me in mine.

Whenever life starts to look too dark or I’m feeling really bad about things, I now stop and think “what I have done for others today?” And it’s in those moments I always see someone reaching out that I otherwise would have walked by.

One final quote from the now Saint Teresa of Calcutta: “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.”
We don’t have to look far to find people feeling that kind of poverty at all. All we have to do is be willing to see them, and brave enough to reach out a hand in kindness.

Mr. Miller and Mr. Larson are seen here while enjoying some of their many adventures together.

The post Lenten Reflection: Giving Alms appeared first on Saint John's Prep.

So, be slow if you must, but let
the heart still play its true part.
Love still as once you loved, deeply
and without patience. Let God and the world
now you are grateful. That the gift has been given.

Mary Oliver, “The Gift”

Dear Saint John’s Prep Community,

As we prepare for Thanksgiving and the rush to Christmas that will commence immediately after, we have a brief moment of quiet to reflect on the deeper meaning of the day and the Advent season that will follow.

More than any other time of year, this season draws us to consider both gift and gratitude – each inextricably intertwined with the other. When we think of gifts, we often think of objects wrapped and given. Things. But the root of the word gift is give. A verb. Gift and giving derive their power as actions, most often expressed in the form of friendship, solidarity, solace, empathy, and, most importantly, love. Giving is not a time or date or event-bounded activity, but rather a disposition toward life and community that involves the whole self. Still, powerful as they are, gift and giving remain incomplete without gratitude. Gratitude and thankfulness complete gift and giving. We are grateful for the opportunity to give love and grateful for the opportunity to receive it. Mary Oliver’s poem beautifully expresses that relationship and captures the essential truth not only of this glorious season but of all seasons.

On this Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the gift of our students and the curiosity, joy, and energy they bring to school each day. I am grateful for the gift of our marvelous faculty and staff who create remarkable educational experiences for our students. And I am grateful for the gift of the parents, family and friends who support our students and the school every day throughout the year. Family, community, gratitude, and love are the gifts that bind us. And for that, we give thanks.

Blessings for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Advent!

With gratitude,

Jon McGee
Head of School

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ben ’19, Nick ’18, Kate ’23, Andrew ’15, Ann, and Jon McGee

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Head of School Jon McGee shared the following Thanksgiving message with our families this week. We hope you and your family have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
We are grateful for your support!

I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. 
Henry David Thoreau

Be present in all things and thankful for all things. 
Maya Angelou

Dear Prep Community,

References to food or gatherings at table abound in the Bible, particularly in the Gospels. Meal gatherings – some convivial (the wedding in Cana), some including large numbers of people (the feeding of the multitude), some related to redemptive moments (the story of the prodigal son), and one essential to the message of death and resurrection (the Last Supper) – were central to Jesus’ message and ministry. Outside of the story of the loaves and fishes, though, little attention is paid to the kind of food served or how it was prepared. Instead, the meal-time gatherings dotted throughout the Gospels serve to frame a lesson, a metaphor, or a larger purpose. Food is context for community, for learning, and, ultimately, for love.

Thanksgiving is popularly characterized by the food that traditionally fills our tables on this day. Over the years, I have marveled that the Thanksgiving meal seems to take eight hours to prepare and eight hours to clean up, but only eight minutes or so to ravenously consume (at least in my large-family experience!). However, on reflection, that sells vastly short the point of Thanksgiving. As in so many biblical accounts expressed through the meal ministry of Jesus, food simply provides context for community: a time to express gratitude for the many gifts we can count in our lives, to celebrate joyfully with family and friends, and to create and experience traditions that shape who we are as individuals and as family. Food brings us together. But family, community, gratitude, and love bind us. And for that, we give thanks.

As we prepare to express the gratitude of this Thanksgiving, I again offer this prayer to our community:

Creator God,
Thank you for the gifts of creation and community, woods and water, friendship, and fellowship
As we prepare for Thanksgiving and begin the Advent season, we pray
For faith in a world where many walk in fear; may all be healed
For food in world where many walk in hunger; may all be fed
For light in world that knows too much darkness; may all find peace
For family in a world where many walk alone; may all be loved
Amen

Blessings for a joyous Thanksgiving!

Jon McGee
Head of School
Saint John’s Preparatory School

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“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner

One of the unexpected gifts of my 24 year old daughter moving in with us last year was the presence of her dog, Ruby, in our lives. In the eleven months they have lived with us, Ruby taught us much about accepting others, noticing the world around us, following our own path, and marking the moments in our lives with unconditional love.

Accepting others- As a mixed breed dog (24% Chihuahua, 19% Poodle, 14% Pekingese, 13% German Shepherd, 11% Dachshund, and 18% Supermutt), Ruby reminds me that each one of us is uniquely created- there is no one else on Earth quite like us! Our “make-up” helps define who we are, our unique traits and abilities are part of what makes us special. We should honor and celebrate these differences by accepting all of our brothers and sisters and acknowledging the gifts they bring to our community.

Noticing- It only took one walk with Ruby to realize that she notices (especially sounds and smells) so much more in the world than what I could even consider.

“Dogs have far more sensitive hearing than humans and can detect much quieter sounds. Their sense of hearing is about four times as sensitive as ours, so what we hear at 20 feet, a dog can hear at about 80 feet. They also hear a lot of things we don’t because they can hear higher-frequency sounds.” (Psychology Today)

“They possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in us. And the part of a dog’s brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is about 40 times greater than ours. … Dogs possess a sense of smell many times more sensitive than even the most advanced man-made instrument.” (Phoenix Vet Center)

Taking into account what the world must look, smell, taste, feel, and sound from her perspective is a great exercise in practicing empathy for others. Her heightened sense of smell and sound are profound reminders that just because we don’t hear or smell something- ��DZ����’t mean it ��DZ����’t exist. This opens all sorts of possibilities for noticing God in our faith practices and in our relationships- there is so much more to situations and to people than what meets the eye. Imagine what others are going through each day that we are totally unaware of. The pain, loneliness, anger, jealousy, or sadness that those we share our days with are enduring is not diminished simply because we don’t notice it. Ruby reminds us to notice more of what is going on in and around us- often by taking a new perspective and using all of our senses to be more aware of the world around us.

Follow your own path- Ruby is not trained by any stretch of the imagination- if you saw us on a walk, you would most likely question who is in control of whom! Thank goodness for retractable leashes- although I do still find myself carefully twisting through bush and bramble to untangle her leash wrapped around, over, and under branches off the beaten path.

Ruby reminds us to follow our own path- a path that we feel called to follow- a path that may not make any sense to those watching us or even those walking with us- but it is the path that we have discerned is right for us. At times, this may be a well-worn path that many have chosen, but at other times, we may find ourselves all alone chasing “squirrels or bunnies” on a path that is not even a path yet! The lesson I take from Ruby is that at some points in life, it is okay be on the smooth, paved path and at other times, circumstances may call us to embark on an adventure that takes us into the woods, up steep hills, through a field of wildflowers, or even wading through a waist-high creek.

Marking your territory- (Yes, I did have to go there…) Ruby marks her territory frequently throughout our walks, even when the tank is empty and she has nothing left to give- she still takes the time to sniff and leave her mark.

“Dogs use their urine (and sometimes feces) to mark areas they consider to be theirs. Marking their territory lets other dogs know that they are present. Urine also signifies the reproductive status of the dog and their ranking. Dogs who aren’t fixed (spayed or neutered) are more likely to mark than those who are fixed.” (Canine Journal)

Okay- so this is a bit of a stretch- but do we take the time to mark our territory? I am not thinking of marking like a dog does- but do we mark territory for our faith? Ruby has prompted me to ask myself if I take the time and effort to sniff around a situation or relationship and leave the mark of unconditional love. After I have been involved in a situation, do others who come along know that I have been there and that I have left mercy, compassion, and God’s love? Ruby’s marking prompts me to ask if we are engaging with others in our lives in a way that lets them know that God is present in their struggles and in their joys.

“Perhaps one central reason for loving dogs is that they take us away from this obsession with ourselves. When our thoughts start to go in circles, and we seem unable to break away, wondering what horrible event the future holds for us, the dog opens a window into the delight of the moment.” -Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

This fall, no matter how dark things may seem to be, let us joyfully live life in the spirit of our favorite dog by accepting others with unconditional love, noticing what others are going through and accompanying them on their journey, being brave enough to follow the path God lays in front of us (no matter how well-traveled it may be or how it may meander), and marking our encounters with others with love, mercy, and forgiveness as we live in the delight of the moments that life provides for us.

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“Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime.”
Martin Luther

“We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”
Pope John Paul II

It is no coincidence that for eighteen centuries, Easter has been celebrated as spring begins (at least in the northern hemisphere). Spring, which abounds with new life and all the possibility that goes with it, would seem a perfect time to celebrate the glory of the risen Christ. Darkness to light. Barrenness to new life. Deep sleep to a feeling of wonderful aliveness.

With renewal comes hope, a message central to the Triduum and the Easter season. Hope in something greater than the day-to-day experience of our lives, beyond ourselves. It is a wonderfully powerful gift and disposition. Hope is, after all, an action verb, calling and guiding us as individuals and as families.
It also defines communities and the ways we support and nourish each other, perhaps more important this year than ever before. Its gift ultimately is rooted in extraordinary love.

The Rule of Benedict provides particular inspiration for Easter:
“It is high time for us to arise from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven.”
(RB Prologue).

In this season of renewal and new life, grace and astonishing love, I wish our entire Prep community the blessings and hope of Easter!

With gratitude,

Jon McGee
Head of School

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Campus Ministry Director Br. Lucian Lopez, OSB shares a portion of a student discussion about Saint Benedict’s 12 Antidotes for Entitlement.

This semester, as a community, we are exploring the Benedictine value of Justice. As we learn about justice, we are also studying pride. Pride and humility are often used interchangeably so pride ��DZ����’t always mean the same as it did when Saint Benedict wrote the Rule of Benedict in the 6^th century. If we change the word ‘pride’ to the modern term of ‘entitlement,’ we can illuminate what Saint Benedict was referring to as he discussed pride in communal living. In this sense we can look at Saint Benedict’s 12 steps for humility (Rule of Benedict Ch. 7) as 12 antidotes for entitlement.

Here’s a look at the 12 steps of humility (or Saint Benedict’s 12 antidotes for entitlement) we talked about during this week’s prayer service.

1)    When you think you’re so great, look at God (or just look at the sun and remember the world ��DZ����’t revolve around you!)

2)    Practice being comfortable not always getting your way.

3)    Be obedient when you are supposed to. Be loyal to your duty.

4)    Never give up, even when things are tough, but push through. That’s how you feel good about yourself!

5)    Be transparent. If you are honest about what you’ve done, there’s no room for deception (and let’s be honest, entitlement is a deception!)

6)    Be confident enough to take the last seat, or the lowest place now and then. You can handle it (which actually also makes you feel good about yourself to be generous to others!)

7)    Meditate on your truth – you are not the center of the universe, but you have God dwelling in your soul. That’s pretty cool!

8)    Don’t bite off more than you can chew. (Know your limits, every resolution you don’t carry out just haunts you.)

9)    Know when to be silent – let other people speak, especially those who rarely have a voice.

10) Benedict literally says to watch what you are laughing at, just in case you may be fueling the cruelty of a bully. A sign of entitlement is to laugh at others’ misfortune.

11) Never try to sell yourself. If people are interested, then they see something in you. You never need to trick anyone into liking or loving you.

12) Be actually humble and not just out of appearances. If you are pretending to be humble that is actually vainglory and the opposite of humility. The only way to look humble is to be humble. Acting humble is just annoying to everyone around you, kind of passive aggressive, and you aren’t fooling anyone.

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It’s June 19^th and I already miss teaching. It’s true.

More specifically, though, it’s June 19^th and I already miss teaching at my school, Saint John’s Prep. These first few weeks at home have given me some space to think about why it is I continue to teach at Prep after eleven years, and even more, why I miss it after less than a month away.

I’m not sure why, but yesterday, especially, this question tussled around in my mind, waiting for a firmer, more pointed answer than just “I like the community,” or “the students are great,” (which both are very much true, by the way). For whatever reason, the tussling felt strongest at the very moment I noticed my 15-month old, John, pick up a marble from the floor. Moms do this: we think philosophically (“why do I do what I do? Why do I teach?”) while also wiping messy faces, singing “Wheels on the Bus,” and saving toddlers from a thing like a marble. Anyway—Johnny and I—we looked suspiciously at each other. It became a stare-down as he held that marble in his chubby, still-new hand and waited for a reaction from me. My eyebrows rose and my head lowered so as to draw my eyes down in worry and warning. “No, Johnny,” I said. “Give me the marble.” His eyebrows also rose, but in a mischievous way, and I knew then he wouldn’t listen to me. He put the marble in his mouth and made a dash for it.

But then I knew it! I knew it in the way two unlikely ideas converge to form a perfect and beautiful answer; one that makes you believe the whole world fits together like a puzzle, if only we were given some time to put it all together. In that moment, I knew exactly why I teach at Prep: I get to look all of my students in the eye every day. Every day. That’s it! On my best teaching days, I anticipate the potential, the growth, the transformation, and even the dangers—the marble in the mouth, so to speak—before it even happens. We, my colleagues and I, begin to know our students and the look in their eyes. You played video games for too long last night, didn’t you? You look upset today—what’s going on? Are you sure you should work double shifts at the weekend job when you’re already so busy? You look so happy today! Tell me what happened! –these all come from a knowingness of our students. Do you know how meaningful this is as a teacher?  It is the stuff of magic in the world of education.

At Saint John’s Prep, I am gifted with these amazingly small class sizes and I am a part of a culture that intentionally focuses on accessible and sometimes even downright gutsy ways of living called Benedictine Values. And because of these two reasons especially, my colleagues and I get to become more than teachers. I see it every day. To be small enough is to know each student; to know each student is to look each in the eye with the same look of concern, suspicion, encouragement, disappointment, and most of all, love, that we look to in our own children. Teaching at Prep is not so unlike being a parent. When you’re a parent, it’s impossible to forget about your child, to not see them. It is the same at Saint John’s Prep.

We have a faculty member who teaches Spanish, yes, but also insists her students eat better and make sleep a priority. She pulls one or two aside, she encourages, she lectures, she points a finger in the way her students know is done through love. The students nod and smile at her, and know they are cared for. They are seen. We have a faculty member who teaches Physics, but also attends weekend events for our students while also somehow keeping up with his own children’s lives; a music show, an Eagle Scout ceremony, a Triple-A Awards ceremony in the Twins Cities, to name just a few. We have a faculty member who teaches middle school English, yes, but also cares enough about her students to counsel them through the difficult personal moments described in student writing—the really hard stuff of life: family estrangement, mental health struggles, loneliness. We have a faculty member who teaches English as a second or other language (ESOL), but who also hosts some of his students during long breaks because home is just too far away. He then becomes a cooking teacher, a bit of an etiquette advisor, and most of all, he and his wife become two adults who listen and care. We have a faculty member who teaches Environmental Science, but who is especially good at having those really difficult conversations about what a healthy adolescent relationship looks like—and what one ��DZ����’t look like. For every faculty member at Prep, I could tell you the ways in which they guide and love like a parent.

I chased Johnny down and was able to pry the marble out of his mouth. I averted disaster, but also discovered why I teach at Prep; it encourages us to be teachers, yes, but more than that, to take on the role of compassionate guardian. Is there any greater vocation? Maybe you can understand, then, why I’m waiting for August 21^st.

OUR TEACHERS ARE BEYOND ORDINARY.

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