A Season of Gratitude and Generosity

November 17, 2009

Dear Brophy Community,

During this season of gratitude and generosity, as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for all you do for Brophy.  Since 1928 Brophy has been serving families of young boys but by no means has Brophy done it single-handedly.  It is a community as vibrant, intentional, hard working and generous as ours that has built Brophy into a community of everyday saints.  Every step we have taken together since 1928 has brought us closer to accomplishing the good work we do together for God’s greater glory.

For those of you who know Father Mike Gilson, recently I was honored to join him in Sacramento as he professed his final vows with the Jesuits.  It was a moving mass and celebration and that day Mike shared a homily that I wish to share with all of you.  Your sons may hear over and over again about two great Ignatian virtues; gratitude and generosity, that is the importance of recognizing and thanking God for  all He has done and is doing in our lives, and most importantly, how that thanks must lead to a response, a generous heart-felt response.  Mike reminded us that there is no genuine gratitude without response.

During this season of giving, of sharing and thankfulness, I encourage you all to take a lesson from St. Ignatius’s “playbook” on gratitude and remember all those in need around us...the hungry, the homeless, the jobless.  We are a strong community who are known to share our talents with many others locally and globally.  Let’s use the inspiration of this season to share more of what we have and who we are, as you have done at Brophy as a response to our gratitude for all of God’s gifts to us.

As the President I am grateful for this vital Brophy community and my response is a pledge of prayer and blessings to all of you.  May God be with you during this joyful season and may He fill you with the grace to continue sharing all year long.

In gratitude,

Edward A. Reese, S.J.
President