Hundreds of students, faculty, and guests file into the the Terry Center, preparing for this very special occasion. A buzz of excitement hums over the audience as students shuffle their feet, anxiously waiting for the prayer service to begin. Silence sweeps across the crowd of people, and finally, Mr. Garrison approaches the microphone to begin the prayer service.
The service on September 9th, led by Mr. Garrison, is an annual tradition at Jesuit known as the Principal’s Prayer Service.
During this prayer service, Mr. Garrison talked about the power of prayer in our lives. He told us how prayer is important because it is our unique way of talking to God. Elaborating on this point, Mr. Garrison pointed out how many of us, including him, forget to pray on a daily basis, and how powerful that can be in our lives. Although we do pray at school, Mr. Garrison encouraged us to pray at home in order to be more active in our spiritual life. Xavier Duran ‘19 recognized the importance of prayer, saying, “It can be easy for me to forget about prayer, but when I do remember, I always specifically feel God’s presence in my day.”
Referencing the Examen many times, Mr. Garrison mentioned how we should use the prayer every day as a way to forget about all the stresses of our day. He mentioned how the Examen should be a special time for students to focus on God and not anything else. Many students use the Examen as a time to take a short nap or study for their upcoming quiz, but Mr. Garrison reminded us how we should take full advantage of it as a quiet time to reflect on our day. Sometimes taking five minutes out of our day can help us to be more motivated with the rest of our classes. Jack Dexter ’19, said that the prayer service “reminded me to take time out of my day to reflect on what God wants me to do in my daily life.” He continued, noting that utilizing the Examen has helped him be more focused in his classes and helped him see God in every aspect of his day, even in the lowest points.
Mr. Garrison also emphasized the plethora of opportunities we have at Jesuit to get involved spiritually. Some of the opportunities he mentioned were morning liturgies starting at 7:15, the Examen, and the Rosary, which is prayed on Wednesdays during 4th, 5th, and 6th period. Mr. Garrison used this prayer service to motivate us to be more involved in our spiritual life at Jesuit. He also introduced a new spiritual opportunity that many faculty members will participate in. Each week, faculty members will be assigned to pray for a certain student by name. John Scott Lacina ’19, spoke on this new spiritual opportunity: “It’s very refreshing to know that someone will always be praying for me. It gives me a feeling of comfort.” Many students echoed the same opinion about being very excited that someone was thinking about them and praying for their well-being during the week.
Mr. Garrison encouraged us all to be more connected with God, and after this prayer service, I believe the whole student body will be able to utilize all the tools Jesuit provides to improve our relationship with God. Tune into The Roundup for more news on current topics!
