A Day in the Life of... A Christian Brother

My name is Brother Jason Matthew Ford, CFC; I am a member of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. I am currently assigned to Archbishop Curley Notre Dame high school in Miami, FL as the Coordinator of Campus Ministry and a teacher. I have completed 1 year at ACND and my major responsibilities include coordinating a variety of teams to assist with all aspects of Liturgy and Spirituality on campus. We celebrate the Eucharist about once a month in school and have retreat and days of reflection for each of our grade levels. I also teach Theology and Spanish.

Let me begin by saying that there are very few days that are typical for a member of my community. As teachers we are constantly being surprised with the events of our days. However, as a religious brother there is a great balance in my life, which is connected to community. Each day I arise between 5:30 AM and 5:45 AM for a few minutes of quiet time before Morning Prayer. At 6:00 AM the brothers gather in the chapel for Morning Prayer. The leader of prayer rotates which allows for a variety of styles of prayer to be experienced in the community. Once Morning Prayer has concluded it is time for a cup of coffee followed by sometime reading the day’s news. Unlike many of the brothers I live with I do not read the newspaper, but instead sit down at my computer and follow the news from Boston, New York, Miami, and Salinas as well as from CNN, BBC, and Google News. By 7:30 AM I am headed out of the brothers’ community and walking over to the school building to begin my day, here is were a day gets less routine!

Once in the school building of Archbishop Curley Notre Dame I have a few minutes to arrange desks in my classroom, turn the air conditioning on and get my classroom computer up and running. Shortly after this I sit down with the Vice Principal for Student Services and look ahead at the day and the week, just to avoid any surprises. By 8:15 AM I am sitting in the school chapel waiting for our new middle school students to arrive for 15 minutes of Morning Prayer were we listen to the Gospel of the day and take sometime in reflection and personal prayer. Throughout the course of the day I might have four classes: Senior Leadership class, Freshman Theology, Spanish I, and a middle school Theology class. I also make every effort in the course of my day to be present to all of the students in the school during their lunch period, so I can often be found during the first part of each lunch period walking from table to table saying hello.

Once 2:30 PM rolls around I have an hour of time where I meet with members of the Student Government, Peer-Ministry, Ambassadors, or students looking for a place to complete some classroom assignment. At 3:30 PM I either walk out to the sporting fields and watch our teams compete or take sometime to grade papers or prepare for a school retreat. By 6:00 PM I am back in the brothers chapel for Evening Prayer followed by dinner prepared by one of the brothers. We normally sit around the dinner table sharing stories and events from the day for about one hour and a half, but sometimes more! Once dinner is over and the dishes are washed it is off to prepare for the next day, or to read, or to watch a little TV. Most nights I have to put in at least 1 hour of work on some upcoming project or activity within the school to allow me to have some balance during the school day. Because the brothers live together we will often sit together and watch some TV together or a sporting event, just as long as the Red Sox aren’t playing the Yankees as that can cause irreparable harm to the community.

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