Blue Jays gathered in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs for the first Mass of the year on the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, celebrated by president Fr. John Brown, S.J., with Fr. William Farge, S.J., and Fr. Penn Dawson, S.J.

Marking the beginning of a year centered on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Brown reflected on the image as a profound expression of Christ’s perfect and sacrificial love. Its familiar elements, the burning flame, the wound of the lance, the crown of thorns, and the Cross, reveal a heart that remains steadfast even when love requires sacrifice. “The cross somehow governs that flame,” Fr. Brown told students. Contrasting fleeting passion with Christian charity, he explained that Christ’s love does not depend upon feeling or circumstance: “Christ says, my heart burns because I have chosen you as the object of my love.”

Fr. Brown encouraged Blue Jays to allow their own hearts to be formed after the heart of Christ. When affection is strong, he explained, the Sacred Heart teaches gratitude. When passion becomes disordered, it teaches chastity. When anger arises, it teaches meekness. When wounds accumulate, it teaches mercy. And when love becomes costly, the Sacred Heart teaches the meaning of the Cross. The message held particular significance on the feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose life offers a powerful witness to sacrificial love. The Polish Franciscan priest and martyr gave his life at Auschwitz after volunteering to take the place of another prisoner who had been condemned to death. His example reflects the kind of love represented by the Sacred Heart: a love measured not simply by emotion, but by the willingness to give oneself for another.

Following the Prayers of the Faithful, the school community joined Fr. Brown in a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart. Together, Blue Jays offered their lives, actions, trials, and sufferings to Christ, praying that His love would be impressed deeply upon their own hearts.

The Mass marked the beginning of an opportunity for Blue Jays to contemplate more deeply the love of Christ and what that love asks of them. As Fr. Brown reminded students, Christ comes not simply to provide better rules for fallen human hearts, but to give them “new hearts”, hearts capable of loving as they were created to love.