At the annual Ring Mass in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs, members of the senior class received their Jesuit rings during a liturgy marked by clear calls to both belonging and responsibility. With families president in the newly renovated chapel, President Fr. John Brown, S.J., presided and preached. Fr. William Farge, S.J., and Fr. Roy Joseph, S.J. concelebrated the special occasion.

In his homily, Fr. Brown used a striking image: things that “encircle,” such as collars, belts, crowns, and rings, defend from what is outside but also define what is within.

A ring, he said, does more than confer status or privilege. Like a crown on a king or a belt on a champion, it declares belonging and demands responsibility. “Your championship belt will be on your finger,” he told the class, not as a trophy but as a public claim that each senior “belongs” to his class and is expected to lead as a man for others.

Fr. Brown linked the symbol to literature, to scripture, and to works of Christian imagination.

Odysseus’s resolve to reach home in the Odyssey became a template for finishing well; Dante’s line, “In His will is our peace,” framed authentic freedom as fidelity to purpose; and St. Paul’s “body” image (“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together”) grounded personal achievement inside a shared good.

By contrast, Fr. Brown warned, the “rings” of myth that promise invisibility—the One Ring of Tolkien or the Ring of Gyges—offer escape from accountability. The Jesuit ring does the opposite: it calls its wearer into integrity, into community, and into service.

Turning to vocation, Fr. Brown pressed a sharper point to the class. Wherever Blue Jay graduates go, he said, their work should serve the greater glory of God, and the ring should remain a daily reminder to finish strong, to stand firm amid life’s storms, and to let joy be multiplied rather than hoarded.

Music for the Mass was led by Patrick Cragin ’06 and Dr. Mark Duggan ’04. Seniors Spencer Waguespack, Austin Indest, and Ethan Nguyen served as readers, and Cole Puneky and Drew Causey brought forward the gifts. Photography was provided by Jesuit’s advancement office as well as Loupe Photography.

The Ring Mass continues a tradition that marks the start of senior year with prayer, family, and a visible sign of the bonds among generations of Blue Jays. As Fr. Brown told seniors, the Jesuit ring symbolizes “your calling, the mission that God has given you, which is nothing less than extraordinary.”