Class of 2024 Banner: While the World Turns, The Cross Stands Still
Br. Hunter D'Armond | Faith and Formation
(The following explanation of the Senior Banner was read by Ethan Gonzalez '24and the banner was presented by Andrew Borgen ‘24 at the Baccalaureate Mass on May 20, 2024, at the Our Lady of Belen Chapel.)
In deliberating the design of the senior banner in our peer ministry class, one memory from this past year stood out above the rest. In Fr. Willie’s address at the beginning of the year, where he introduced this year’s theme in hoc signo vinces, he shared with us the motto of the Carthusians that can be translated to this: “As the world turns, the cross stands still.” During our time at Belen, our world has turned and our lives have changed. We are not the same, and neither is the world.
Yet, Jesus Christ has remained present and steady through it all, no matter if we recognize his presence or not. We put this on the front of our banner as a reminder that no matter what happens in our lives moving forward, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the glory of His resurrection will always remain the same. It is now our responsibility to remember that and to make God the priority of our lives.
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.