Diocesan youth discover more about faith during retreat

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
March 16, 2006

CHEROKEE - Diocesan freshmen and sophomores discovered more about their faith at a retreat on March 11 and 12 at Immaculate Conception in Cherokee.

The Discover retreat is for youth in 9th and 10th grade and challenges them to establish their identity and learn how to relate to others. The retreat addresses these elements by having young Catholic men and women share, learn, pray and celebrate together as a Christian community.

The team for the weekend was made up of youth and adults including people who have previously attended a Discover retreat. At the retreat in Cherokee, there were 39 candidates and 15 team members. The attendees were from several parishes in the diocese.

According to Gayla Bush, DRE at Immaculate Conception and planning committee member for the retreat, the attendees get to know each other and listen to talks.

"Eventually they get put into a small group that they are with the rest of the time," said Bush. "They bond. They discover where their faith is and how they can put their actions into use when they go home from what they have gained from their experience."

There was a family talk when a mother and daughter came to talk about how their faith is strengthened from a tragedy or something good.

"One of our big hopes is that the kids realize that their Catholic faith is important," said Bush. "They should be able to talk about it, appreciate it and go out and spread the word. They can go back home and be a part of the organizations that we have like CLI, Camp CAYOCA and Search. They can go on service trips and experience their faith as well as going to class and hearing about it."

Courtney Streit, a candidate from Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in West Bend, decided to attend the Discover retreat because her sister had gone to Search and liked it. She commented that her favorite part of the weekend was meeting new people.

"There were a lot of people who gave speeches and some of them have lost people in their life. I learned to appreciate my life and my relationship with God," said Streit. "I would recommend this to anyone because you meet a lot of really neat people and it is a good experience."

Another candidate, Brittany Spinnato, a parishioner from Immaculate Conception Parish in Moville, attended Discover because she thought it would be fun and to learn more.

"I liked hearing all the stories people told. It made me think more about things," said Spinnato. "I learned to be closer with my family and friends and stronger in my faith."

When recommending the retreat to someone else she would say it would help someone get closer to God.

"I think they all went away, hopefully, with a good experience and having had a good time, too," said Bush.