Retreats enrich lives of students

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Jan. 24, 2008

Whether you are a student, teacher or administrator at a Catholic school, many will have the chance to grow spiritually through retreat experiences.

All students who attend Emmetsburg Catholic Grade School participate in a day where they can focus on faith, noted Jean Hyslop, principal.

"We usually take the theme of Catholic Schools Week and integrate it throughout the whole day," she noted. With the theme of this year's Catholic Schools Week being Light the Way, the retreat will be centered on social justice.

Prayer is a big part of it as the day starts and ends with prayer and Mass is part of the experience. It will include activities as well as talks and skits relating to various social justice issues.

Hyslop estimated that they have been holding the retreat about eight years at Emmetsburg Catholic.

"We go through our regular day and worry about homework or assignments and worry about what we will do next, but it is important to take the time to step back to focus on our faith, on prayer and each other," said the principal. "A huge part of the retreat day is building community among the students - all ages."

The retreat, noted Hyslop, also stresses to students the importance of taking time to nurture the faith. This year's retreat is slated for Jan. 30.

"The reason why we opted to hold the retreat during Catholic Schools Week was to move the focus of the week to prayer," she said. "It's a week of celebration and fun, but we also want to make sure we are recognizing our mission and carrying it through."

According to Kathryn Fairchild, director of faith formation and campus ministry at Bishop Heelan Catholic High School in Sioux City, a distinct retreat is held for each grade for students in eighth through twelfth grade.

The eighth grade retreat is centered on the theme related to Catholic Schools Week. This year that theme is Light the Way. The freshmen retreat is called Unity Day and it is designed to welcome students into the high school community of faith. Sophomore year students participate in a retreat titled Called to be Saints. They examine how saints can inspire people to be closer to Christ. Servant Leadership is the theme of the retreat for juniors. They explore Christian leadership values and how they are connected to Christ. The senior retreat is titled Keeping the Faith: Challenges Ahead.

"It examines how to stay Catholic after graduation and how God is there for us when we are most challenged," noted Fairchild.

Each of the retreats consists of small group activities, discussion, prayer and usually witness talks.

As a system, they have a large retreat with all of the teachers at the start of the school year.

"I think it's important for Catholic schools to offer retreats because its time away to focus on your relationship with God. We all need that," she said. "Often, we focus on the knowledge - catechesis - in school, but this time to grow into a strong relationship with God is important, too."

By offering the retreats to an entire class, Fairchild noted that they serve as powerful, community-building experiences. As they become adults she said she hoped that these experiences in school helped the students to seek out retreats in the future.

Just as is done at Bishop Heelan, Mary Arens said all students in eighth through twelfth grade at St. Mary's in Remsen participate in a retreat as a class.

In addition to the class retreats, St. Mary's offers a faculty/staff retreat as well as a Christian Leadership team retreat. Retreats are so valued by the diocesan administration that they don't stop at the school level.

"We kick off the year with the adult retreat to set the tone of the year of how important spirituality is and that our Catholic identity comes first," said Arens, who is the spiritual life director at St. Mary's. "I'm a firm believer that it is our Catholic faith first, then academics and then sports."

Ultimately, through the retreats she said they want the students to know that God must come first in their lives. The theme for the year at St. Mary's is God's Will: Nothing More, Nothing Less and Nothing Else.

To tie in with that, the biblical quote for the year is from Deuteronomy 6:4-5: To love the Lord with your whole heart, your soul and your mind.

"The whole concept of placing God always first is what we really stress in our retreats, daily activities - everything," said Arens.

Typically, they base the retreats on the circumstances of the class. Maybe they are having particular struggles or have specific strengths.

The senior retreat is usually titled Our Final Prayer.

"It is the last time the students will be gathering together as a class, as a part of St. Mary's," she noted. "We have them reflect on the past and the journey into the future and stress once again, God always first."

The junior retreat is held on Holy Thursday and it combines prayer with service.

"We fulfill what Jesus asked of us, to serve one another. We always do service projects that day within the Sioux City Community," said Arens, who added that they have worked at Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity, the Gospel Mission and more. "We always gather in the afternoon and do a symbolic gesture of washing of the feet and breaking of the bread. We wrap it up in the evening with the young people delivering homemade bread and grapes to the shut-ins of our parish. It's a daylong event of serving others."

Students at the sophomore retreat make a mask and they reflect on what mask they are hiding behind. The retreat encourages students to think about who God wants them to be.

The freshmen retreat is centered on working with one another at a different level. They instill the Golden Rule, treating others the way they would like to be treated.

"It's great for each class to have that spiritual camaraderie - with God, their classmates and themselves," she said. "It is a day where they can reflect upon if they are doing God's will."

Most of the retreats incorporate reconciliation and Mass into the day.

The Office of Education for the Diocese of Sioux City has organized a retreat for administrators for many years. According to Kevin Vickery, diocesan superintendent of education, the retreat is scheduled each year in October.

"That allows us to get the school year started and it adds to the concept of a retreat. We are busy and then we have to pull back for prayer and reflection," he explained. "Another reason for holding the retreat in October is that it allows us to emerge from the retreat experience in an environment in which we want to impact."

Last October, the administrators retreat was held at the Shalom Center on the campus of the Franciscan motherhouse in Dubuque. Sister Margie Feldner was the retreat leader. The retreat theme was Sharing Our Own Sacred Stories.

"We realized that by living the lives we do as leaders in Catholic schools, we are modeling for our students, families and teachers - lives that are inspired by God," noted Vickery. "It was an awesome experience because one of us had the opportunity to reflect on our own story and what makes us unique children of God because of the story."

The retreat helped the administrators reflect introspectively on their own stories and allowed them to share their stories with others. It helped them define ways they could share their stories back at school.