Earlier this month, 45 students and nine faculty members loaded a bus and headed to Maryland to participate in Bishop O'Connell's second Kairos retreat held at Camp St. Charles. Over the four day and three night retreat, O'Connell juniors and seniors interacted with each other in small groups and participated in the sacraments. The retreat's themes were "Who am I?" and "How do I build a friendship with Jesus?"
"Kairos allows students to experience the joy of the gospels in real and tangible ways," said theology teacher Ed Fitzpatrick. "Through the retreat, we are able to take the time to step back and look at how God interacts with us on a personal level. It aims to give teenagers practical ways to see and experience Jesus in their everyday life."
In addition to the faculty leaders at this year's retreat, seven seniors served as student leaders, having participated in the first O'Connell Kairos retreat a year earlier.
"For me, this was a life changing experience where I felt God speak to me in a real way," commented junior Gianni Snidle.
Senior Colum Bergeron described the retreat as "an amazing experience where I was able to meet close to 50 like-minded people in their faith."
For Christian service coordinator, Kathryn Hogan, this was her second O'Connell Kairos retreat. "It's difficult for me to put into words how meaningful this weekend was. You can look at the photos and get a sense of the activities that took place, but they don't do justice to the beauty we all saw in these students throughout the retreat."
Watch a slideshow from the Kairos retreat below or find it HERE.