Portland St. Patrick Catholic School

On Wednesday,November 30, St. Patrick high school students had the opportunity to participate in our annual retreat day.  Although our Catholic faith is infused into our everyday curriculum, it’s important we allow students to further our spiritual mission and experience God’s work outside of the classroom.

 Each class had a different retreat scheduled.  This year, the freshmen class traveled to Aquinas College and spent the day with a group of dedicated Aquinas college students called the AQ Light Team. The theme of their retreat was “Replace the Rock.” 

The sophomore retreat was hosted by the National Evangelization Team (NET) and took place on campus here at  St. Patrick School. NET Ministries is an international youth ministry organization whose mission is to challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church.   The theme for the sophomore retreat was“Reality Check.” 

The junior retreat was held on campus and led by our parish youth minister Mr. David McHugh He wasassisted by high school staff members.  The theme for the junior retreat was “Vocations as a way of life.”

The seniors traveled to the Fr. Solanus Casey Center in Detroit for their retreat.  The theme of their retreat was “A life of humility and service.”  They toured the center and found out about the life of Fr. Solanus Casey.  They also had the opportunity to work in a food kitchen or in the warehouse which collects and distributes food and clothing to those in need.  At lunch time, our seniors sat and ate at the food kitchen along with the homeless.  I think the retreat was a very eye opening and humbling experience for our senior class.

I believe the majority of our students enjoyed and learned from their retreat day experiences.  It provided our high school students the opportunity to grow as individuals and to grow spiritually as well as take away lifelong lessons that may forever impact them.  We will continue to encourage our students to participate in events and activities over and above our theology curriculum so they can become the best they can be.