I didn’t say a word. Neither did my classmates.
It was April of my senior year at St. John’s. Graduation was right around the corner, and we were off to the senior retreat. It was a silent retreat. If we broke the silence, we would not graduate.
Nobody wanted to jeopardize four years of high school. We stayed quiet.
I recently returned from St. John’s latest senior retreat. Sixty years after mine, I am now the school’s chaplain.
Kairos retreats are a significant part of the high school experience in many of our Catholic schools. Silence is no longer required, and these retreats become wonderful opportunities for students to get away for four days to talk about where they are with God and listen to what God is saying to them.
Kairos is a very successful program. I think that’s because the young people give most of the talks. Adults speak as well, but the most powerful talks come from the young people speaking to their peers about their faith journeys.
The talks are personal and real. I am always impressed. The student leaders are honest about their faith and where they are in their relationship with God. After each talk, the students gather in small groups to share with each other how their journeys are going.
These young people are not saints, and they don’t pretend to be. They don’t have it all figured out, and they don’t say that they do. But what comes through is a sense of God, the Church, and faith – and a willingness to share openly and honestly.
I hear them talk about their joys and their successes. I also hear them talk about their difficulties. Maybe they have not always felt accepted. They may not have been loved as they would have wanted by their classmates or their families. And still, they speak about where God is in the midst of it all.
There is already a wonderful sense of community among classmates on these retreats, but it deepens to another level as hearts are opened and faith is shared. As someone who has worked with youth most of my priesthood, I am still moved to be part of these special moments in which young people share honestly and openly about God in their lives.
High school retreats may no longer be silent, but the quiet still matters. I remember the bus ride home after my senior retreat. After not speaking for a few days, the bus was filled with joy and happiness. Not just because we were free to talk but because we sensed something had changed. God was more important than he had been just a few days before.
Nowadays, phones are collected at the start of the retreat and set aside. This creates its own kind of quiet. Freedom from phone calls, social media, apps, and so many other distractions opens up new opportunities to pray, reflect, and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation at the retreat houses.
As Mother Teresa said, “God speaks in the silence of the heart.” St. John of the Cross similarly called silence “God’s first language.”
I hope we are all blessed to go on meaningful retreats, especially our young people in their high school years. I also hope we all get to experience the goodness of small group discussions and relationships. The Archdiocese of Washington is looking to do more in this area in our parishes.
What an incredible gift it is to block out the world's noise, even for a few days, to communicate with God and each other. I thank the Lord that St. John’s and so many of our Catholic schools provide this as part of their curriculum.
In religion classes, we learn about faith – the commandments, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, what the Church teaches, and more. We get the facts. In retreats, our hearts are moved. They can change our relationship with God – not just for a few days or until graduation, but for years to come. Even for all eternity.
(Msgr. John Enzler serves as the mission advocate of Catholic Charities of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a chaplain at his alma mater, St. John’s College High School in Washington. He writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
