Redemptorist High School Retreat Ministry Team Introduction and Reflection

by Jenny Hood

The Redemptorist High School Retreat Ministry is in it’s third year. Between the months of February and April, this ministry will have lead eight full day retreats for four Catholic High Schools within the Greater Toronto Area. The theme this year is: “Christ Be Our Light: We are called to act with Justice!”

Our faith calls us to work for justice, to serve those in need, to pursue peace and defend the life, dignity and rights of all our sisters and brother. This is the call of Jesus, the challenge of the prophets and the living tradition of our Church. We are called to be a leaven, applying Christian values and virtues in every aspect of our lives. (NCCB)

Through this retreat we invite the young people to learn about the need for justice at the global level as well as at the local level. They will be introduced to how through their baptism, they are called to be a voice for justice for those in their life. It is our hope that they will come to understand the world in which whey live and what they can do to make it a better place for all.

The retreat involves the young people in interactive games regarding poverty and the need for justice, input sessions, small group discussion, prayer opportunities and a Prayer Walk that helps them to connect with the poverty within God’s creation. One of the highlight of the day is the Poverty Lunch. Through the distribution of information regarding the poverty of specific regions in our world and meal money, the students are invited to consider the challenges of dealing with hunger and possible solutions to address some of the poverty issues.

Jenny Hood is one of our Young Adult Team Leaders who volunteers her time to team lead several of the retreats. We have a team of five young adults, two Redemptorists and myself as Coordinator. Read on to learn what this experience has been like for Jenny.

Reflection by Jenny Hood

Jenny is twenty one years old and is in her final year at the University of Toronto studying Aboriginal, Diaspora and Transnational Studies. She loves music, plays a great guitar and swing dance lessons!

The greatest thing about the High School Retreats is that you never know what you are going to get. This is my third year on the RYVM High School Retreat Team and it still amazes me how God works.

I will never forget the quieter student who was just bubbling over with excitement on retreat day. It reminded me a lot of myself in high school. I got the sense that it was there, on retreat, that she was able to be open about her faith. Sometimes all a person needs is to be asked about their faith. I learned, Christ frees us from fear.

Another memorable moment was at a stop on our prayer walk at the Toronto Homeless Memorial, where many of the names are John Doe or Jane Doe. A student touched me when he observed those who died were given dignity by giving them a name. I learned, we are given dignity and purpose when God calls us by name.

And the students never fit the stereotypes of teenagers. In fact, they remind me of the church just after Christ had risen. Some are like Mary Magdelene and the other Mary, who go looking for Jesus at the tomb, then recognize Him on the road. Others like the disciples who meet the risen Christ, but do not recognize Him. Other’s are like the twelve, hiding in the upper room, afraid …of what their friends will think, of being called a ‘Jesus Freak’. And, of course, a doubting Thomas. Each of them comes to the retreat with different needs and somehow God provides for each one of them.

Being a retreat leader is truly a gift from God! It feeds my inner teenager, who only wanted to be asked about her faith. It also nourishes the adult I am becoming by the simple reminders that we all love God and know God in our own ways.

Truth is, those fears and doubts don’t go away when you leave high school. If anything, they become more pronounced as you go to work or school in our secular society. But, retreat is a special time and place, where we all can ask the questions we never get to ask, can be free from fear and come to know God more.