Spiritus Retreat

In my Catholic Community, we have a confirmation obligation which is a one day retreat. This retreat, which is necessary to complete your confirmation, is a day long retreat called Spiritus.

Spiritus is held twice a year, every December and January, and can make an incredible impact on kids going through the confirmation process. Spiritus usually contains sophomores and juniors in high school with the occasional senior making the journey. With the 2015 Spiritus retreat coming this Sunday, I figured it might be worthwhile to explain what takes place on the retreat.

I went during my confirmation, and I also led the retreat as a student for two year (four retreats). It was honestly one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. The retreat is led by a team of eight students and two adults, with both adults and six of the eight of the students giving a talk. These talks are written weeks in advance and usually contain some pretty incredible insight into some trials or tough times that the speaker has gone through, how they've learned from it, and how they saw God during their entire experience. The talks are meant to show the retreantants that God is much more than scripture or church attendance. He's someone you can talk to, and who is working all the time in your day to day life.

For a lot of these kids, the retreat is the first time that they really are able to realize this, and the change can be very profound for a lot of them. The retreat is also based off of the concept of St. Ignatius and Ignation Spirituality. It is held less than a mile from my house at the Bellarmine Retreat Center, which is one of only 26 Jesuit Retreat centers in the United States.

The retreat starts Sunday from 8am until 7pm. You can fly to Chicago and stop by if you want to see what it's like!