Come away: Over 500 students answer Jesus' invitation

It sounds counterintuitive. Invite college students to give up an entire weekend—a weekend for sleeping in, catching up on homework or socializing—in exchange for a retreat miles away from campus.

But that’s exactly what happened this spring. More than 500 students attended one of our five evangelistic retreats and said “Yes!” to the Lord’s invitation to “come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).

The “First” Retreat

This passage from Mark’s Gospel was read during Mass at Northeastern University’s retreat in February. Jesus invited His apostles to go away on retreat so they could share witnesses about their mission experiences, listen to their brothers’ testimonies and recharge their “spiritual batteries” for the tasks that awaited them.

Fr. Martin Bearis, who celebrated Mass that Saturday morning, noted during his homily the connection between Jesus’ invitation to the apostles and the response by students who were attending the retreat. Just like Jesus’ apostles, the students’ life would benefit from their retreat experience.

Our Mission

Thanks to people like you, we’ve been leading retreats on campus for decades. By God’s grace, we fine-tuned our approach to retreats over time and brought them to all our campuses. The retreats are central to advancing our mission: sharing the Good News with the lost and spiritually poor to prepare this generation to renew the Church.

Today, our campus ministries at Florida State University, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, University of Central Florida and the University of Minnesota hold retreats each fall and spring. Students at UMass Boston, our newest campus ministry, are invited to attend Northeastern’s retreats.

We normally hold retreats off-campus at camps or retreat centers beginning on a Friday evening and concluding on Sunday afternoon. These “deserted places” help students focus on the Lord Jesus by minimizing the distractions and pressure from class work and campus life.

Students lead the way

“Cultivating student leaders is so important to the success of our campus ministries,” said Br. Sam Gunn, who has more than two decades of campus experience. “These student leaders play a pivotal role in developing the theme and vision for the retreat as well as organizing the logistics that make the retreat happen. We provide students with guidance to ensure that the retreat’s direction and topics reflect Catholic teaching." 

Since many of the retreatants are new, the typical retreat kicks off with small-group sharing sessions and “icebreakers” to help students get to know each other. Student leaders give attendees a retreat overview and answer any questions.

The retreat program includes witnesses by students, outside speakers, singing, celebration of Mass, confession and eucharistic adoration. There’s also time for students to strengthen their bonds with their peers, the Brothers and missionaries from Saint Paul’s Outreach.

“Empowering students during retreats helps them foster their own faith community,” Br. Sam said. “This becomes an essential part of their college spiritual life and leads many students to having healthy sacramental lives after graduation.”

Some examples include participation in adoration or attending daily Mass. Many graduates also take youth ministry or leadership roles in their parishes. Others contribute by joining lay faith-based communities and being active members of their parishes.

“The blessing,” Br. Sam said, “is that all of this fruit came about because these students said ‘Yes’ to attending a retreat.”

The Power and the Real Presence of Jesus

Perhaps the single most powerful experience for students on retreat is adoration. The exposition of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament emerged at our early retreats at FSU, and we continue to place special emphasis on adoration at our retreats today.

“We live in an image-based culture — from who we are in person and on social media, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, what we eat and drink, to the car we drive,” said Br. Sam. “Students on retreat are drawn to the Real Presence of Jesus at adoration because He triumphs over all worldly images. From this powerful experience students are able to grow their faith individually and become open to sharing their faith communally.”

Sarah, a student on her first retreat, reflected on her experience of adoration on Saturday night. “It really hit me that I hadn’t been vulnerable to God at all,” she reflected. “I realized that I wasn’t able to give Him my burdens. This weekend I feel like I really found God again.”

“This retreat was my last one at UCF, and the Lord made what could have been a sad weekend, one that was filled with joy. . . . The idea of the future was on my heart throughout the weekend, and I was able to find peace in knowing that even though my time at UCF is coming to a close, the Lord has equipped me well to be sent forth.”
Rebecca Laing, a senior at UCF, will serve as a full-time campus missionary with Saint Paul’s Outreach beginning in June