As students of Kennedy Catholic Preparatory School, faith is an essential component of our education and life. Having the opportunity to attend a yearly retreat with our theology classes is something many students appreciate and look forward to. Retreat allows us to learn more about our faith and grow a deeper connection with God.

This year’s sophomore retreats were led by Father Matthew Breslin and held at St. Mary’s Church in Katonah. The retreat focused on teaching how to love and honor God during our daily lives. Starting off with a speech, Father Breslin referenced his favorite Gospel quote, “Jesus saw him and loved him” (Mark 10:21), which began the first discussion of the day. Understanding that God will always love us no matter what we have done or what has happened is a prominent part of our faith. As teens, knowing that God is always there to turn to creates a deeper love and devotion in our relationship with him.

At retreat Father Breslin also taught how to recognize and combat the challenges and temptations in our spiritual lives. Overcoming everyday obstacles while living an authentic Catholic Faith can be challenged but rewarding in our relationship with God and ourselves. A Catholic Faith that is able to overcome anything is something that we should never take for granted. The lessons that we learned from retreat will help greatly in our close future but also in our adult lives.

Following our morning discussions and lessons, the sacrament of confession was held. We started out by examining our consciences through the ten commandments and were given time to think about what we needed to confess. During this time, Father Vaillancourt welcomed the class to his Church and spoke about the importance of our Catholic education and relationship with God. After confession we attended mass and reflected on what we had learned at retreat.

All of the sophomores returned to school feeling closer to God and more educated in our faith. We are grateful to have learned so much about our faith and Catholic life at retreat!

To read Kelly’s Freshmen Retreat Reflection from last year, click here.