Spiritual Spotlight

A group of 25+ students accompanied by 4 teachers including Director of Campus Ministry, Mr. Christopher Bayardi, as well as our Principal, Mr. Michael Palcsey, recently returned from a four-day retreat experience at The Apostolate for Family Consecration in Bloomingdale, OH.  This was the fourth Kairos retreat experience which typically is offered to students once in the fall and once in the spring.  The motivation of Kairos is to return home changed and bringing fresh eyes and perspective to all areas of life after being moved by God.
 
Senior, Matthew Littleton served as a Student Leader during the Fall Kairos Retreat this year from November 10-13, 2022. He attended Kairos in the spring of last year and had these thoughts to share on the experience.
 
“Our Kairos retreat is a great opportunity for students to expand their faith and explore their relationship with God. It’s different from learning the facts in Religion class because you get to apply what you learn in practice.” Matthew went on to explain “You’ll hear students and teachers say ‘Living the Fourth’ because the fourth day of the retreat is Affirmation Day and when many are so moved and connected by the experience that they feel a change of heart. It’s transformative.”

 

Senior, Riley Pylant also served as a Student Leader for Kairos at this year’s fall retreat and had this to say about the program:

 

“I gave a talk this year on ‘Ideals and Values’ and stepping out of my comfort zone because my experiences are important to share.  It’s time for me to take my faith into my own hands and build a strong foundation now before I set off for college.”  

 

When asked about her talk Riley said, “I looked at the bigger picture during my talk and reiterated that the number one thing to value is God over other’s opinions of us.”  Riley's hope was to pass on the sense of community she felt at her first Kairos retreat last year and help build others up in this trusting, close-knit setting.

 

Senior, Jack Feczko, attended Kairos last year in the spring and who also participated this fall as a Student Leader had these thoughts to share, “Kairos is really important because it brings a whole level of ‘reality’ to the faith experience.  Our school offers all of these great staples such as mass, adoration, etc., but then getting to participate in Kairos allows us the chance to put our faith in practice.”

 

“I can’t help but hope everyone has the chance to grow and develop their faith and relationship with God the way I have through opportunities at North Catholic.  I’m so grateful and believe Kairos has had a huge role in that process.”

 

We look forward to offering more updates and photos from this year's fall Kairos retreat and will continue to spotlight other opportunities for students to grow their faith here at North Catholic.  Thank you to all of our Student Leaders for your insights!