Senior Retreat offers discernment, fellowship and talks on vocations

St. John Paul II High School Senior Retreat, entitled “Called and Chosen,” was held at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center on Jan. 6-7. Students attended Mass both days, had opportunities for confession, heard talks, adored Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and grew in fellowship.
 
Taylor McColgan, a theology teacher and tennis coach at St. John Paul II High School, gave an opening talk on understanding vocations and different vocations students could be called to discern. She encouraged students to reflect on a quote from one of her classmates, Sha Smith, who died after a lengthy battle with cancer. “Humility fills in the gap between mystery and understanding. I’m learning that we ask for humility not so God would crush us, but because God’s heart is pure and we are yet to be perfected,” she said and also quoted St. John Henry Newman, who said, “If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.”
 
Retreatants attended a round-robin session of talks – 4 mini-sessions within one. Matthew Heeder, math teacher and boys’ basketball coach, spoke on the missionary aspect of vocations. He reflected on his time spent as a missionary in Honduras and his time now as an ACE teacher at St. John Paul II High School.
 
Principal Michael Edghill gave a talk on what vocation means and reflected on his understanding. Former St. John Paul II High School history teacher, Bill Cazalas, and his wife, Ruthann, spoke on the vocation of marriage, and the need for faith-based discernment in their relationship.
 
Other speakers spoke about discerning a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. From the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), Sister Patricia Burns and Father Scott Braathen spoke to students on how they can help their brothers or sisters discern their vocation.
 
 The college session included topics on dating and seeking Newman centers available on campuses. JPII alumnus, Jacob Zamarron gave a talk on the Franciscan University, where he currently attends.
 
Deacon Dave Brokke, SOLT, gave the men’s session talk, and the vocation to be a man of God. Angie Windnagle gave the women’s session talk on dating God first, and an integral aspect in following their vocation to be a woman for Christ. Jacob Windnagle wrapped up the men’s and women’s session with a discussion on how men and women should treat each other – as their complimentary.
 
Lisa McCullion gave a talk on blooming. She said, "wherever you are planted, knowing you can always choose the good; with the awareness, it won’t always be easy. But knowing that wherever you are led, will allow you to fully trust in God’s will and his plan for you.".
 
Carissa Reyes, a former teacher from JPII, led music for the entire retreat.
 
“The senior retreat is such a beautiful restart to the last half of the year. It holds such a special place in my heart and with them, as they are beginning a season of lasts, but also new beginnings. The Monday and Tuesday back from break, the seniors received two grace-filled days, spent time in community, and eased back into the hustle and bustle of their senior year,” McGolgan said.
 
McGolgan gleaned from reading her student’s retreat journals from theology class that they thoroughly enjoyed Father Scott’s talk. "Mostly because he openly discussed his life growing up, didn’t sugar coat anything, and went through the same struggles the students had, such as losing a father figure at an early age. They love and hold on to these tangible examples of how people are not born perfect, have struggles, and still find and hold close to God the Father," she said.
 
Below are some other reflections from retreat journals written by the students after they attended the senior retreat.
 
- “I love my class, I love my teacher, and I love God. Another memory I can rely on when I am struggling in life. To remember the pure joy we all had as a class, to remember that God loves us”
 
- “To keep God in my life through the good and the bad, and the only sin God won’t forgive is the one in which we don’t ask forgiveness for.”
 
- “My favorite part was the testimonies and the constant talk about love. I needed to hear as much as I could about love. Love from God is everything, which is so powerful to know, to give Him complete control.”
 
- “took away that we should enjoy and say yes to the small things, to say yes to the large things, and grow roots where I am planted before I try to bloom.”
 
- “I need to grow in my relationship with God before any other relationships I have so I can thrive in them, and they can be Christ-centered.”