“This retreat is a living testimony that [Kairos] is living on in people’s hearts, and that they want to come together and share that in community and keep growing,” said Emily Egan, Boston College’s Campus Minister for Retreats.
Egan was talking about a new retreat offered by Campus Ministry called “Live the Fourth,” or “LT4” for short. LT4 allows BC students to reflect upon their previous retreats, such as Kairos, Search, Emmaus, or Encounter.
Through the assistance of a spiritual director, retreatants are encouraged to continually apply what they learned on previous retreats to their everyday lives through prayer and visualization. Egan and Marissa Papula, Boston College’s Campus Minister for Kairos, cultivated the idea during the Spring 2019 semester.
“Live the Fourth retreat was born out of a need that we identified in the BC community for students who have gone on Kairos […] to re-engage spiritually what might’ve stirred within somebody [at Kairos],” Papula said. “What good is Kairos if it’s not moving students to be more reflective and more loving in the weeks, months, and years after the retreat?”
About 25 students participated in LT4’s pilot program during the Fall 2019 semester. The retreat consisted of a three-hour “Opening Day of Reflection” where student leaders gave their own witnesses about Kairos and their own spiritual lives. Then, they facilitated conversation about Kairos and spirituality amongst a group of student-participants.
“I love to walk with students on their journeys of spiritual discernment,” said former Kairos leader Clara Cahill Farella, LSOEHD ’20. “It’s been really a blessing to continue to be involved in a way with Kairos through this retreat because it’s so fascinating to me both personally and professionally.”
Following the initial meeting, participants and leaders were assigned either a campus minister, faculty member, or Jesuit priest or deacon as a spiritual director. The directors would meet with the student participants and leaders biweekly to discuss spiritual themes and developments in the participant’s or leader’s life, and to provide applicable wisdom to that person’s situation.
“My spiritual director was fantastic. One big theme we did discuss was prayer and how I could pray better,” said former Kairos retreatant Pablo Cardenal, LSOEHD ’20. “My prayers had become very automatic and without substance. […] With spiritual direction, I was able to shift that attitude and be more proactive about how I can become a better [worshipper].”
“A core mission of Campus Ministry is to offer students the opportunity to have access to Ignatian spirituality in the Ignatian tradition and spiritual direction is a key part of [that]. So even though spiritual direction is one-on-one [. . .] you’re doing it [as] a part of the tradition, which is a part of the community,” said Egan.
Cardenal appreciates the individualized advice that his spiritual director gave him, and commented upon how it has affected his faith life. “My spiritual director recommended: ‘Why don’t you just pray like you’re looking at the sunset and the beaches of Nicaragua and imagine Jesus sitting next to you?’” said Cardenal, who grew up in Nicaragua. “I was like ‘huh this sounds very goofy, but let’s give it a go’[…] I do it once every weekend [now], and there’s something relaxing about that, and it was reassuring.”
LT4 retreatant Kenneth Goetz, MCAS ’22, hopes that this retreat will allow BC students to approach spiritual direction in a more positive light.
“When you think about a priest or a deacon, it seems like this person is so much holier than [yourself]. How can I develop a relationship with them? There just seems to be a wall there,” Goetz said. “I think this really helped with tearing down that wall and making it much more approachable in developing a relationship with a priest or a deacon.”
After four one-on-one meetings with the spiritual director, a “Closing Day of Reflection” was offered for students and leaders to reflect upon what they learned in their spiritual direction, the ways LT4 changed (or solidified) their perspectives on Kairos, and what they could do on campus to bring the spirit of Kairos to others.
“I think a sign of living in the spirit is wanting to do more,” Egan said. “I’m so inspired by our students who want to keep growing. I think that desire to continue one’s relationship with God [and] one’s relationship with the community [is inspiring].”
The second session of LT4 started on January 26, and it will continue throughout the spring semester.
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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