The retreat program at Mitty is an essential part of the communal and spiritual experience at Archbishop Mitty. Through participating in a retreat, students are able to deepen both their personal spirituality as well as their friendships with classmates. Retreats are offered at every grade level. Senior students, recent Mitty alumni and faculty members lead all retreats.
Sign up for Class Retreats is now open (see the Student or Parent Portal)
The Senior Kairos retreat is an experience designed to communicate the unconditional love of God that is the foundation for the human family. Seniors carefully examine Jesus' Story of the Two Lost Sons - also referred to as The Prodigal Son - and are challenged to identify themselves with one of the numerous characters in the story. In doing so, they ask themselves: Who has shown me unconditional love? How can I share this love for others? What can prevent me from loving myself, others, and God more authentically? Members of the faculty and staff and alumni leaders present talks that center around these questions. Students spend time in small groups and with a journey partner in order to build deeper and stronger relationships. Through a combination of talks, kinesthetic exercises, sacramental activities, and time in nature, students are given multifaceted opportunities to slow downa and create a space to listen to God.
The Junior Quest retreat challenges students to reflect on their journey at this point in their lives. They are asked to identify their goals and passions, who supports them with these, and what obstacles they encounter on the way. While carefully examining the gospel encounter of Jesus and the blind beggar Bartimaeus, students are called to imagine Jesus asking them "What do you want me to do for you?" During a very stressful academic year, juniors are called to meditate upon this quesiton and ask for the help of God and others in our community. Finally, they are called to see how Christ calls them to transform their journey into a quest by living their vocation and sharing their gifts with the world.
Agape is the Greek word for unconditional love. On this retreat, students examine their relationships and are challenged to grow in their willingness to love themselves, classmates, friends, family, God, and even strangers that are often overlooked. Sophomore year can be a difficult time of transition in relationships - seniors act as role models and call upon sophomores to think of the masks they wear and how they can remove these masks and be their authentic selves with others.
Freshmen are encouraged to attend one of five overnight Awakenings retreats to begin their Mitty journey by getting to know classmates outside of their comfort zone. Retreatants are introduced to the concept of what a retreat is and how important it can be for developing their own spiritual life. Using Jesus' parable of the mustard seed, students are called to see that even small amounts of faith can lead to blossoming relationships with the community and God.
