Retreat program attracting spiritually hungry youth

It took some convincing to get high school senior Michael Dickerson to make his first Journey Retreat. Once he did, however, he was hooked.

"In the fall of my sophomore year, a classmate asked me to do it," said the student from Notre Dame/Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady. "I didn't go until the spring."

In the two years since, he has served as a kitchen crew member, peer leader, and, this spring, the rector -- the person who facilitates the retreat. He has also recruited ten friends to participate in the three-day retreat.

Retreat pluses

The young parishioner of St. Helen's Church in Niskayuna, who is on his school's basketball team, serves as student council president and wants to major in archeology next fall, has found the Journey retreat to be a powerful experience in his life.

"It helps you realize what you value and what you want to do in your community," he said. "It helps you go back in your community and be a Christian."

The retreat program was brought to the Albany Diocese by Rev. Anthony Maione, campus minister at Saratoga Central Catholic High School. It is descended from the Cursillo Movement, which began in Spain in the 1940s. While the Cursillo program is for adults, Journey is for students in grades ten through twelve. A similar program, known as Emmaus, is available for college-aged students.

Self-examination

During the retreat, participants are invited to look at themselves, answer the question "Who am I?" and see the goodness that God has created in them, said Teresa Facteau, co-director of the program and religious education director at St. Bonaventure parish in Speigletown.

During the weekend, participants receive spiritual direction from adults and listen to talks by peers who have already participated in the retreat program.

"The participants share in community-building activities and prayer experiences, meet God in the Scriptures, and share their gifts and talents with others," she said. "Basically, it is how to live as a Christian in the outside world."

Growing popularity

While the program operates without any outside funding or advertising money, interest in it continues to spread, said Rev. Leo Markert, spiritual director of the program and pastor of St. Gabriel's parish in Rotterdam.

"A lot of publicity is by word of mouth," he said. "We have families where all of the kids have made Journey."

Since the program began ten years ago, nearly 600 young people have made the retreat. Some have continued to participate in the program by serving as team members, and as they grew into adulthood became spiritual directors, Father Markert said.

What they do

Participants learn how to pray, study God in their own life and learn how to put their faith into action, Mrs. Facteau said. Participants also leave knowing how important they are.

"We try to create a spiritual family so that they experience love -- God's love," said Father Markert. "They experience acceptance and belonging. They learn that they are important in God's eyes."

Both Mrs. Facteau and Father Markert report seeing young people grow during the three-day experience. Father Markert received a Christmas card from the mother of one of the most recent Journeyers. The mother wrote, "She really needed the experience of Journey. It's not easy sharing God with yourself and other teens. She felt accepted and had so much fun."

Mrs. Facteau has watched as young people who arrived quiet and shy left more confident and comfortable sharing with one another. Mr. Dickerson agreed, explaining that he has grown through the Journey experience.

"I was nervous about speaking in front of a group," he said. "I was nervous about talking about God in front of my peers. But through Journey, you overcome your own obstacles."

Strengths

This retreat differs from other retreat experiences for young people in several ways, Mrs. Facteau said:

* It is a three-day experience as opposed to the day-long or overnight retreats many young people are required to make.

* It is made by choice rather than as a requirement for Confirmation or school.

* Most participants come to the retreat with a desire to deepen their relationship with God.

* Support is given to participants even after the weekend is over, through a reunion meeting as well as an annual picnic.

Encouragement

Father Markert wants youth ministers to know that this retreat is open to any young person regardless of their background. "We'd like to extend an invitation to all kids," he said. "Give us a chance to reach out to them."

Mr. Dickerson would like to see more young people in religious ed programs participate in the program. "Don't be intimidated by it because it is Christian," he advised, adding: "Catholic school students don't have the market on this. It's for everybody."

(The next Journey retreat is scheduled for April. For more information, call Teresa Facteau at 235-0337.)

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