Quinten Bright ’19

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This year, the traditional Junior retreat has been replaced with the Kairos retreat, which used to be for seniors only. Everyone knows that the specific contents of each retreat are meant to be kept secret, but why, exactly, did we change the Junior retreat to Kairos?

According to Mr. Carlos Munoz, Strake Jesuit Retreat Director, this decision has mostly to do with strengthening the bond between classmates. “Kairos retreat is an experience that has been said by the seniors to be a very powerful experience,” he explains.“You get to know the guys in your class and grow so much in those four days. So instead of just having it senior year when you’re almost into college and out of Jesuit, we brought it back a year to have you guys grow in that brotherhood and continue it your senior year. Also, the senior class gets to lead the junior class in an experience that powerful.”

The new Junior Kairos will follow the same agenda as the traditional Strake Jesuit senior four-day Kairos, a major change from the two-day retreat our juniors had participated in until this school year. “The Junior Pilgrimage was a beautiful experience and journey, but it was the retreat that students asked that we could change. They enjoyed it, but I think that they just wanted to see something different junior year,” said Mr. Munoz.

So why does Kairos resonate with so many people? “The best part of Junior Kairos is experiencing your own journey through brotherhood,” Mr. Munoz explained,“and getting to know a lot more about your friend; even your best friend, or somebody that you don’t even know that well. Someone that sits in your English class every day for the last three years. You don’t really get to know them in class because one, you’re way too busy, and two, because everybody has their own thing going on, so when you go on the retreat and you really get to know that person in the course of four days is one of the most powerful things in brotherhood.”

“I think it tells you a little bit about who we are as Strake Jesuit,” Mr. Munoz added. “We talk about brotherhood, and yes, it’s there, but when you get to experience it firsthand, I think it has a bigger impact on you.”