Campus Ministry
Retreats
As part of CBA’s mission to develop the whole person, retreats are an integral element of each student’s spiritual development. Here at the Academy, every student is required to participate in a retreat each year.
Freshman Retreat: Using the life of St. John Baptist de La Salle as an example, the Freshman retreat is an introduction to living a life of Virtue. Freshmen enjoy a day off-campus at a local parish retreat facility, includes upperclassmen talks, adult talks, Mass, and leisure. Freshman Retreats are run by the Offices of Mission and Campus Ministry.
Sophomore Retreat: Sophomore retreat challenges the boys to work towards becoming Men for Others. Again, this retreat uses La Salle’s other-centeredness as a core example. Once again the boys enjoy a day off-campus and are led by upperclassmen and adult members of the Offices of Mission and Campus Ministry.
Junior Retreat: The Junior retreat is a preparation retreat for the Senior overnight, Kairos-style retreat, which is explained below. The junior retreat attempts to offer the young man a Path Towards Sainthood: A Blueprint for Ethical Living. It is a retreat about choices. The central goal of the retreat is to become more aware of the ways each choice a student makes affects not only them, but those around them. Through reflection, students gain a clearer picture of their contributions to the world and how they have the potential to reflect God’s love.
Senior Retreat: This retreat takes the seniors overnight, for up to two nights, and is modeled on the well-known Kairos Retreat. This retreat seeks to invite the young adult Seniors to pause and devote some significant time examining how the real presence of God has been at work in their lives during their years at CBA. This spiritual retreat invites Seniors to begin to develop a new horizon for understanding the possible nature of God and offers a deeper understanding of Faith, as a loving relationship with God. The retreat focuses on our encounter of God’s love within our relationships. The boys are challenged to look for God in all things and prepare to enter the post high school years ready to become reflective of God’s presence by using their gifts and talents to become the builders of men and women. This retreat often takes place at the beautiful San Alfonso retreat house, on the beach, in Long Branch.
