Agape I

          This past weekend was one of those weekends that you cannot even come close to adequately describing with words.  For those of you who have ever had a conversation with me in which I start shaking a little bit, probably in some form of bouncing fashion, and my eyes start darting wildly and getting bigger, and I keep making the same hand motions over and over, and I start talking really fast to the point of being unintelligible, and the only acceptable metaphor would be to that of a 5-year-old child trying to explain the magic of Christmas as he eagerly refuses to fall asleep on Christmas Eve but still passed out by 8:30 anyway – then you can imagine how I am feeling right now as I attempt to convey one of the most beautiful experiences of my life in this radically insufficient blog (someone needs to invent a way for me to be able to express my emotions and thoughts from 9,000 miles away… perhaps some form of body double might do the trick… or a “proxy-hugger” of sorts… I will work on it).

            Despite knowing that my writing ability falls far short of expressing what I am feeling, I still feel the unquenchable need to attempt to bring you all into this community of pure euphoric thoughts and emotions and love that has enveloped me this weekend.

            The past few weeks, I have been working on organizing Yap Catholic High School’s first day of recollection for freshmen and sophomores and the overnight retreat for the juniors.  Fr. Mulreany took the reins on organizing the days of recollection, and I tackled the planning of the junior retreat.  I tried to adapt the retreat experiences I have had to what I thought would fit for our students in terms of age, culture, and experiences.  Taking some tidbits from FIRST, Kairos, and Search, and adding a few things here or there, the Yap Agape Retreat was born.  A huge thanks to Xavier High School for sharing their Kairos materials with us to help make the process go much more smoothly.  Once the retreat schedule and different parts were outlined and written up, the organization seemed to go quite well. 

            During the school day, my main focus was with the Freshmen, and we had a fantastic day of reflection.  I really love these kids, and I also had an amazing time with my fellow teachers, Gail and Jane, during our time with the students.  After the freshmen and sophomores left, it was time to focus on the over night retreat.  One of the coolest parts of the retreat, aside from all of the actual retreat happenings, is that we spent the night on campus - which was breath taking with the endless stars.  I already have plans for having mini-camping trips on campus next year when I just need to "get away."

      

Hanging Out with the Freshmen in our Tree (There are more higher up)

Jane, Gail, and I during Freshmen Day of Recollection

   
 Agape I focused on finding the unconditional love that God has for each of us as individuals.  We looked at and reflected on our relationships with others and how through these relationships we could find God.  We discussed how our relationship with God should be a true friendship.  There was dancing, there was the playing of signs, there was laughter, there were tears… but most importantly – there was so much genuine, undeniable, pure God.

            I gave a talk to the juniors on forgiveness, and found myself learning so much from these incredible students as they looked at me with strong, comforting eyes.  Some of the students came to me to talk about certain issues they were struggling with in their lives, and I can’t describe how I could feel God guiding my words and actions as we talked through our struggles together.  Trust is one of the most precious things in the entire world.  To trust others enough to show them our most vulnerable self – to trust others enough to let them see us cry – to trust others to let them see us angry – to trust others to let them see us as we truly are – that is love – that is God.

            I could not be in a better place than I am right now – physically and spiritually.  I continue to be blessed and challenged every day.  Even when I thought this adventure on Yap could not bring me any new life lessons – I had one of the most powerful experiences of being broken and built back up again with my students.  Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers that were being sent our way this weekend.  We could feel your love – and that is Agape.

Austin and Maxine on their Trust Walk

Manuella, Dolorlyn, Bradley and Eunice sharing some Agape

Gorgeous Accommodations for the Evening

Our shower for the retreat... the hose is in the tree somewhere

AGAPE I - Class of 2014

“Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?”

-The Summons