Kairos Retreat Program

Bishop Amat Kairos

At Bishop High School we are beginning our eleventh year of Kairos retreats for seniors. Kairos, also known as 'Christian Awakening,' is a close adaptation of the Cursillo. Significant benefits have come to our seniors from this retreat and to many of our faculty who have joined alumni as team members.

The Kairos program typically begins after school on Monday and ends early Thursday evening. From forty to fifty students attend led by a team composed of six or seven alumni and six faculty members. Major talks - each team member presents one - are followed by discussion in small groups. There are other particular activities to promote community, to build a sense of reflection and to encourage trust and openness. Among the key themes are: knowing myself, finding out who Jesus is for me, recognizing what Jesus' call to me is, living the message of Christ.

Bishop Amat Kairos - Class of 2010

Kairos	Dates	Parent Meeting 7:30 pm Brutocao Library
Kairos 44	October 27-30, 2009	October 15, 2009
Kairos 45	December 14-17, 2009	December 3, 2009
Kairos 46	February 8-11, 2010	January    2009
Kairos 47	April 19-22, 2010	March  25, 2010

Kairos establishes trust. Students speak of their difficulties, joys and hopes in ways new and rewarding to them. Family and friends become important. Generally, a stirring of sensitivity to self and others grows into a desire for reconciliation. Encouragement has come to most retreatants along with a generous increase of self-esteem.

The Kairos experience is permeated with a faith dimension. Each day begins and ends with prayer. Three Eucharistic Liturgies are celebrated and a special time given for the sacrament of reconciliation. The faith dimension enters during the talks devoted to building a friendship with God. Perhaps even more important, faith elements are introduced when reflecting on how God, particularly in Jesus, is present in the personal experiences which the team and retreatants share with one another. Awareness grows that there are countless opportunities to meet God in our world, especially in other persons.

Ignatian values which flow through the experience of Kairos are:

1. Each retreatant learns that he is lovable, that each is loved by friends, parents and God. The student team member who gives the talk, 'Know Yourself,' points up how he came to see himself as lovable, loved and loving.
2. Central to Kairos is Jesus Christ. Retreatants come to see him in a new light, as real friend, loving and calling them.
3. Reflection is prominent throughout the retreat. Initially there are exercises to help students review what has been good, what difficult in their lives and to know and work with this. At several points in the day there are spaces for collecting and digesting what has happened. Structured methods help to make this personal to the individual retreatant. Throughout the retreat students are encouraged to do note-taking and journal-writing.
4. Prayer that is genuine, personal and real becomes a new and happy experience for the retreatants. They begin to see the Liturgy and the reading of Scripture as prayerful times. Many continue to pray and to share more in church worship after Kairos.
5. Changes in their lives, such as relationships at home, dealing with personal problems, seeking more caring friendships, are outcomes for the retreatant. Parents testify that some of the changes are lasting.
6. Ignatius' motto: "Love is shown in deeds more than words" is a Kairos theme. Due to the valuable emotional atmosphere of the retreat, this is most important. Outcomes must last after emotions cool. The critical final phase of the retreat and the follow-ups after it stress putting love into action.
7. In the course of the retreat there is a strong, gradual building of community. This supports the retreatants during the retreat and also in the follow-up period. The reality of this often shows up in the school where visible, loving dimensions of community appear.
8. The strength of the Kairos experience manifests itself in the numbers of students who join in the program. Monthly follow-up meetings, conducted by the students, have large numbers who continue the spirit of the retreat by supporting those who have just begun their fourth day.

A number of Catholic high schools use the Kairos program: Loyola, San Gabriel Mission, Chaminade, Damien, Rosary, just to mention a few local schools.

PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE OF KAIROS

History

1. National The "Christian Awakening" Program has been in existence since 1965. Since 1968, it has been adopted in Connecticut, California, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Texas, Virginia, Kentucky and Washington, D.C. A team of priests, brothers and laymen planned and worked an the program for one year under the direction of Fr. Douglas L. Brown, of the Diocese of Brooklyn. It is modeled after the "Cursillo" and adapted for teenagers.
2. Local In November, 1999, Bishop Amat High School had their first "Christian Awakening".

Background

A basic human need is to be apart - alone - at times. A retreat experience is such an opportunity. This is true for adults; it is true for teenagers. Thus, it is recommended that the retreat be outside, away from one's normal environment, to be a Kairos, a moment, in "the Lord's time."

Kairos is basically a Religious program grounded in Christian incarnational theology. It is an experience of Christian community, with a series of talks given by peers and adults. Prayer and the sacraments are an essential part as well as the participants' involvement in discussions and various exercises. The program lasts three and a half days, with a challenge to continue it for as long as one possibly can. It assumes a "follow-up" program (Fourth Day) which serves to keep it alive indefinitely, as well as provide a supportive community for retreatants. The program should be implemented into the Ministry program of the high school or of the parish. It should complement and flow from what has come before and be integrated into what follows.

It is not a panacea or cure of itself, but a deepening experience in-one s Christian life. The retreatant will not leave the program with a lot of answers, but hopefully he will have a greater awareness of himself, others and the Lord.

Reference Points: Kairos is well grounded in theology philosophy and psychology.

Theology of Kairos

Our God has always tried to make His love visible and enfleshed, as He did in His Son Jesus, our Brother. The talks on Kairos are grounded on and centered around the revelation of God's love to us, through all the people and experiences of our lives. In-accepting His love for us, we are gifted by the Spirit to go forth and proclaim it. In this context, the experience of prayer and the sacraments allows the retreat candidate to see his faith in a meaningful and alive way.

Each person has a "theology", a personal history of life through which the Lord is calling him to his fullness as a person and to closer intimacy with Himself and others. Kairos tries to proclaim, make real and raise awareness of the Kingdom which Jesus died for.

Peers complement the adult team by sharing their personal history and theology. This has been strongly recommended by Vatican II: "Young persons themselves ought to become the prime and direct apostles of youth, exercising the apostolate among themselves and through themselves, and reckoning with the social environment in which they live.

Philosophy of Kairos

The purpose of Kairos is to allow the candidates to see the value of his Christian faith as lived and experienced in community, with the support of that community, he can more easily look within himself and find his true worth as a person and his relationship with God and others.

Specific Goals:

1. To call the youth forth to live his faith; to be an active and vital member of the Church, the believing community.
2. To develop Christian leadership potential.
3. To help the student focus his attention to where he is in terms of himself, others and God.
4. To come to a personal understanding of how Christ fits into his life.
5. To afford the student the opportunity to experience both personal and communal prayer and the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation.
6. To enable the student to experience Christian community.
7. To have the student come to an appreciation and value of himself as a young adult, as well as an appreciation and value of those particular people, especially parents, relatives and friends, who make his life meaningful.
8. French Club donated goodie bags they prepared to Delhaven's Annual Christmas Party

Psychology of Kairos

Peer pressure in the teenage years is at a maximum. Often young people are "forced" to say and act in a certain way. The retreat atmosphere allows him to examine his life more freely, openly and honestly.

We need to encounter each other. We need to share experience. The trusting atmosphere of the Christian community facilitates this need. On Kairos, the following develops:

1. There must be a willingness an the part of the candidate to participate.
2. Because of the time together, a cohesiveness develops.
3. The retreatant becomes more receptive to other people, thus sharing a greater degree of self-disclosure (the person I am).
4. He begins to share personal ideas (who I really am).
5. Trusting, open relationships develop. This enhances a condition for positive change. The retreatant becomes tired. His defense mechanism breaks down (physically, psychologically, and emotionally). We must be aware that these emotions are good in themselves.
6. Then he can explore himself more freely and openly without all the defense mechanisms.
7. This results in "community". Persons begin to listen to one another. They discover identification, build up the affirmation of the self, resulting in peace and joy.