On April  29th, the 8th grade from St. Rose left for their confirmation retreat at the St. Malo Retreat Center in the Rocky Mountains.  Mr. Tate Hallahan (the religion teacher), Laurie Lopez (the RE director at the parish), and myself set off with 16 eighth graders for an overnight retreat.  The retreat center is about an hour and half drive north of Denver into the mountains. The drive itself was beautiful and most of the students were frantically taking pictures on their phones of the gorgeous scenery they passed.  

The retreat center is also part of a beautiful setting.  It was originally built in the 1910s and was used as a children's camp.  Then in the 1980s major renovations took place and it became a adult retreat haven as well.  This is one of the places that Pope John Paul II stayed when he was in Denver for the 1993 World Youth Day.  There are several plaques marking the trails he walked on as part of his visit.  

The retreat theme was "To Know, Love, and Serve the Lord."  We began on Wednesday evening with a introduction to the camp and facilities and then a talk about what it means to "know" Christ.  We then walked down to a BEAUTIFUL stone chapel set on a little hill.  There the students were introduced (most for the first time) to Eucharistic Adoration.  The students were very moved by this and spend a lot of time praying and reflecting in the chapel.  We were also lucky enough to have the priest from St. Rose, Father Jerry, at the retreat with us so he could hear confessions for the students. 

After a short nights rest, we held our second two sessions about what it means to "love" and to "serve" Christ.  We were then able to really take advantage of the St. Malo facility and staff.  The students got to take a short mini-hike to the top of a boulder for some great views and a few photo opportunities.  Then they were divided into two groups and did some outdoor activities on working together that tied in with sin and hearing God's voice (especially in the midst of all the "noise" our world creates).  We finished with a quick lunch followed by mass, again in the stone chapel and then headed back to Denver.  The students had a wonderful time.  Many commented that they had never been to such a beautiful place and that it was a very spiritual and wonderful retreat.  They were grateful to go, especially two weeks before their confirmation.  It allowed them a chance to reflect and think about what they were preparing to do.  Mr. Hallahan did a great job coordinating this culminating event for their confirmation class.

There are some great pictures below of the students enjoying the outdoors but I wanted to add some special thank yous as well.  Most of you know that Ryan and I teach at an inner-city Catholic school.  98% of our students are on some sort of scholarship or tuition assistance.  This type of retreat/opportunity is not one that our students get very often.  They would not have been able to afford to pay the cost of this retreat themselves.  So I would like to THANK all those who donated money to the "Be yellow/St. Rose" fund so that my students could have this amazing, and hopefully life-changing experience.  Special thanks goes out to George and Vi Hoffman (i.e. Boompa and Meema), Chet and Carolyn Miller (Mom and Dad), and Joe and Lisa Hagan (our friends here in Denver).  

Words cannot express my deep gratitude for you generosity towards my students.  There are many times in life they draw the "short-end" of the stick- but during these two days, they were at the top of the world!