Senior Ryker John Emnace reflects on his time at Senior Retreat this past November.
Going into my senior overnight retreat, I did not know what to expect as I arrived at Brother Martin on a bright Sunday in November. I was just leaving a retreat at my own church and felt somewhat scared. In the Branton Chapel Coach Wisniewski’s talk made me think about how ungrateful I have been with things God has blessed me with. I have a whole family: my Mom, Dad, and Sister. I never had to deal with divorce or loss of a parent. After that talk I began to reflect on my life so far.
At the retreat I attended before leaving for last Brother Martin retreat, I received two things that seemed unimportant, but turned out to be meaningful. Those two things could be found in the Bible: “He must increase and I must decrease” and “This is my son with whom I am well pleased.” With these two passages I realized that going into this retreat I needed to take a step back this weekend and just let God in and to realize that God loves me despite what I have done.
I have come to realize that prayer is much more powerful than most people think. When I am told sometimes that faith comes so easily to me, I tell people it really does not. My faith, like other things such as school, takes work. After the retreat, I pray that my fellow classmates understand and recognize that it is okay to share your faith with others for it makes you so much happier even in the bad times.
There were a lot of significant moments in this retreat that meant a lot to me. By going outside in the quiet of the woods, I felt that I was taking a break from the real world and my cell phone. I entered the retreat with an open mind, ready to listen rather than just ask, and God just really spoke to me through his creation. At nighttime when I was just sitting on a bench looking at the stars, I immediately thought of the time that Jesus told Abraham in a story that his descendants would be as bountiful as the stars in the sky. Overall, my senior retreat was a memorable experience that I will not forget for many years to come. I have so many people I am proud to call my brothers whether I am out on the field or in the classroom.
– Reflection written by Brother Martin Senior, Ryker John Emnace, Class of 2018.
