Each Brother Martin senior has an immensely important decision to make regarding college in the coming months. Some of us will stay at home, while others will travel across the country. However, all of us will encounter an unprecedented amount of responsibility. Currently, many of us are awakened by our mothers, are reminded to finish our homework by our fathers, and are driven places by our older sister. All of that will soon end.
A large part of this retreat contemplated this newfound responsibility. In small groups, we discussed our college plans and how our lives will change. Also, we contemplated the abstract idea of manhood, a physical and psychological development that is often polluted by the mainstream media or corrupted by our materialistic culture. Therefore, discussing this concept in a pure, open environment was crucial for the development of Christian young men into responsible male adults.
Additionally, I was able to befriend fellow seniors I never even spoke with before. I was laughing with other classmates whose names I did not even know. Now, this may not be a spiritual experience, but I am glad for having the opportunity to draw closer to my peers.
The main point of the retreat is to discover how to achieve one’s manhood and how to accept the responsibilities that follow. We all have a long way to go in fine tuning our manhood and in coping with our responsibilities, but the retreat facilitated discussion of these two critically important aspects of any adult life.
Submitted by Hunter Mathas ‘17
