BAY RIDGE — In an effort to allow students to come together and strengthen their faith, Bay Ridge Catholic Academy Principal Paul Morisi invited students from two neighboring schools to participate in a youth retreat at the academy on Dec. 3.
“For this year’s retreat, we’ve invited students from neighboring schools … [because] we think young people seeing other young people praying and worshipping together is important,” Morisi said. “We believe that there is a witness in that presence.”
Morisi invited seventh- and eighth-grade students from St. Ephrem and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic academies to participate in the retreat, which focused on the importance of making their faith an integral part of their identity.
The retreat was led by missionaries from the National Evangelization Teams (NET), an organization that enables young adults to proclaim the gospel to young people nationwide through talks, small group activities, personal testimonies, and prayer.
Elizabeth Maloney, a NET missionary who oversees marketing and media for her team, said the retreat’s theme was “Free Indeed, Identity in Christ.”
“Today’s talk is about your identity as a child of God — just knowing that all of their identities will become a burden or become lost, but your identity as a child of Christ will set you free,” Maloney said.
Father James Kuroly, director of youth and young adult ministry for the diocese, requested that Bay Ridge Catholic Academy host the retreat.
When her school was invited, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Principal Kristen Lavelle said she “booked the buses right away.” She viewed the retreat as a valuable chance for her students to connect and learn from new and like-minded people.
“For as long as I’ve been principal, this is the first time we’ve been invited to a retreat at a local school,” Lavelle said. “So, we were very excited to bring our students here, for them to visit other students the same age as them, kind of going through similar things.”
Karolyn Filpo, an eighth-grade student from Our Lady of Perpetual Help, said this was her first Catholic retreat. She said she was familiar with Catholic retreats because her mom goes on them, but she didn’t expect it to be so “powerful.”
“I feel like I learned something new about God and how I should always put my heart and trust into him,” Filpo said. “My favorite part was when we all got into groups and got to know each other.”
St. Ephrem seventh-grader Robert Palmese also enjoyed the activities and connecting with the other students during his first retreat. He said he walked away with an important lesson.
“I really appreciate how they spoke to us because they helped me notice that I’m not trying to find my true self,” Palmese said. “I am trying to be who people want me to be, but I should be myself and ask God to help me find [my true self].”
