Emmaus Days Retreat (for young men)

EMMAUS DAYS RETREAT
for Young Men
(as conducted in the Joliet Diocese)

a retreat for high school junior and senior young men and recent graduates to learn about:

Meeting the Risen Christ today
Recognizing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Being Catholic Today
Different Ways to Pray

Experience Christian friendship in small groups and through the Emmaus Olympics of sports (basketball, swimming, running, golf, tennis, canoeing) and other (ping-pong, chess, checkers, pool, Catholic trivia) competitions.

Retreat fee: $25.00*
(includes room, food, and materials for entire retreat)
*scholarships available for those in financial need

Sponsored by:

Joliet Diocese Vocation Office,
Augustinians, Carmelites
Benedictines of St. Procopius Abbey
De La Salle Christian Brothers

Some presenters for the retreat include: Joliet Diocese Vocation Director Father John Regan; Augustinian Father John Merkelis, OSA; Benedictine Brother Guy Jelinek, OSB; and De La Salle Christian Brother Tom Sullivan, FSC. Seminarians and young religious will help staff the retreat and lead small groups.

Goals:

To help young men encounter Christ through prayer and in others
To help young men recognize their gifts for service of others
To provide an experience of community building that encourages Christian service
To expose young men to religious life and priesthood as it is lived today

Schedule

Day 1

Time	Event	Person(s) Responsible	Location
9:30 - 10:00 AM	Arrival / Registration / Picture taking (name tags, room assignments)	Seminarians	Lobby
10:00 AM	Welcome / Rules / Ice Breakers
11:00 AM	Small Group 1 (Getting to Know You, Group Building Exercise)	Small group leaders	Small group rooms
11:45 AM	Midday Prayer (Tone Setting: This retreat as a time of focusing on becoming people of courage and conviction for the Gospel, by looking at our experience of the Risen Christ and our being gifted by the Holy Spirit.) Introduce Question Box		Chapel
12:00 Noon	Lunch	Kitchen Staff	Dining Room
12:40 PM	Emmaus Olympics Introduction and Team Meeting
1:00 - 2:15 PM	Session 1: Meeting Christ Today(personal witness) …[Approximately 15 minutes] Small Group 2		Small group rooms
2:15 - 3:30 PM	Emmaus Olympics Session 1
3:45 PM	Session 2: Personal witness stories of our Catholic identity within a faith relationship with Christ. How does being Catholic make a difference to who I am? [8 minutes each]
4:30 PM	Mass		Chapel
5:30 PM	Supper	Kitchen Staff	Dining Room
6:30 PM	Emmaus Olympics Session 2
8:00 - 8:45 PM	Lectio Divina Experience		Chapel
9:00 PM	Reconciliation Sacramental Penance Invitation during this time to write affirmation of gifts for other participants (anonymously, sign as many as you can, avoid reading your own)	All priests	Upper Lounge Small Group Rooms
10:30 PM (flexible)	Small Group 3 (reactions, reflections, etc.)	Small Group Leaders	Small Group Rooms
11:30 PM	Night Prayer (short witness to being centered in Eucharist; quiet Adoration; simple night prayer)		Chapel
12:00 Midnight	Announcements (announcement about Emmaus Walks) Lights Out

Day 2

Time	Event	Person(s) Responsible	Location
8:00 AM	Wake-up	Seminarians
8:30 AM	Breakfast	Kitchen Staff	Dining Room
9:00 AM	Morning Prayer - the prayer of the mystics		Chapel
9:15 / 9:30 AM	Session 3: Priesthood and Religious Life Panel with questions Five groups (Augustinian, Benedictine, Carmelites, DeLaSalle Christian Brother, Diocesan Priests) asked same questions eliciting responses that describes. Can use question box questions.
10:30 AM	Free time / Optional Emmaus Walks	all
12:00 Noon	Lunch	Kitchent Staff	Dining Room
12:45 - 2:00 PM	Session 4: Recognizing and Using the Gifts of the Holy Spirit … introduction on recognizing gifts, with short witness [3 - 4 minutes each] to how gifts were identified and how they have tried to put them to use for the service of others … Guided Meditation on Gifts Small Group 4	Small group leaders	Upper Lounge Small group rooms
2:00 PM	Emmaus Olympics Session 3
3:30 PM	Instructions for Cleanup; Cleanup	Seminarian All	Chapel
4:00 PM	Mass		Chapel
5:00 PM	Dinner / Awards Banquet	Kitchen Staff	Dining Room
6:00 PM	Evaluations & Indications for Follow-up Commissioning Receiving of Affirmations Blessing	Vocation Directors	Chapel

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