Retreats
Kairos Weekend Retreat
The Office of Mission and Ministry sponsors the Kairos weekend retreat, currently held at the Marist Brothers Center in Esopus, N.Y.
Kairos is translated from ancient Greek and means, "the appointed time in the purpose of God." Thus, the group comes to understand what it means to be and act on God’s time. This student-led retreat engages students in reflection on and affirmation of their relationships with God, with each other, and with themselves.
Group and personal reflections help to promote personal insight, foster community, and inspire active involvement and service. Students often return with a renewed awareness of their own giftedness and enthusiasm for the spiritual life.
Monthly follow-up meetings, called "4th Day" meetings, foster on-going faith development and discovering.
2020-21 Kairos Weekend Retreats
- November 20-22, 2020
- April 9-11, 2021
For more information, contact Benjamin Mead at bmead@iona.edu or (914) 637-2771.
Retreat for Busy People
“I’m too busy for a retreat!”
“I don’t have the time to go away and pray, reflect or anything like that.”
At times, we may think those thoughts, and they may even be true. But there are times when we need to slow down a little, to find that time and maybe a place to breath, to reflect, to pray and to see where we are on our journey with God as we understand God. It may not be for a weekend or for a week at some retreat house far away. It can take place on campus or in your room by taking some time for you and with a guide to walk with you for a brief time.
Once each semester, for one week, the Office of Mission and Ministry offers a Retreat for Busy People. You meet with a guide of your choosing for about 30 minutes or so at a mutually agreed upon a time. You are given a booklet which each day offers reading from scripture, as well as some points and questions for reflection. You are invited to find some time alone to read and reflect on the readings and the questions. When you meet with your guide, you share together how the readings spoke to you. The questions can generate a conversation between the two of you that can be beneficial for both of you. Each session ends with a prayer.
We start on Sunday evening after the Mass. It is then that you are introduced to your guide and decide on when a good time to meet during the week would be. You will try to meet each day, Monday - Thursday. On Friday, we all gather for a luncheon and a chance to share how the week went for both of you. The luncheon offers a time for shared reflection and meeting others on the journey with you.
In the fall, the Retreat for Busy People runs from October 18-23, 2020.
Looking ahead to the spring semester, the Retreat for Lent will take on a different format. Rather than meet once a day for week, you meet once a week with your guide to help you journey through the season of Lent. It helps to remind us that Lent is the great retreat of the Church and prepares us for the celebrations of Holy Week.
If you are interested and would like to find out more, please email Fr. Gerard at gmulvey@iona.edu.