Retreats

For over thirty years, we have provided spiritual retreat opportunities for our students here at BSM. The retreats are done by class and are conducted at YMCA Camp Ihduhapi on Lake Independence in Loretto, Minnesota. Mike Jeremiah, BSM’s Campus Minister, is the retreat director. The retreat staff includes other adults from the BSM faculty and staff, Shared Ministers from St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, seniors who are involved in the Peer Ministry program, and BSM alums who have continued to work on the program.

Mike, with the tree that was planted and dedicated to him at Camp Ihduhapi.

The faith formation curriculum includes an all-day retreat for freshman and sophomore during a school day, and all grades have an opportunity to attend an overnight retreat, Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon. Seniors have the opportunity of attending two retreats – one in the winter and one in the spring prior to graduation. These retreats are very different in theme and purpose, so seniors may choose to attend both if they wish. All of the overnight retreats are optional, and it is up to you and your son/daughter to decide whether or not to take advantage of these experiences.

One of our objectives is to build community within the class and to show the true importance of being part of a community of faith, bringing students to a personal understanding of their own faith and its importance in their lives. We consider these times to be truly sacred, providing students with the opportunity to grow in their relationship with God, others, and themselves.

Read a reflection, written by Mike Jeremiah, on the freshman and sophomore retreats, held in February 2011. (Photos from each below.)

Read a reflection, written by Mike Jeremiah, on the Senior Retreat I. (Photos below.)

Shared Ministry: The College Connection

One of the real blessings of our weekend retreat program has always been the number of alums who continue to come back to us to work on these retreats. They have always served as positive role models for our students and have willingly shared their faith and their lives. A number of years ago, I wanted to expand this type of leadership, and so I turned to the campus ministry departments of St. John’s University in Collegeville and the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. They were very interested in this cooperative program, and “Shared Ministry” was born. Every year we have amazing young people from St. John’s and St. Ben’s who make the decision to work with us, and this year seems to be the best yet. The campus ministry staff at St. John’s has always been invaluable at helping me with initial communication and with securing meeting places on campus. With their help, I sent out a campus wide email, inviting interested students to an informational meeting in October. Not only did I have 43 students attend, but over 30 others were very interested but unable to attend the meeting. At this time, I have a total of 79 Shared Ministers who have been trained or will receive training in January. Fifteen of the 79 are our own BSM alums; the remainder of the group are students who simply want to make a difference in sharing their faith and their lives with others. Nineteen Shared Ministers joined us for the first senior class retreat in November, and I’m including the picture below from our weekend together. They are amazing young people and are representative of all the others in the program this year. How very blessed I am to work with them!