Chaplaincy

Retreating, Retreating ...

No, we're not referring to the temperatures that hit us last week in Gloucestershire: Last week was Year 7 Retreat week. All 240 of our newest recruits at St Peter's spent a day each out of their usual school environment. This meant they didn't have to wear school uniform; they had to bring an object that was special to them and they had to be prepared to share with other yr 7 students (complete strangers) what the story was behind their special object.

They did brilliantly. The stories we discovered would have filled a book. But they remain at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Stroud, which, thanks to our chaplain, Mandy Baker, continues to be a welcome host and friend to St Peter's. Our newest pupils learned about each-other, about God's love for them and about their own purpose in life. We drew our life-maps, we listened to those whose lives have changed course dramatically, we meditated through a beautifully presented metaphor of a caterpillar and a butterfly, with our priest, Fr Kevin Hennessy; we basked in the glorious lunchtime sunshine in the lawns of St Roses school (whilst also squeezing in a sponsored walk for CAFOD's Harvest appeal – how do we do it ?) and we spent time before the crucifixion scene inside the church, laying aside our anxieties and past hurts, ready to face the future as representatives of St Peter's. On the bus journey home to school, many of our young people talked about the words of St Teresa of Avila, which we looked at on retreat: God, you have no hands but ours and no feet but ours, help us to do your work. And as they got off the bus, the next generation of young Catholics to arrive at the school could say that they had begun their St Peter's journey. Yr 7's next retreat will be a residential event in the Spring of Yr 8.