EMBOLDEN RETREAT RECAP

Returning as a senior to my third Embolden Retreat, I was blessed by my experience with other Catholic youth in New Jersey. This year's theme was “Fulfilled,” and throughout the course of the weekend, we were taken on a journey of fulfillment.

On Friday evening, we began with Stuffed -- not filled, but stuffed. There are things in all of our lives which take up space, time, or energy, but which don't fulfill us: the distractions, the worries, the vices. After a talk and a time of reflection, we were all invited to participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation and to empty ourselves of all that did not originate from God. That led us to the second stage of our journey: Emptied. As human beings, we were not created to be empty; we were created to be filled. So we tend to have a fear of emptiness, and when we don't trust God to fill us, we try to fill ourselves. We were called to trust God to fill us, because he made us and knows what will truly fulfill us. During the third stage in our journey, Filling, we took time to become instruments of God's work in filling our hearts by affirming one another in our small groups.

On Saturday evening, the pinnacle of the retreat, we prayed before the Eucharist in a time of adoration, adoring the one who had emptied Himself for us all. On Sunday morning, we received our final talk on being filled to Overflowing. Afterward in our small groups we discussed the changes we could make to our lives in order to allow Christ to overflow in our lives. We returned repeatedly to John 10:10. "I came so that they might have life and have it to the full."

Over the course of the retreat, I experienced young Christians who desired this fullness of life. In my small group, I saw girls in different grades, from different parishes, and at different stages in their faith life, and it was beautiful to see every one of them opening up and contributing to our discussions. This Embolden Retreat served as a reminder, an encouragement, and an invitation for me to truly empty myself of my own selfish desires and allow the Spirit to fill me with His desires and His love. It was a call to courage in emptying myself so that Christ could fill and fulfill me.

-Angelina, Ignite Senior

2025 Embolden Retreat attendees and staff