Celebrating Kairos 125: 27 years of ‘Living the 4th'

A group of 25 seniors, led by a team of 6 of their peers and 5 faculty members, experienced McNicholas High School’s 125th Kairos retreat.  The retreat looked a little different this year with COVID-19 protocols in place, but the spirit and impact of the retreat remain.

 The Kairos program affords students an opportunity to step away from the distractions of everyday life and see how God is at work in their lives.  Through the sharing of life experiences, students are able to ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’ and understand their own life experiences better.

Theology teacher and Kairos Retreat Coordinator, Mrs. Mary Beth Sandmann, said, “Through Kairos, students are given the opportunity to look deeply at the very good and loving people that they are. They come to realize that they have been given much from our Loving God, and that they have much to offer.”

The Kairos tradition began for the McNicholas High School community in the spring of 1994, when Mrs. Donna Bambach accompanied 10 juniors on a Kairos retreat given by Fenwick High School. When those 10 students began their senior year in the fall of 1994, they prepared and gave the retreat to their McNicholas classmates.

The Fenwick High School retreat team presented McNicholas with a wooden Kairos cross to be used in liturgies and Chapel Visit. That same cross has passed through the hands of all Kairos participants and continues to pass through the hands of Kairos retreatants to this day.

Mrs. Sandmann added, “We are grateful for the gift of this retreat experience, built on the rich gifts of love and service of our many alumni who have given this retreat to their peers, passing it on one group at a time, through 27 years of Kairos 4th day living.”

Through Kairos, students are given the opportunity to look deeply at the very good and loving people that they are. They come to realize that they have been given much from our Loving God, and that they have much to offer.

Mary Beth Sandmann '79