In a departure from retreats of years past, the highly-regarded Kairos retreat method has been implemented in Noll. It will take place on three separate occasions, each lasting three days; November 19-22, January 21-24, and March 11-14. This year’s juniors will be the first class of Bishop Noll to embark on this different style of spiritual journey.

  “‘Kairos’ means God’s time,” said new campus minister Mr. Dan Masterton.

   The Kairos retreat method first started in 1965 and earned its name in 1979.  It was designed to allow attendees to fully experience closeness with God. It lasts for four days and three nights in which the attendees do not have any outside contact and are left to focus on their relationship with God. Many feel the experience is a life-changing event.

  “It is an extended opportunity to find God,” continued Mr. Masterton.

  Noll is not the only school in the area to embark on the changed style of retreat.  Since Bishop Melczek asked Father Kevin to start the retreat in the diocese of Gary, three Catholic schools in the area have sent leaders to be trained.  Over the 2013 summer, students from Bishop Noll, Andrean, and Marquette Catholic joined to attend one retreat under the guidance of student leaders from Chicago schools St. Viator and St. Ignatius.

  “I look forward to the change I hope to see in them after, and the bond I hope to form with them,” said senior Carissa Jones on leading the juniors on future retreats. She was one of the attendees of the joint Kairos retreat in June.

  Many are curious as to why the juniors are the only current class to be given the privilege of Kairos.

  “They are older and ready for it and they can come back and share what they learned from the experience,” explained Mr. Masterton.

  The Kairos will be paid for via a special retreat fee that will be included in students’ tuitions.