COR helps teens grow spiritually, emotionally and socially

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Fifty students – 25 from Archbishop Shaw and 25 from Academy of Our Lady high schools in Marrero – attended the recent 28th Cajun Christ in Others (COR) retreat.
 

This family-structured, leadership retreat offers witness talks, group sharing, skits, adoration, confession, Mass celebrated by a Salesian priest who is the religious leader of each retreat, a family-style meal for participants and the creation of a banner.  (All banners from the first COR retreat remain intact.)





“I gained a lot from this retreat,” Academy of Our Lady’s Jayden Jackson said. “I did not just strengthen my relationship with God, but I strengthened my relationship with those around me. I made friends with people I never would have thought to be my friends. It is truly something that everyone should get a chance to experience.”

Salesian Father Steve Ryan, head of school at Archbishop Shaw where the retreat was held, found it beautiful to witness students share the innermost feelings about life and faith with each other and “grow emotionally in community, socially and in their relationship with Jesus.”

Each time he attends, Father Ryan said he gains a growth in his faith and identity as a Salesian “being able to accompany my students from Archbishop Shaw and those from the Academy of Our Lady and to see them have life-changing encounters with their peers and God. These encounters lead to the commitment of discipleship. The experience of a high-powered weekend retreat allows young people to experience the love of God through the warmth and care of the community – their peers especially – and opens their hearts to a deeper love for God and a faith life.” 

How the retreats started
The very first COR weekend was in Stratford, Ontario, in the London Diocese of Canada in 1970. It came to the U.S. at South Bend, Indiana, and, in 1983, Archbishop Shaw, a Salesian school, and the all-girls’ schools, Archbishop Blenk and Immaculata, joined forces for the first COR retreat at Archbishop Shaw. These retreats lasted through 2000.

After a 16-year absence, Lonnie and Janet Taix – COR 8, Shaw class of 1987 and COR 10, respectively –  and other COR alumni revived the retreat in COR 23 in the 2016-17 school year. It’s been their efforts that have kept it alive, Father Ryan said.

Parents and children
This year’s retreat marked the first time former attendees and their children – such as the Taixes’ son, Ryan, Shaw class of 2018 and a COR 23 member – joined forces to lead it.
 
“It’s a leadership retreat mainly open to juniors and seniors who are invited by each school’s staff,” Lonnie Taix said. “Candidates become aware of themselves, their faith, their family and their school community. I know I got a lot out of it when I went on the retreat 34-plus years ago. The leadership and faith-based skills are something I use daily in my life.”

Approximately 1,300 juniors and seniors have attended since the first, the Taixes said. They find COR motivates and encourages attendees to live in Christ and be a leader in all that they encounter.
 
“I was a participant my junior year, and I worked on the retreat team this year as a senior,” Shaw senior Jude Monaco said. “Both years, I gained more insight on who I was and my faith. COR was an experience that helped me to be a better Salesian and taught me to listen to what God is trying to say. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who is offered to go. It is truly a life-changing experience.”
  
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