Hello all,
I am a junior at an all-boys Jesuit high school and am trying to help lead and plan our Freshman Retreat that will happen this spring. One of the major things I am trying to do is to find some good songs and scripture verses to use during the retreat. This is what I need help with:
- Retreat Theme Song
Every year we have a theme that the retreat is based on, for example “Light the Fire” or “Catch The Wave” would be good examples of what these themes sound like. For the theme song, we would need a non-religious song with deep meaning related to the theme. Since this year’s theme has not been chosen yet, feel free to let me know of a deeply meaningful, but not inherently religious (i.e. not something like “Jesus, My Savior”).
- Good Songs to use during the Retreat Mass
These should be good songs to use in a high school retreat mass. Note that this is not your typical Sunday Mass, so you can think outside the box a little bit more. Most of the time we use contemporary songs, and one of the staples is “Let the River Flow” from the Spirit and Song album. Because the class population is about 20% non-Catholic, and usually about 8% non-Christian (mostly Muslim), it would probably be prudent to stay away from songs that have more than a good amount of exclusively Catholic innuendo in them. It is not that the school doesn’t believe in a good, Catholic education in line with the church, but in this instance we want to make sure certain people dont feel excluded.
- Good Scripture Verses for the Mass
Because this mass takes place on a Friday night, we only use 1 reading and then the gospel, both of which are chosen differently every year. These should be powerful and uplifting, usually touching on the love of God and love for one another (since it is an all-boys school, one of the staples of this retreat experience is a deep bonding and brotherhood).
Thank you for your suggestions and God Bless!
