By: Gabby Kaderli, Contributor
Kairos is a Canisius tradition. Truthfully, it’s actually more of a Jesuit tradition, imbedding itself into many institutions beyond Canisius all around the world. For the sake of this piece, it’s a Canisius tradition, and in my opinion, part of the Canisius journey. I attended Kairos LXVII (67). This means that there were 66 other Kairos retreats that came before mine, and ultimately hundreds – if not thousands – of people who preceded me. That isn’t really something that I took into account when I decided to hop on that big yellow bus with 20 other students and spend the weekend at Cradle Beach.
Initially, I only signed up because some senior told me that attending Kairos should be on my Canisius bucket list. At first, I wasn’t so keen on the idea because I didn’t particularly identify with any particular religion, and especially not with the Catholic faith. However, to my surprise, neither did many of the former retreatants or retreatants signed up to attend Kairos LXVII. After taking all of that into consideration, I decided that a retreat weekend full of new people, new non-dining hall food, and beachy disconnected escape wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. When I packed my bags and lugged them onto the bus, I was greeted with some familiar and unfamiliar faces, but all that excited me to explore the mysteries of Kairos.
It is also in Canisius tradition to say “what happens on Kairos, stays on Kairos,” which unfortunately means that I cannot share with you much of the contents of the retreat itself. What I can say is that all are welcome and that if you are looking for that much needed break, this is it. Kairos provides you with the chance to put away your phone and laptop, to interact with undiscovered friends, and feel seen and loved. I know that is cheesy, but for those who have been on Kairos, you know what I mean. Signing up and attending Kairos can be daunting, but the surprises that lie within the retreat connect thousands of people across the world, and connect you with people that you otherwise would have never met.
(I loved it so much that I led it the next semester!)