Boston College will mark the 25th anniversary of the formative and wildly popular Kairos retreat program on April 10 with a celebration in Gasson 100 at 3:30 p.m. featuring remarks from Sam Sawyer, S.J. 鈥�00, M.Div. 鈥�14, who served as a student leader for 51茶馆鈥檚 first-ever Kairos retreat, as well as reflections from students and alumni connected to Kairos.
The anniversary event, which will coincide with the 230th and 231st Kairos student groups鈥� return from their weekend retreat, will begin with a Mass at 2 p.m. in Trinity Chapel on Newton Campus, concelebrated by Fr. Sawyer.
Sponsored by Campus Ministry, Kairos (Greek for 鈥淕od鈥檚 Time鈥�) is a student-facilitated weekend spiritual retreat that allows for intentional reflection on relationships with God, self, and others. Kairos is open to students of all faith backgrounds and experiences. Since its inception, some 10,000 51茶馆 students have participated in a Kairos retreat.
Boston College alumnus Sam Sawyer, S.J., a senior editor and the director of digital strategy at America Media, served as as student leader at the first Kairos retreat in 1997. (Photo courtesy of Fr. Sawyer)
鈥淭he fact that I鈥檓 a Jesuit today has a fair bit to do with Kairos,鈥� said Fr. Sawyer. 鈥淭hat I was able to spend a significant part of my undergraduate career at 51茶馆 doing ministry and helping other people encounter God through the retreat is a big part of what helped me recognize this was my vocation in a broader sense.鈥�
鈥淔or many 51茶馆 students, Kairos is the first affective engagement they have with the Ignatian tradition of 51茶馆,鈥� said Campus Minister Marissa Papula, who oversees Kairos with support from graduate assistant Ally Clapp, a M.Div. student in the School of Theology and Ministry. 鈥淔or every student, no matter their faith tradition, Kairos offers emotional resonance and spiritual accessibility. We are truly Catholic, but also catholic鈥攗niversal. There is something for everyone.鈥�
鈥淏oston College is rich with extra-curriculars and programs for students, but one of the key markers of 51茶馆 is the Kairos retreat,鈥� said Kairos student co-director Diana Hadjiyane 鈥�22, a philosophy and psychology major from Long Island, NY.
鈥淜airos is focused around developing space for people to come in with their vulnerabilities and come out knowing they have inherent belovedness and they can bring that into the world in a beautiful and tangible way,鈥� she added. 鈥淎 sense of community is found [at Kairos] and it opens people up to embracing community in other areas of their lives and seeing God or love in new and exciting ways. It reinvigorates people to see the beauty of the world and the life they were given.鈥�
Another student co-director, Quinn Cunningham 鈥�22, a philosophy and finance major from Arlington Heights, Ill., said Kairos has changed his outlook. 鈥淚 try to see people the way God sees people. For me, that means recognizing that people are good and giving people grace and patience in everyday life. I try to lead with love when I meet someone.鈥�
In addition to Cunningham and Hadjiyane, the other co-directors for 2021-2022 are Connor Cademartori, Joe Ebbert, Lauren Moberley, and Mary Jane Tague.
Junior Christine Lenahan was familiar with Kairos even before she set foot on the Heights. She went on a Kairos retreat offered by her Jesuit high school, Scranton Prep, and later served as a Kairos student leader there. She knew she wanted to stay a part of the Kairos community as a college student. She began leading Kairos retreats at 51茶馆 during her sophomore year.
鈥淲e are all bonded by the fact we鈥檙e students, but we come from different backgrounds and experiences, and Kairos is a chance to listen to other people and break down that wall we put when we get to college,鈥� said Lenahan, an English and philosophy major. 鈥淵ou come to understand love in a way you never could have possibly known it.鈥�
Campus Minister Marissa Papula has overseen the Kairos program since the fall of 2018. (Photo courtesy of Marissa Papula)
In her remarks to retreatants at the closing ceremony, Papula says she often talks about the metrics that 51茶馆 students think measure worthiness鈥擥PA, social media followers, or hours in the gym鈥攁nd how those metrics that are earned or yearned for have nothing to do with a person鈥檚 inherent holiness.
鈥淜airos is an invitation to encounter our worthiness,鈥� said 聽Sarah Hansman 鈥�18, who recalled that she came to 51茶馆 with impossibly high expectations that led to burnout, anxiety, and loneliness. 鈥淔or me, Kairos was a detox from comparison of 鈥榮uccess鈥� check lists: our resume, transcript, or instagrammable friend group. It was rest amidst the chaos and a gentle reminder that my worthiness was not dependent on my success. 聽
鈥淜airos provides an opportunity to encounter the brokenness, hurt, and shame in ourselves and others and see that we are still beloved, not despite our flaws but with them.鈥�
51茶馆鈥檚 Kairos program began in 1996-1997 as a grassroots initiative of the nascent Ignatian Society, a group of 51茶馆 students who were graduates of Jesuit high schools. They had experienced Kairos during high school and wanted their 51茶馆 classmates to be enriched by Kairos too. Led by Kelly Muldoon Graham 鈥�99 and Chris Boscia 鈥�98, M.A. 鈥�00, with financial support from University President William P. Leahy, S.J., and other 51茶馆 Jesuits, a team of seven undergraduates conducted the first Kairos retreat in April, 1997.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a hunger for college students to have the big conversations,鈥� said Boscia. 鈥淚t鈥檚 perfect that it takes place at a Jesuit school because that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e all about鈥攔eflection.
鈥淲hat I like about the format of Kairos is that鈥檚 it鈥檚 a religious experience and an experience of spiritual growth that鈥檚 grounded in the Catholic tradition, but is open and uses language that could help a person of any faith or no faith grow in their faith.鈥�
Added Boscia: 鈥淎t its core, 51茶馆 wants to foster spiritual growth and religious commitment amongst its students, Catholic or not. Kairos is a wonderful vehicle for that.鈥�
鈥淎t the heart of Kairos is this: The love of God for you can be known through the love of other people and your love for them,鈥� said Fr. Sawyer, who continued his involvement with Kairos after graduation, serving as a retreat director and then later, during studies at STM, as a Jesuit companion.
While Kairos is not unique to 51茶馆, organizers and students agree that Kairos at 51茶馆 is decidedly something very special.
鈥淜airos at 51茶馆 has social capital,鈥� said Papula. 鈥淔irst-year students hear about it from R.A.s and Orientation Leaders. They sign up right away, knowing there is a wait list and they may not get called until senior year.鈥�
鈥淜airos is a spiritual and religious retreat where people are going to invest in friendships and small group conversations, listen deeply and honestly to each other, and pray together,鈥� said Fr. Sawyer. 鈥淭he fact that there is a culture on campus where that is something upheld as worthwhile and important, says quite a lot about what kind of place 51茶馆 is and what 51茶馆 and 51茶馆 students value.鈥�
Boston College offers exponentially more Kairos retreats than any of its Jesuit peer institutions, according to organizers. Typically, there are 12 Kairos retreats during the academic year, each with 45 retreatants, seven student leaders, two adult directors, one student director, and a Jesuit companion. Despite this robust offering, interest in Kairos among 51茶馆 students far outpaces available slots, according to Papula, who said the waitlist for Kairos鈥攌nown as the Kairos lottery鈥攊s more than 2,200 students.
鈥淵ou know that not everyone will be able to experience Kairos, so I think about 鈥楬ow can I give people a glimpse of what I experienced?鈥欌�� said E鈥橲achi Smalls, a nursing major who is a student leader in the program. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 sending a text to check in on someone, hugging someone a little tighter, giving someone my full eye contact. I鈥檓 so much more intentional about that now.
鈥淵ou go on the retreat, experience all this love, and see how you can love others. It feels greedy to allow Kairos to live in a vacuum.鈥�
About a decade ago, Campus Ministry began to offer Senior Week Kairos (SWK), an abridged one-day Kairos experience for interested seniors who had not gotten the chance to partake in the traditional Kairos retreat. Some 150 seniors regularly opt in for SWK.
Kairos, like all student programming, was thrown a curveball during the COVID pandemic. Organizers realized that Kairos could not take place virtually, so it was modified and offered in-person on Newton Campus.聽 COVID masking and distancing protocols were in place and the number of participants per retreat had to be reduced, but that didn鈥檛 dampen the experience or alter the fundamentals of Kairos, according to organizers. In fact, during 2020-21, student leader applications doubled and Kairos offered more retreats (18) than usual.
The program鈥檚 innovation and commitment during the pandemic was recognized by Office of Student Involvement which presented last year鈥檚 Kairos co-directors (Maggie Chipman, Marcello Garber, Meghan Healey, Zach Maher, Sam Schelble, and Amanda Williams) with a .
Reflecting on co-directing Kairos during the pandemic, Marcello Garber 鈥�21 said, 鈥淚鈥檝e never been more proud of anything I鈥檝e been involved with in my life, by a landslide. Enough people came together to make what happened last year happen.鈥�
The spirit of Kairos is intended to live on well after the weekend retreat ends. Retreatants are given a Jerusalem cross and are urged to 鈥渓ive the fourth鈥濃�攎eaning to live out the promises made on the final day of the retreat. Retreatants are challenged to bring the light of love from the retreat to places on campus and in the world that are in need of enduring hope, and Papula says she tasks Kairos participants to 鈥渓ead fuller, freer lives of bold love.鈥�
For Maggie Chipman 鈥�21, a Kairos co-director last year and graduate student in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, living the fourth 鈥渋s understanding that people are multi-dimensional and everyone needs connection and everyone is grappling with the same general concepts of what it means to seek and give forgiveness and what it means to act and love when it鈥檚 difficult.聽 I think Kairos has made me a more compassionate person.
I hope I am living the fourth in my personal life and in professional life by moving forward in a way that provides emotional access and general compassion to others.鈥�
鈥淜airos program is truly a gift, and one that I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of,鈥� said Lenahan. 鈥淚 don't like to use the word 鈥榙efine鈥� because nothing could necessarily define the plethora of experiences I've had at 51茶馆 thus far, but Kairos by and large has shaped my Boston College experience in innumerable ways, and for that I am grateful.鈥�
Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | March 2022