Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him forever!
Summer is around the corner; we all feel its warmth and light calling our names. Naturally, we will begin to yearn for the golden days of the year and plan out all of the fun things we are going to do all summer long. While you are making your plans we, the Byzantine Young Adults, ask that you set aside once again the last weekend of July from Thursday the 25th to Sunday the 28th for our Fourth Annual Young Adult Retreat. This year we will be featuring the interrogative theme: "Can You Walk the Walk?" Our inspiration comes from Matthew 15:8 when Our Lord says "these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." He goes on to say in the next verse that "they worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." This verse calls to attention our commitment to being followers of Christ and our response to the call to live a life with Him at the center.
It is easy to check off all of the boxes of what we are commanded to do like the Pharisee in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. We may fast often, pray obstinately, and evangelize to every person we meet, yet if our hearts do not have Christ living within them our efforts are all in vain. During this retreat, we will be taking a deep look into our hearts to find where they lie-with Christ or with the world. We will examine ourselves and ask if we are truly ready and willing to "walk the walk" that Christ has commanded us to, and what exactly they may look like in today's world. This walk, of course, is one that involves denying ourselves and picking up our own individual cross. This can be confusing and quite difficult at times to even understand, let alone carry out for a lifetime.
Under the guidance of Fr. Tom Loya, we will embark on a four-day journey that will bring us closer to understanding our true calling from Christ. We will blend service, socializing, and spirituality together to create a fun, faith filled, and free weekend in which we can tap into a deeper part of ourselves. The Christian life is all about finding out the reality of our person, the real us as Our Lord intended us to be, and we hope to provide the perfect environment for that. We are so excited and so blessed to be able to have this retreat for a fourth year in a row, and we look forward in great excitement to seeing all of you there.
May God bless you all!
The Byzantine
Young Adults
***PSA*** Our phone number has changed since posting this brochure. If you need to contact us via call/text, please use ‪(216) 505-8195‬. Thanks!
