As a non-Catholic who had not attended Mass before I came to JC, my best experience by far has been the Mass on junior retreat.

One of the main factors of Mass being so enjoyable was the environment.  We sat in comfortable chairs in a small room, and the intimate feeling helped keep my attention.

While I can’t give exact details because of the confidentiality promise that we made on retreat, the O’Dwyer Retreat House was beautiful and had a sense of holiness, especially in the chapel.  This contrasts sharply with the gym, the only space big enough to accommodate the entire student body, as well as faculty, staff, and family members that come to school Masses.

On retreat, one of the best parts that I saw was that the students all around me were participating and treating the Mass with respect.  The fact that there were only about 50 people at the mass and that I knew them all made it more personal.  The small number of peers ensured that people sang out and took part in the mass unashamedly.

Part of the reverent attitude that everybody adopted on retreat was the fact that we had been immersed in spiritual activities since we got to the retreat house.  We had, as Mrs. Murphy-Dohn said, “retreated” from all of the stress of schoolwork, and we didn’t have to worry about anything outside of the retreat house.

Everybody was relaxed, and that made it okay to take part and enjoy Mass fully, without distractions.

There won’t ever be a way to have a purely retreat-like experience during the school day, which is a good thing, because that’s what makes retreat special.  However, some of the best things about retreat might be able to be duplicated to improve our school Mass.

The comfort of the retreat house might be able to inspire a new worship space in the Master Plan.  Instead of the cold, uncomfortable, and impersonal gym, we could have a place that exemplifies the holiness of Mass and allows people to focus on the service.

Retreat in general was a wonderful way to get away from all of my stress and get to know my fellow juniors.  Even though a lot of my friends were on my retreat, I found that I talked to a lot of people that I ordinarily wouldn’t approach and found out a lot about them.  The Mass simply embodied the fantastic experience that I had.

Martha Schick is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.