Head of Campus Ministry | Mr Paul Antenucci

Year 8 students focus on the concept of life journey during their Emmaus retreat.

Emmaus People

Broken into house groups, Years 7, 8 and 9 camps are followed by retreats. The House Dean, other members of the Campus Ministry team and I meet the boys on Thursday afternoon at the Gregory Terrace Outdoor Education Centre to conclude the week with a retreat. The Year 8 retreat theme is Emmaus, which focuses on the concept of life journey and helps identify the people who have walked beside us.

The students reflect on the Emmaus story in the bible when Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus just after his Crucifixion. One of the key messages of this story is that even in the most troubled times Jesus is walking with the disciples, even though they didn’t recognise him until just before he left. Reflecting on our own lives', we identify our "Emmaus person" as someone who walks beside us on our journey through the good times and the bad, challenging us to be our best and helping us through the tough times in our journey.

Received a letter?

It isn’t too often that young men take the time to reflect on their lives in this way, let alone acknowledge the people who really have been there for them all along their short journey. We challenge the Year 8s to write to their Emmaus Person, to say thank you and explain their importance to them. This isn’t an easy task but the boys do it surprisingly well. The next challenge is for the students to deliver that letter to their Emmaus person. That is the true challenge, not just for the Year 8s, but also for all of us to do sooner rather than later. It takes humility to say ‘thank you’, such a simple task that can be very powerful.