Mercy High School Holds Retreat Day

Mercy High School recently held a school-wide Retreat Day.  The theme of the retreat, “We’ve Got the Power,” represented its focus on forgiveness, healing and hope.  The retreat was planned and led by student Peer Ministers, a team of seniors who share their gifts, talents and Christian faith with members of the Mercy community and are involved in all areas of prayer, liturgy, and community service.

Mercy High School Peer Ministers present gifts to Immaculee Illibigiza. (Left to right) Sr. Mary McCarthy, Mayrose Gravalec-Pannone, Immaculee Illibigiza and Sara Gmyrek.

Keynote speaker for Retreat Day was Immaculee Ilibigiza, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and author of Left to Tell; Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Ms. Ilibigiza, regarded as one of the world’s leading speakers on peace, faith and forgiveness, has been recognized and honored with numerous humanitarian awards, including the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace and the American Legacy’s Women of Strength & Courage Award.  Her message to the Mercy students was to find strength through love and forgiveness:  “You love because you have it in your heart.  You don’t love people because they deserve it.  You love because they are human beings, because they are creations of God.”

Throughout the retreat day, students met in discussion and activity groups led by Peer Ministers to reflect on the messages that they heard.  According to one student participant: “Retreat Day 2011 was unbelievable!  I think that the theme of forgiveness was very crucial. It showed us how important it is to forgive others.  Immaculée was such a beautiful speaker with a story I’ll never forget.  She was a life size example of how crucial forgiveness is.”  Each student group made Mercy Peace Prayer Baskets, containing their prayers of forgiveness, healing and hope, which were presented during the Retreat Day closing prayer service.