In 1967, a dream was born to bring an innovative new retreat program called the Encounter to our young Marists in the USA. In our Marist tradition of Making Jesus Known and Loved, this retreat would seek to bring young people into a real encounter with God’s love and help them to establish a relationship with God, themselves, and others. Since that time, the Encounter has spread throughout our province, impacting the lives of many hundreds of young people each year. Today the dream of the Marist Youth Encounter Christ Retreat continues to grow and innovate. In our ever-changing world with a constant thirst for God, we remain inspired by St. Marcellin Champagnat’s words: “I still firmly believe that God wants this work, in this age when unbelief is making such frightful progress.” And so we celebrate all that has been and remain committed to go into the Fourth Day to continue encountering Christ.
We celebrate this anniversary throughout the year at all three of our province Encounters in Esopus. In particular, next weekend all the schools in our province will be sending participants to Esopus for our first Encounter of the year.
During the evening Encounter Mass on Saturday, November 11, we will recognize Bro. Phil Robert, who was instrumental in the early days of the Encounter.
We celebrate this anniversary throughout the year at all three of our province Encounters in Esopus. In particular, next weekend all the schools in our province will be sending participants to Esopus for our first Encounter of the year.
Let us remember … to pray for each other!
