The beginning of freshman year brings change quickly. Students enter a new school, meet new classmates, learn new routines, and begin figuring out where they fit.
For freshmen at John Paul II High School, those changes became the setting for a deeper conversation during the annual Freshman Retreat on August 26th at Camp Copass.
This year’s retreat focused on Identity in God the Father. The talks and prayer experiences invited students to consider where their identity is rooted when so much around them is new, and to recognize God the Father as the one who remains present and faithful through every change.
Throughout the day, freshmen stepped away from their normal school routines for Mass, student and faculty reflections, small-group conversations, recreation, Eucharistic Adoration, confession, and prayer. The experience gave the class time to grow in faith while building relationships with one another at the beginning of their high school journey.
A Retreat for a Season of Change
The Freshman Retreat came early in the school year, while students were still learning names, navigating schedules, and adjusting to a new community.
That timing helped shape the day’s central message. Freshman year can bring excitement and opportunity, but it can also bring uncertainty. New surroundings, new peers, and new expectations can make questions about identity feel especially immediate.
The retreat asked students to look beyond those changing circumstances and consider an identity grounded in God the Father.
The day began on the JPII campus before students traveled together to Camp Copass. Once there, icebreakers, group activities, and small-group conversations gave freshmen opportunities to meet classmates outside their usual circles and begin building stronger connections as a class.
Faith at the Center of the Day
Catholic identity was not an addition to the retreat. It was the foundation of the day.
JPII chaplain Fr. Mark celebrated Mass with the freshman class and delivered the homily. Having their school chaplain celebrate Mass gave students another opportunity to hear from him and get to know the priest who will be part of their spiritual life at JPII.
Later in the afternoon, Fr. Jose Francis led Eucharistic Adoration accompanied by praise and worship. Students also had opportunities for confession and prayer chairs during Adoration.
For many freshmen, that time in Adoration became a defining part of the retreat. Retreat leaders heard from numerous students afterward that Adoration was their favorite part of the day.
The response was significant because the retreat’s central message was not only something students heard in a talk. The day gave them space to encounter that message through worship, silence, the sacraments, and prayer.
At John Paul II High School, Catholic identity is foundational. Retreats are one way students are given time away from the normal academic schedule to deepen their relationship with God and consider how faith shapes who they are becoming.
Stories of Identity and God’s Presence
The retreat also gave freshmen the opportunity to hear from members of the JPII community about their own faith experiences.
Connor Stoneham shared his testimony and the story of his walk with Christ. His reflection gave students a peer perspective on what a relationship with Christ can look like as they begin their own high school experience.
Later, Reed Proctor of JPII Campus Ministry shared stories from his own life and spoke about the ways God had been present through it all.
The talks reinforced the retreat’s focus on identity in God the Father. Rather than treating faith as an abstract idea, both speakers connected it to lived experience and to the presence of God through change, challenge and growth.
Small-group conversations following the talks gave freshmen time to process what they had heard, listen to one another and connect the retreat’s themes to their own lives.
Growing Together as a Class
The retreat also created space for students simply to spend time together.
Freshmen shared lunch with their small groups and took part in group games and free time at Camp Copass. Those less formal parts of the day gave students a chance to relax, compete, laugh, and continue getting to know classmates outside the classroom.
That community-building reflected Different by Design. Together. JPII intentionally fosters a culture in which young men and women challenge, support, and bring out the best in one another. For the freshman class, the retreat offered an early opportunity to begin building that kind of community.
The combination of prayer, reflection, conversation, and recreation also helped students experience the retreat as a full day of formation rather than a series of presentations.
The First Step in a Four-Year Retreat Journey
The Freshman Retreat marked the beginning of a retreat journey that will continue throughout students’ four years at JPII.
This year’s freshman retreat centered on Identity in God the Father. The themes of the remaining class retreats will continue that formation by exploring different facets of God as students progress through high school.
For freshmen, beginning with God the Father placed the question of identity at the center of the experience.
High school will continue to bring changes. Friendships will develop. Responsibilities will increase. Students will discover new interests and encounter new challenges.
The retreat reminded them that their deepest identity does not have to change with every new circumstance. It can remain rooted in the God who is present throughout it.
By the time the freshmen returned to campus, they had spent the day worshiping together, hearing personal stories of faith, talking in small groups, building relationships, and making time for prayer.
For many, Adoration stood out as the moment that brought the day together.
The retreat gave the Class of 2030 a starting point for the years ahead: amid the changes of high school, they can continue to ask who they are while learning to ground that answer in God the Father.
About John Paul II High School
John Paul II High School (JPII) is a coeducational, college-preparatory private Catholic high school in Plano, Texas, and the only Catholic high school in Collin County. Different by Design and Catholic by Choice, JPII combines rigorous college preparation with a faith-filled, student-centered experience where students are known, challenged, and given meaningful opportunities to grow academically, pursue their interests, lead, and serve.