A young Wahiawa woman is leading a ‘discernment retreat’ to help her peers determine if HE is punching in your number
CNS photo/Paul Jeffrey
By Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Attention, Catholic gals ages 14-18! Got some free time on May 7? If so, check out the “deets” below on a special event just for you.
Katie Fitter, a young parishioner from Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Wahiawa, has been hard at work putting together a “discernment retreat” for her peers. The retreat is titled “A Look at the Quiet Life,” and it aims to give teens a chance to learn more about the vocation God may be calling them to.
“A Look at the Quiet Life” on May 7 will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Anthony Retreat Center in Kalihi Valley.
The cost to attend the retreat is $5, which includes lunch and snacks. “Scholarships” are available to help with payments. For more information and a sign-up form, email hawaiidiscernmentretreat@gmail.com.
Registration ends May 1.
For the retreat, Katie Fitter has asked nuns from different religious orders, as well as single and married women, to share what their vocations are like. She has lined up a bunch of cool vocation-related activities such as a question-and-answer session, Mass and a meal with the sisters and speakers, a tour of St. Anthony Retreat Center and a “Test Your Calling” online quiz.
Fitter, 18, is a student at Hoala School in Wahiawa. She is also a longtime Girl Scout. The discernment retreat is Fitter’s project for the “Gold Award,” the highest Girl Scout honor.
The Girl Scouts’ official website, www.girlscouts.org, lists seven steps for a Gold Award project. First, a scout must “identify an issue” in her community. She then needs to “get help and build a team.” This team is required to “create a plan” and “present your plan and gather feedback” to tackle the problem.
Lastly, the scout must “take action” and report how she and her team were able to “educate and inspire.”
The Girl Scout Gold Award is an awesome accomplishment. Through it, a scout helps the community and can use that experience for college applications and resumes. The Gold Award can also lead to educational scholarships and military promotions.
Fitter said she was “inspired because of my faith” to do a discernment retreat as her Gold Award project. Before coming to Hawaii, she had seen religious orders for women on the mainland “thriving” with sisters of “all different ages.” Mainland nuns provided opportunities for girls to start pondering their vocations early, particularly in their teenage years.
“I really want to see the same for Hawaii,” Fitter said. “I saw this need. I really want the (religious) communities here to thrive more and more.”
“A Look at the Quiet Life” is the result of almost a year of preparations, Fitter explained. She collaborated on the retreat with many people, including the Diocese of Honolulu Catholic Committee on Scouting and Sacred Hearts Sister Ivy Yim.
So far the Sacred Hearts Sisters, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities and the Daughters of St. Paul have lined up to be at the retreat. The nuns, too, have generously provided informational materials and goodies for “swag bags.”
Fitter has already spoken about the retreat to youth groups at several Oahu parishes. She hopes “at least 10 girls will come,” but feedback has been pretty positive from potential participants interested in exploring their vocation.
“I hope that they can learn to be open to whatever God is calling them to do in their life,” Fitter said. “I hope they gain good knowledge” and “plant the seed” for the future.
Fitter will present a report after the retreat to the Girl Scouts for Gold Award consideration. This process, she said, is “not meant to be easy.” The last time a scout in her service unit earned the award was nearly seven years ago.
Even after her Gold Award project is over, Fitter would like a discernment retreat for teen girls to take place in the Islands regularly. She and her family will be moving from Hawaii soon, but it is her wish that more retreats for local youth will help them consider religious life.
“I hope to keep it going every year,” Fitter said.
