The Gift of a Weekend with Fellow Catholic GSB Students

Bolstered by your support, GSB students experience the immeasurable value of Retreat

GSB students leave behind the daily Stanford distractions and stress to enjoy God’s beauty and each other. 

Retreats are a special opportunity to explore faith in a tranquil environment. Beyond the fever of modern life, they offer a chance to refresh and revitalize among friends, and in this case. But while retreats are a time for slowing down, they are rarely “business as usual,” even for our deacon, John Kerrigan, who has been leading retreats for many years. Recently, he shared a story of the wonderfully rich, and surprising, evening down in Carmel with Graduate School of Business (GSB) students and their families.

As someone who spent over 20 years in sales and client relationship management, I discovered that it's best to start a meeting with, "I'm here to discuss X, but before I do, I would like to hear your thoughts on the topic, so we can focus on what's most important to you."

Midway through dinner on the second evening of the GSB retreat, on a beautiful autumn evening in Carmel, I began by stating, "I was asked to talk about some of the non-negotiables of Christian life. Before I do so, what are your thoughts on the subject?" In response to that question, we had an hour-long wide-ranging, honest, vibrant and at times poignant discussion on a variety of topics, including prayer, belief, relationships, church teaching and discipleship. Most of it tied into the points I was prepared to make. In the end, I gave an executive summary of my original presentation, which was perfectly sufficient. Our retreat dinner was a vivid example of how, in breaking bread, sharing wine and being in "communion" through transparent sharing, the Spirit of the Lord was very much alive and active
among us.

You made it possible: An opportunity for conversions of the heart on prayer, belief, relationship, church teaching and discipleship.