On Friday of third quarter exam week, the freshman class gathered on campus for their Freshman Retreat. For this special occasion marking their transition into the the last quarter of their 9th grade year at Jesuit, Blue Jays heard four talks all on the theme of love.

The first talk, “Love and its Obstacles”, was given by Jason Angelette, the director of Faith and Marriage Apostolate at Willwoods Community, a Catholic non-profit in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Freshmen then heard from seniors Roland Waguespack, who gave a talk on love of Family, and Killian Lyon, who gave a talk on love of friends. Each talk was followed by activities relating to the talk’s topic led by the junior and senior leaders; activities included sports, letter-writing, and small group activities.

After a pizza lunch, the freshmen heard from Fr. Andrew Gutierrez, parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Sienna, who shared his life story and how it relates to love of God. Fr. Gutierrez’s talk was followed by a Eucharistic Procession making stops throughout the school, with a special stop at the Carrollton doors to bless the entire city of New Orleans. The procession ended with confessions and Mass in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs.