On Monday Jan. 29, Christ Cathedral hosted the I Thirst Eucharistic Revival Retreat and welcomed all Orange County Diocesan High Schools to attend. Rosary Academy and Servite High School were in attendance along with JSerra, Santa Margarita, and Mater Dei.
The retreatants began the day in the main cathedral where they participated in praise and worship and fellowship led by the Damascus Missionaries and NET ministers. Preceding the Mass, senior Luke Greenlee ’24 shared his testimony about his relationship with the Eucharist and his experience as a young Catholic and Servite brother. The guest speaker and assistant director of events at Life Teen International, David Calavitta, preached to the congregation about the transformative power of the Eucharist and set the tone for the rest of the day with his inspiring story of faith.
The retreatants celebrated Mass with Bishop Timothy Freyer, Deacon Tom Saenz, Deacon Steve Greco, and other visiting chaplains. After the celebration of the Mass, junior Bella Vecchione ’25 spoke about her encounter with Christ through the Eucharist and her journey as a woman of faith at Rosary.
After a short intermission, the retreatants were separated between men and women and received talks from keynote speakers. The keynotes spoke to the importance of identity as sons and daughters in Christ.
Following lunch, the retreatants came together to hear from Dan DeMatte, the executive director of the Damascus Catholic Mission Campus, who captured their attention with a flame throwing and machete juggling stunt. After his theatrics, DeMatte gave a testimony about the power of the Eucharist to defeat darkness and temptation in the modern world.
To close the day, Bishop Thomas Thanh Thai Nguyen brought forth the Blessed Sacrament, which was accompanied by a time of silent reflection, adoration, and praise and worship music. Retreatants were given the opportunity to come face to face with Christ in the most holy presentation of the Eucharist during adoration. A featured trailer of Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist was previewed at the end of the retreat; the film explores the biblical origins of the Eucharist and will be released next summer.
The I Thirst Eucharistic Revival Retreat was a great success and provided students with the chance to become renewed in the Eucharist and encounter Christ’s transformative power. Thank you to Christ Cathedral and the Diocese of Orange for making this retreat possible.