Search
Junior Andre Sale was hoping on attending the Oklahoma State spring game on Saturday, April 18, but his mother had already made other plans. She had signed him up for Search #136, and she wasn’t changing her mind.
Andre Sale and Taylor Loeb after Search #136
“I was bummed, but I was open to it,” said Sale.” I thought since I’m here it’s God’s will for me, and I might as well make the most of this experience. Many of my friends around school and CYM(Catholic Youth Ministry) at CTK (Christ the King) were constantly telling me to go and how fun it would be, so I also thought if they all loved it, than it can’t be that bad.
“I felt like a totally new person after Search. Over the weekend I had realized some of my habits were really hurting my relationship with Christ and important people in my life. I also realized that even though I had made some pretty bad mistakes in my past that Christ had forgiven me,” said Sale.
Brian Williams and Tara Cook, #136 Table parents
Search is short for Searching Christian Maturity. It’s a retreat put on by the diocese of Little Rock usually three times a year. Its purpose is to equip junior and senior Christians with the tools to live out their faith in their lives. Upperclassmen that have started their search already and wish to help others begin theirs run the retreat. Having the youth run the retreat allows the Searchers to see that many of the problems in their lives are common in other teenagers’ lives and that with Christ and each other, they can be overcome. It was started in 1969 and since then has helped 136 groups of youth begin their journey for Christian maturity.
The weekend is full of talks given by Inside Team (I.T.) members, small table discussions, performances given by the Outside Team (O.T.) and a few surprises. The talks given by the IT are about their personal struggles in life, how they found Christ, and advice they give on common teenage struggles. Mount Saint Mary’s senior Tara Cook, #131 and I. T. #136 gave the talk “Jesus, my Family, and Me,” at Search #136.
Cook said, “The I.T. talks are essentially a piece of a person’s life journey. They take an obstacle or trial in that person’s life, and explain how God revealed himself through these obstacles. They teach the Searchers that no matter what, they are not alone and God is always there for them and forgives them for everything with his unconditional love. Writing my Search talk was extremely hard; however, through it, I was able to come to terms with something I had been avoiding for a while. It’s weird how you’re supposed to give a witness talk about how God showed himself to you, yet he continues to reveal more of himself as you’re writing and all of your emotions just come together.”
Senior Steve Rodriguez attended Search #136. He said, “The talks affected me a lot because I learned that none of us are perfect at all; we’re all just human. We all suffer in some way even if that person smiles all the time and never shows it.”
Search Outside Team 136
The performances or skits given by the O.T. members visually present universal messages and allows the searchers to see some of their own struggles presented before them. Junior Andrew Rodriguez, not related to Steve, attended Search #135 and he felt that the skits were effective.
“They really portrayed some of the modern day problems that we have in our society. I think they brought everyone to a sudden realization of ‘what has our society come to?’” he said.
Senior John Paul Hartnedy, the I.T. leader or “Dad” for Search #136 said,“Adoration and the sacrament of reconciliation are offered on Saturday night and this is where many of the emotions felt during the weekend come to a climax. To Catholics, Adoration is a holy and inspiring time. The Blessed Sacrament, the body of Christ in the form of the Holy Eucharist, is put on presentation in a beautiful monstrance. This time is a physical one on one time in Christ’s presence and many people have felt Christ envelop them with love and compassion during it,”
“[Adoration] was just nice to have a lot of personal time with God and I just let everything that I kept inside for a while all bottle up finally come out. I started crying but after I went to confession I was happy and my tears of sadness and guilt turns into tears of joy,” said Loeb.
Senior John Ford went to Search #133 and was on team for #135, instead of feeling like a new person he felt something different. He said, “I was open to going, but I was not the most social of persons when I went, so I wasn’t the most open at my table. Over the weekend Christ gave me an amazing gift that never thought I could have gotten. A real group of friends. Before Search, I was the guy not outside of groups, but at the fringes, one of the people nobody ever really thinks of. But now I actually have people who care, who check on me if something happens, etc.”
Various searchers gather for a reunion
Senior Steve Rodriguez felt that Search changed him. He said,
“I drank, I smoked I just wanted to fit in with the cool kids. I was fighting my own demons trying to be with God and was losing until I went to search and my faith was renewed and my whole perspective has changed ever since search. I found out I don’t need to live how society tells me, I need to live how God says I should. He created me and He knows what is truly good for me. He loves me for who I am.”
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