“Quo Vadis?” The NY Alpha Omega Chapter spent a weekend at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception to discern that very question.

Fr. Joseph Scolaro, the Catholic Chaplain at Hofstra addressing the brothers during the retreat

In the apocryphal Acts of Peter, St. Peter is fleeing Rome to escape crucifixion. While he is walking on the road outside of Rome, he encounters the Risen Jesus carrying a cross in the direction towards Rome. Peter asks, “Quo Vadis?”, which translates to “where are you going?” Jesus responds saying “I am going to Rome to be crucified again.” After hearing Jesus, St. Peter went back to Rome to continue his ministry, where he eventually was crucified upside down and laid the foundations for the future of the Catholic Church.

At the previous chapter retreat, the brothers agreed the hardest and most uncomfortable question they have been asked is: “Who are you?” The question posed difficulty because the brothers did not know where to begin to answer the question. The complexity of the question brought a feeling of uneasiness because the brothers felt they should have been able to answer the question with ease. How could a question, about one’s own self, be so difficult and complex?

Sean Grealy, founding the father of Phi Kappa Theta Hofstra Chapter

The who are you question is not supposed to be an easy one. It is a deeply spiritual meditation. When one searches for who they are, they are searching for the deepest reality of their lives, to be fully alive. The deepest reality of our lives can only be found in the source of all being: God.

Throughout the New Testament, St. Peter learns who he is by listening, watching, and acting. Though he sometimes struggles, he understands his calling to be an apostle of Jesus, who Jesus was (MT 16:16), and his identity as the rock of the Church (MT 16:18). At the moment of encountering Jesus in the Quo Vadis story, St. Peter connected who he was and where he was supposed to go. The connection between awareness of self and knowledge of direction, grounded discipleship, led St. Peter to fulfilling what God had intended for him and accomplishing extraordinary things.

The NY Alpha Omega chapter used St. Peter as a model on the retreat. Each brother discerned who he is and where he is supposed to go. There were many opportunities to listen and reflect on topics chosen to help brothers begin to answer who are you and where are you going. Many opportunities to engage in spiritual activities, ask spiritual questions, learn about the Fraternity’s Catholic roots, and encounter God were available as well.

The talk topics included: Questions, Answers, and Decisions (Bobby York), Modesty: Being a Gentleman (Fr. Christopher Sullivan), Thinking Spiritually and Being Present (Sean Grealy), Persevering Spiritually (Fr. Joseph Scolaro), Becoming the Man You Want to Be (John Benintendi), St. Thomas Aquinas and the Phi Kappa Theta Catholic Tradition (Nick Castelli), and Active Spiritual Development (Nick Castelli). There was a silent hour with Eucharistic Adoration, a spiritual q & a with Fr. Joseph Scolaro, fraternal activities, and a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the St. Thomas Aquinas altar. At the end of the retreat, the brothers were asked to write a letter to the 27-year-old version of themselves. Those letters will be mailed on their 27th birthdays.

The retreat was organized and led by VP of Spiritual Development Nick Castelli, with advisement from Founding Father Sean Grealy and Father Joseph Scolaro, the Catholic Chaplain at Hofstra University. The retreat was possible thanks to Fr. Joseph Fitzgerald and the DRVC Vocations Office, who donated the funds needed to have the retreat. The retreat was the beginning of a spiritual journey that is to continue throughout the semester.