The first annual Father-Son Retreat held at Camp Marymount drew just under 150 people.
“I’m hoping to make this an annual event,” said Julianne Staley, the Director of Formation for the Young Church at St. Philip Church in Franklin, who organized the retreat. The diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry helped promote the retreat throughout the diocese, Staley said.
The retreat featured three speakers: Dr. Matt Jaeger, Dr. Michael Ferri and Ismael Fierro. Dr. Ferri, a parishioner at St. Mary’s Church in Downtown Nashville and a neurologist and psychiatrist, gave a talk for the English-speaking fathers, and Fierro, a parishioner at St. Philip, gave a talk for the Spanish-speaking fathers.
Dr. Matt Jaeger, a parishioner at St. Matthew Church in Franklin and a pediatric emergency room doctor, talked to the teens in the crowd.
The talks to the fathers were about the model of good fatherhood and Dr. Jaeger’s talk to the sons was about being a good son, tying it into the Theology of the Body and the dangers of seeing your identity in sex and immorality, Staley said.
Father Rhodes Bolster, the associate pastor at St. Philip, introduced the speakers. The day also included the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Eucharistic Adoration and Mass.
The retreat was held from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 7. Staley limited the retreat to a half a day so it wouldn’t take people away from their families for the whole day, she explained.
The Father-Son Retreat was a companion to the Mother-Daughter Retreat held in February.
