In August, several parishes in the Archdiocese of New York will host spiritual summer retreats for teens and young adults, including a teen retreat at the parish of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in LaGrangeville, Dutchess County.

Organizers said the St. Kateri Teen Retreat will have the theme: “Brothers and Sisters: Belonging to the Father…Belonging to Each Other.” It will include prayer, discussion, lunch, and games, open to teens from grades 7 to 12, and this year’s high school graduates. The date is Saturday, Aug. 22, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

“This is an important way for young people to connect with Christ. This is the second year that we’re having the Teen Retreat by the United Dutchess Youth Group,” Father Joseph McLafferty, pastor at St. Kateri, told The Good Newsroom. “It was at St. Mary’s in Wappingers Falls last year…It helps them connect more with Jesus, and by doing so, with one another. There was a good turnout last year, about 60 teens.”

The event’s informational material quotes Ephesians 1:18, which says, “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call is, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones.” United Dutchess Youth Group, a multi-parish ministry in Dutchess County, is organizing the retreat.

The parish website is here. The ministry can be reached by email.

More August youth faith events

Similar events are scheduled around the region. Open The Door of Your Heart: Young Adult Retreat will take place Aug. 14-16. “A weekend getaway designed to help you consider God’s goodness and be renewed in the spirit.” It is being facilitated by the Young Adult Ministry of the Archdiocese of New York for men and women 18-35, but to be held at the San Alfonso Retreat Center, Long Branch, N.J.

Christ In the City Praise and Worship will take place Aug. 25. Charismatic prayer and worship will be held at St. John the Baptist Church, Manhattan, at 213 West 30th Street from 5:45 to 7 p.m. “St. John the Baptist’s Catholic Charismatic Renewal is dedicated to fostering and strengthening our Catholic faith,” organizers said in informational material.

For more information on these and similar gatherings, contact the Office of Youth Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, and the University Apostolate of the Archdiocese of New York. The office provides opportunities, formation, and resources for leaders in parishes, deaneries, and universities to catechize and evangelize middle school and high school teenagers, college students, young adults (ages 18-35), and Catholic Scouts, “helping them put their faith in Jesus into action.”