This year’s Living in Faith Experience (LIFE) team consists of seniors Kylie Tokunaga, Xylia Lydgate, Sarah Vinluan, Breanne Flores, Fria Falle, Amanda Cieslak, Kristen Pang, Kristen Nishimoto, Emily Ko, Chelsea Nicholas, Baylie Caires and Nikki Sen. Moderators Lisa Vega and Adele Takamoto accompanied the team to CYO Camp and Retreat Center in Occidental, Calif., from June 17-22.
The LIFE program is a national faith formation program, rooted in Catholic and Marianist practices, for high school students and moderators to further build and model their faith. Students gather to pray and develop leadership skills while learning more about social justice issues.
Through the program, students and moderators are encouraged to reflect the Marianist skills of active listening, self-acceptance, self-disclosure, affirmation, trust, reconciliation, growing in Christian communities, discipleship and commitment to Christ.
The program is based on the vision of Blessed William Joseph Chaminade who worked with Venerable Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon and Venerable Marie Therese de Lamourous during the French Revolution to form communities that could change the world.
In 1970, Marianist LIFE was started in San Antonio, Texas, and spread throughout the Southwest from Texas to California and to Hawaii and north to Dayton, Ohio. Later, the program spread to the eastern United States, Puerto Rico and Ireland.
In 1982, Sacred Hearts Academy was invited to join Marianist Pacific as the sister school of St. Louis and to create a LIFE team.
“The goals and value of LIFE at Sacred Hearts Academy are building a community and becoming spiritual leaders of the school,” said Theology chair, Sr. Irene Barboza.
The responsibilities of the LIFE team at the Academy are to organize retreats for the high school and junior high, to head Liturgical Corps, which plan monthly school masses, and Lancer Christian Communities (LCC), monthly gatherings for religious activities and building friendships.
The Academy’s LIFE team was one of five from Hawaii. Other participating schools which participated were Maryknoll, St. Louis, St. Anthony’s School and St. Anthony’s Parish. Hawaii students joined teams from California and Missouri.
Through the retreat, Academy students made new friendships while learning more about their faith and themselves.
“In this retreat, I learned to accept everyone no matter where they come from or what they look like,” said Nishimoto. “I plan on opening myself to anyone who feels out of place and making them feel accepted.”
