Peer Ministry Retreat & Blessing

Jesuit president Fr. Richard C. Hermes, S.J. bestowed a special blessing on the 46 seniors who will serve as peer ministers this school year during Convocation in the Chapel of the Holy Cross on Tuesday (Aug. 20).

The previous weekend at the Bethany Center in Lutz, a large contingent of peer ministers participated in the annual two-day peer ministry retreat. The peer ministry program, led by Jesuit's assistant principal of mission and formation Jimmy Mitchell, engages students as witnesses and examples for their classmates. This year, Mitchell said the theme for the peer ministers is “Verso L’Alto” which is Italian for “To the Heights” – a famous phrase of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who will be canonized a saint in the summer of 2025.

Peer ministers play a significant role in the culture and brotherhood of the school. Jesuit provides about 20 retreats annually, with every student at the school attending at least one, as well as the faculty & staff retreat. The peer ministers are involved in the planning and operation of the retreats, assisting Mitchell and his staff, which includes assistant campus ministers Tommy Killackey and Patrick Phelan.

Throughout the year, in the hallways and classrooms of Jesuit, peer ministers provide support for their Jesuit brothers and establish the culture at the school. View below photos from the peer ministry retreat at the Bethany Center, and the blessing and commissioning of the peer minsters in the Chapel of the Holy Cross.