Freshmen Camping Trip in Cotopaxi

Last week, our JPG freshmen embarked on an unforgettable adventure with Creatio, venturing into the backcountry near Cotopaxi to experience the beauty of God's creation firsthand. With the stunning peaks of the Rocky Mountains as their backdrop, these young men and women stepped away from the familiar and into the wild.

During their time in the backcountry, our freshmen learned the foundational skills of backcountry living: how to set up a campsite from the ground up, how to prepare and cook meals in the wilderness, and how to "sleep warm" when the mountain air turns cold. They got the chance to learn very tangibly that there is a particular grace that comes from embracing the elements together rather than retreating from them.

Saint John Paul II understood this well. He was himself an avid outdoorsman, a hiker, a kayaker, a skier, who believed with conviction that the natural world reveals very distinctly the One who made it. "Through the greatness and the beauty of creatures," he often reminded us, drawing on the Book of Wisdom, "one comes to know their Creator."

Nowhere was this more evident than in the Mass our students celebrated in the open air, offered by our school Chaplain, Fr. CJ Mast. The photos below capture the Holy Eucharist raised up against a breathtaking expanse of sky and mountain.

Fr. CJ during consecration

Freshmen boys building rock statue.

Creatio teaching the freshmen how to set up campsite.

Freshman girls enjoying day one!