Ten years ago Colleen and I were searching for a name to call our new Parish retreat program.  With our TEC background we wanted a name that would be interesting and spiritually meaningful.

The first idea was the TPR Retreat, which were the initials for TEEN PARISH RETREAT (Aren't you all glad that name didn't stick)

At the time, I was reading a book by William Barclay called the "Mind of Jesus" and the last chapter of the book was Jesus is Kyrios (Lord).  It was as if lightening struck, and the name of our retreat was to be called Kyrios.

Fast forward six years later, and our local Catholic High School along with other schools in the diocese begin a retreat program called Kairos for their high school upperclassman. 

And now the confusion begins.

For those of us who don't' realize it, kairos (Ky-rose) in Greek means an appointed time, and Kyrios (Kir-EE-OSE) is the Greek word for Lord. 

That being said, it seems that everyone is getting the two names mixed up. Now if we were all ancient Greeks the difference in the two names would be clear.  It would be like comparing bananas to telephones. (Maybe not)

Any way I'm not even sure how to pronounce our retreat. Do we pronounce Keerios so it rhymes with Cheerios, or is it Keerios like the first part of the word curiosity?

I'm sure the ancient Greeks would know how to pronounce it but since I haven't bumped into any lately, I haven't a clue.

By the way to the ancient Greeks this is the word Kyrios:

           YPIOΣ

If we want to get technical in the ancient Greek language the U can also be substituted for a "Y" and there is no "R" so we could spell the name as Kurios but that sounds like something out of my grandma's china closet (See I did my research on this!) However it would be good from a marketing viewpoint....Are you curious about Kurios?...never mind.

It seems to clear to me that Kyrios doesn't even sound like Kairos, however it's the K"y" in the name Kyrios that cause's all the confusion. It's not Ky-REE-Os but for most people who are not ancient Greek the confusion between the two names remains.

I was toying with idea of changing the name of our Kyrios retreat to something less confusing.

I thought about adding words to the name Kyrios to better define the differences between the two retreats.  "Kyrios el Mundo" sounded good to me, however I was mixing ancient Greek with modern Spanish, very multicultural, but I'm afraid just as confusing.

Hagio Kyrios, which means Holy Lord in ancient Greek, was another idea for a new name, but if we said the name fast it sounded slang for "How's Your Kyrios?"  Again, I rejected that name.

I looked for another name for master and Lord, and I came up with the Greek name "Despotes" which I'm also not sure how to pronounce.  However come to the Despotes retreat just doesn't have the same ring or panache that the name Kyrios has.

And what's more, I read that Kyrios was the name and the title that the early Christians bestowed on Jesus after the Resurrection. Kyrios was the name of our Resurrected Lord, not despotes.

So there we are. I guess we'll continue to call our retreat Kyrios against all odds and confusion.

And besides, when I talked to my buddy Petey, he said that he for one likes the confusion, as it's a great conversation starter when he's recruiting for the retreat.

Well that's one person's view.

Here's another , "In fact, to say "Jesus is Lord" means professing his divinity, as St. Peter professed in the Apostles' name at Caesarea Philippi. "The Lord"-Kyrios in Greek-is he who rules over all creation, he to whom the Psalm we have heard is addressed: "Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord, my God, you are great indeed!"   Pope John Paul II

Petey and the Pope..., Kyrios too confusing?.. I don't think so!

Have a good week, Colleen and I are praying for you,

Len