Singing the song “Reckless Love” is a Brophy experience that sticks with many after their first experience. Putting arms around each other and belting out the lyrics while swaying back and forth is a tradition often seen at Brophy masses and school assemblies.

Few stop to wonder, however, where this tradition came from. With how everyone almost instinctively gets into the song, it may seem like Brophy has sung “Reckless Love” forever, but this is certainly not the case. 

The origin of singing “Reckless Love” goes back to Kairos 161, the first Kairos of Camden Andl 19’s senior year. 

Andl was the leader of Brophy’s Mass band, which was led by English teacher at the time  Mr. Austin Pidgeon ’08. The band was originally assembled because Brophy staff felt that students were “checking out” at Mass according to Andl. The band was not limited to only church songs, however, and Andl said they played modern songs that could be interpreted in a religious manner. 

Andl was a member of the Mass band and sang from his sophomore to senior year, and rose to become leader. There were many members of the Mass band on K161, and when “Reckless Love” by singer Corey Asbury played during their retreat, Andl said, “Immediately, we all loved the song.”

Andl recounts that over the course of the retreat, him and his fellow retreatants would get into the song and sing it together. 

When Andl returned to campus after Kairos, he asked to play “Reckless Love” in the Mass band. Andl says when they played the song in the first mass back, “All the guys who were on K161 put their arms around each other and started swaying, almost like in a football movie”. 

Andl says not everyone got the message at first, and said “All the other guys my year were looking at us, saying ‘These guys are so dumb.’” As more and more people went on Kairos, Andl said people started to catch on and eventually “it became a thing.” 

“The song really paired well with the nature of Kairos,” Andl said. 

Mr. Mike Welty, who was a leader on the K161, recalls that the theme of the retreat was about the “cycle of sin”, and breaking the cycle of sin by seeking grace. Mr. Welty said, “The song was chosen for exactly that reason. The idea that God is always seeking for us, and all we have to do is open ourselves to his love.” Welty echoed Andl’s feeling that the song resonated, and noted how organic the retreatants’ reaction to the song felt. 

While other songs have been focal points of retreats, none have “taken on a life of their own” quite like Welty believes “Reckless Love” has. 

“Reckless Love” has now become a staple of the Kairos retreat, and is a favorite moment for many when it is played at the Mass. 

Andl was delighted to hear that his and his friends’ song has become as much of a staple at Brophy as it has. “I think the biggest thing, and the reason why I’m so excited it has become a tradition, is that sense of brotherhood and connecting with your classmates and friends.”