But Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) May Jesus be with you in mind, heart, and actions throughout this season and in the New Year. Wishing you, your families, and your students all of the blessings of the Christmas season. From the staff at Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana
The Good News of Christmas never changes, no matter how it is delivered. In case your students haven't seen this creative video, have a look . . . and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Tell the students that they are going to pray for peace. Ask them to think of some family members and friends whom they have hurt (embarrassed, disappointed, teased, left out, disrespected). Then have them think about some people who have hurt them. Next, say: I am going to pass out a note card (3"x 5" slips of paper) to each person. I would like you to use the following sentence starters (write on the board) or your own words to write a note to someone containing three or four constructive ideas for making peace in your relationships. These notes won't be delivered, though you should write them as if they were going to be given to the people you thought about. Some of the items on the note cards will be read anonymously to help us continue our prayer. Write a number or symbol on your card to help you reclaim your card after our prayer. Sentence Starters I promise to . . . I never meant to . . . I am sorry for . . . I can make things better between us by . . . Next, pass out the 3" x 5" slips of paper. Allow time for writing. Then collect the cards. Distribute copies of lyrics to a Christmas carol that speaks of peace. Lead a singing of verse one. Then read anonymously several of the ideas for making peace from the various note cards. Read only one or two items from each card, and replace any names or nicknames with initials. After you have gone through about half of the pile, lead singing of verse two of the Christmas carol. Then continue reading ideas from the other note cards in the pile. When all have been read, ask everyone to stand around a classroom Christmas creche. Conclude by leading the following prayer from a responsorial psalm of Christmas Day. Sing a new song to the Lord! Everyone on this earth, sing praises to the Lord, sing and praise his name. R: A Savior is born, Christ the Lord. Day after day, announce, "The Lord has saved us!" Tell every nation on earth, "The Lord is wonderful and does marvelous things!" R: A Savior is born, Christ the Lord. Tell the heavens and the earth to be glad and celebrate! Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops. R: A Savior is born, Christ the Lord.
Most teachers are nice enough not to give any real homework of the Christmas holidays, but there is nothing wrong with giving some inspirational homework assignments to discuss when they return in January. Consider giving these Christmas Break homework assignments a try: Reflect back on Advent and thing of things you can do next year or even during Lent that will help make this season a special time of prayer. Go to Mass on Christmas Day. Inspired by Jonathan Sullivan’s post about Advent Homework, ask the students to attend Mass on Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve). Many families do not do this despite the fact that it is a holy day of obligation. Go to Mass on New Years Day. January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation as well celebrating the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Most people don’t know this. Give your students a reminder and ask them to go to Mass this day as well. (Note that in some years, like 2011, attending Mass is not required because January 1 falls on a Saturday or a Monday.) Say thank you in a special way to someone who gave you a present for Christmas. Write them a note, send them an email, or give them a Facebook gift. Send or give a gift to someone you don’t know. Participate in giving programs, giving trees, or toy drives at your local church or just give someone a random gift that they might enjoy. Once the students return to school, give them some time to journal and discuss the assignments they took on. Fold this into a discussion about how their Christmas breaks went this year. Talk less about what they got for Christmas and more about what they gave.
Celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by praying the Joyful Mysteries with your students. Prior to doing so, have the students choose and print a photo to represent each of the Joyful Mysteries: for example, a photo of them with their cousin could represent the Visitation, a photo of them as a newborn could represent the birth of Christ. Or, a photo could represent a virtue of the mystery. For example, a magazine photo of someone donating time or talent to a cause could represent Mary's generosity in undertaking the trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth.The students should have five photos. Have them arrange the photos 1 to 5 in order of the five Joyful Mysteries. Tell them to bring the photos to an area reserved for prayer.Have the students sit in small groups of five students each.Go over the format for praying the Joyful Mysteries using the photos. You will lead the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father, three Hail Mary's and a Glory Be to begin the Rosary. You will announce the first Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, and read the Scripture passage (see below). Each person will begin passing their first photo around the circle as you lead the recitation of the ten Hail Mary's for the first Joyful Mystery. The students should respond: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen" Continue with the same format for the other Joyful Mysteries. After the fifth Joyful Mystery, lead an Our Father and Glory Be, and pray aloud the Salve Regina ("Hail, Holy Queen") to conclude. Scriptural RosaryFirst Joyful Mystery The AnnunciationThen Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done according to your word." (Lk 1:38)Second Joyful Mystery The Visitation of Mary to ElizabethElizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Lk :42)Third Joyful Mystery The Birth of JesusAnd the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (Jn 1:14)Fourth Joyful Mystery The Presentation of Jesus in the TempleSimeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Lk 2:34)Fifth Joyful Mystery The Finding of Jesus in the TempleAnd he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" (Lk 2:49)
Here are some prayer suggestions you might consider using with your teens during the Advent season. Also, consider having the teens create their own Advent prayers (see below) as a part of this liturgical season. Advent Prayer During Exams Come, Lord Jesus. You bring joy and salvation into the world. Give us the strength to find joy amidst the stress of semester tests And the wisdom to find truth in our studies. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Advent Prayer for the Poor Gracious God, You bring glad tidings to the poor. Create in us this Advent season, the desire to help those in need That we may recognize in them the face of Christ We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. Advent Prayer of Reconciliation Merciful Father, You have given us your Son as your loving presence in this world. Create in our hearts the room for your love to grow. Forgive our shortcomings and prepare our hearts for your coming. We ask this in the name Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, one God, forever and ever, Amen. Advent Prayer of Light Son of God, You are the light of the world. Shine your light on all our choices this day. Create in us the ability to let your light shine forth for others. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Prayer from The Unsheltered Heart for the Third Week of Advent (abbreviated) Jesus, Only you help me not to find my identity amid people’s misfortunes. You are the one I seek because I no longer trust my own thoughts and reactions. Your life teaches me to live amid the shackles of people’s sufferin In these Advent days, I slowly find my heart awake and singing. Faith creeps out of the cracks of my soul from my uncertainty. Gratitude lights up the morning inside me and relaxes my silence in my still body. Amen. Advent Prayer Activity Consider providing students with the opportunity to create their own Advent prayers. Give them the opportunity to share these prayers with the class or divide the students up according to the number of meetings leading up to Christmas. These prayers need not have the structure of the examples above, so invite students to speak from the heart
This guided meditation is based on Luke 17:11–19, Jesus' healing of the ten lepers. Use the meditation with your students to help them to reflect on what gratitude means to them.Quiet down.Relax.Let go of all your distractions.Settle.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Be still.Relax.Let all your worries fly away.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Imagine . . .It has been a long journey.You are tired.You have been walking with Jesus and all his disciples for awhile.You have learned a lot.Allow yourself to feel exhausted.As you approach the town you see men—in looks like ten of them—yelling at your group from a distance.Look over at them.They are lepers.Hands, mouths, noses, ears have seemingly disappeared.Look at them again, but do not stare.It is an ugly sight.They cry, "Jesus have pity on us."When Jesus seems them he walks over to where they are gathered.You follow, but at a distance.Are you scared you will catch it?He tells the lepers, "Go present yourself to the religious leaders."They all depart.A little while later a man who is a foreigner comes up to your group, knees before Jesus praising God.You recognize the man as one of the lepers that Jesus cured.Watch his jubilation!Share in it!Jesus says to the man,"Didn't I heal all ten of you?Where are they other nine?Why is only the foreigner here to give thanks to God?"Think about Jesus' words.Jesus tells the man,"Stand up, and go your way; your faith has been your salvation."The man gets off his knees and continues to give praise to God.Jesus looks at you and asks, "Why didn't the others not come and thank God?"He continues, "Have you thanked God lately?"Answer him.It is time to renter this space.Say good-bye for now.Ask Jesus to lead your way into the rest of the day.Say "thank you."Come back gently.Open your eyes.Remember.Sit up.This meditation was written by Patty McCulloch and originally published in Touching Jesus: 20 Guided Meditations on His Care and Compassion.
Ask students to name the Ten Commandments and more than likely after “thou shall not kill” they will remember “thou shall not steal.” It is an important commandment that has broad implications in both one’s personal life as well as society at large. “The Seventh Commandment rests on the foundation of justice. Justice requires that God’s gifts of food, clothing, and shelter are meant for each of God’s children and that it is wrong for one person to have an abundance while another lacks what is needed to live in accordance with human dignity” (Eileen Flynn, The Ten Commandments: Case Studies in Catholic Morality, p. 93). Consider discussing the following case studies with students: Buying Stolen Goods Rights of Illegal Immigrants Clear-cutting a Rain Forest Pose these issues to the students and have them discuss/debate the various perspectives. Ask a few students to play “Devil’s Advocate” and argue for the unjust side (some of them may volunteer to do this). For the debates on these issues you might consider the following: Ball Toss Debate: Divide the class into two sides. Explain that only the person with the ball may speak during the debate. When the person holding the ball has made their argument, they must throw it to a person on the opposing side who is raising their hand. If no one on the opposing side has anything to say, they may throw it to another student on their side. Fishbowl Discussion: Have a group of five to six students sit in the front of the room in a semi-circle facing the rest of the class (the shape could resemble a fishbowl). These students should have a debate/discussion about the topics. Discussion Board: Consider making the debate a homework assignment. Require that students post new comments or respond to comments at least three times. If you use a course management system like Moodle, you can host it there. Otherwise consider using website such as Wikispaces, Wallwisher, Edmodo, Google Docs, or Stixy.
