It seems to be retreat season once again in many Catholic schools and parish youth ministry programs. These activities will be nice reminders for most of you veteran teachers and youth ministers, but they are tried and true.
Human Knot
Physical, fun, and great for building communication skills. Have everyone stand in a circle. Have them lift their right hand and take the hand of a person across from them. Then, have them join hands with a different person across from them in the circle. Give the group 5-10 minutes to untangle the knot. With large groups or classes, incite a little competition between groups (ideal size is around 10 people). Afterward, discuss the challenges of communication and have them suggest strategies they might change for next time.
Two Truths and a Lie
Sit in a circle. Have each person introduce himself or herself and share three statements to describe themselves. Two statements should be true and one should be false. Have the rest of the group guess which statement is the lie. If applicable, have the person expand on their statements with explanations.
Never have I ever…
Sit in a circle. Each person says a statement beginning with the words “Never have I ever…” and everyone to whom the statement applies must stand up. For example, one person might state, “Never have I ever seen the Grand Canyon.” Everyone who has NOT seen the Grand Canyon stands up.
This activity is taken from Jesus Christ: God’s Revelation to the World which is in accordance with Course I of the USCCB’s Curriculum Framework.
Remind the students that unlike the other evangelists, John did not set out to outline the Good News in some sort of chronological order based on events in Jesus’ life. Instead, John focused on seven of Jesus’ miracles, which he calls “signs.” Emphasize that for John, all other events and teachings (the discourses) in his Gospel lead up to or develop from these crucial signs. Finally, tell the students that in reading the signs, it is important to pay attention to them not just individually but as a whole.The Seven Signs of John's Gospel:
The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12)
Cure of the Official's Son (John 4:46-54)
Cure on a Sabbath (John 5:1-47)
Multiplication of Loaves (John 6:1-14)
Walking on Water (John 6:16-24)
Cure of a Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41)
Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44)
Divide the class into seven small groups. Assign one of the seven signs to each small group. Explain that each group is to: 1) Read its assigned sign in the Bible as well as its exposition in the text 2) Prepare a presentation that answers the following questions:
What is the story of the sign?
What does the sign point to or reveal?
What role does faith play? That is, does the sign cause or emanate from faith or both?
How do others react to the sign?
What does the sign say to us today?
3) Create their own “sign” of the sign, that is, an artistic rendering that “points to” the meaning of the biblical sign, that is, answers the final question above (“What does the sign say to us today?”). For example, the students might illustrate the sign of the Cana miracle with images of banquets or celebrations or weddings or hungry people being fed or an invitation to a party, etc.Photo by Fergal OP
This meditation places your students in the scene of Jesus' famous Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15:11–32), the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday of Lent. Tell them to allow themselves to picture Jesus' story and to sit with what it means to them. Then begin. Read the following slowly. Pause at the end of sentences. Pause even longer for the bold face directions.
Relax.
Quiet down.
Enjoy the silence.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breath out.
Hold.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Totally relax.
Go to that safe place in your mind's eye.
That place where you can just be.
Where no one can find you, disrupt you.
Where you can be with your thoughts.
Imagine . . .
Come to the teacher again.
He is there.
It is a beautiful day and the sun is shining.
You have been following the teacher around to various parts of the region.
Your friends are next to you as you sit and listen to him.
It is fascinating.
He begins to tell a story.
Picture the scene.
He tells you to imagine everything he says.
Two sons.
The younger one decides he wants his inheritance.
Now.
So the father gives this son what he would eventually inherit.
The son packs up all his belongings and leaves for the city.
Imagine doing this.
The son loves city life.
He loves the lights, the fast pace, action.
He goes to bars, stays out all hours, and parties very hard.
Eventually, the son spends everything he inherited.
He is wiped out.
His money is gone.
He finds himself on the streets without a place to live, or food to eat.
He looks for a job.
He becomes a laborer on a landowner's farm.
He is spent.
He has to feed his hunger with food intended for pigs.
Imagine eating and sleeping in a pig's trough.
He is lying there hungry.
He thinks of home.
He thinks of his bed,
the warmth,
the food,
the security.
He makes a decision.
He will go back home and ask his dad to take him back.
He will work for his dad like a hired hand.
His dad treats laborers better than this landowner.
He begins the trip back home.
He wonders if he will be accepted.
What is the journey like?
The younger son is almost there.
Down the road his father seems him coming.
The son sees the father.
How do they feel?
The father runs back to the house and announces, "Prepare for a welcome home party!"
He goes back outside.
He runs to his son.
His arms outstretched.
Tears are running down his face.
They hug.
Watch the scene unfold.
Watch as the son asks for forgiveness.
Watch the father respond with unconditional love.
Imagine the preparations that are being made for the party.
Watch as the older son comes home from work.
He arrives in the midst of the commotion.
He asks one of the workmen, "What is going on?"
"Your brother has come home and your dad is so happy that is is throwing a party."
"What?" the son replies,
"For my brother who took off with dad's money and left me to take care of everything?"
He refuses to go into the house.
He is very angry.
Watch the older son, how would it feel to be him?
The father sees his older son outside.
He goes out to talk to him.
The father says to him, "Isn't it great that your brother is back?"
His older son moans, "You really aren't taking him back are you?
He left us, remember?
Remember the pain,
the hurt,
the anger?
How can you just forget all that? I'm the one who stayed.
But you've never thrown me such an extravagant party!"
Listen to the conversation between father and son.
What do their facial expressions reveal?
The father looks into the son's eyes.
He replies, "You are right, it was very painful when your brother left.
But he is back now and I want to rejoice that he finally came to his senses.
Listen, I know you have always been there for me—
everything I own is yours.
Don't ever forget that.
I haven't forgotten.
But we have to celebrate and rejoice.
This brother of yours was dead and he has come back to life.
He was lost and is found."
What does it mean to say that the younger brother was dead.
Jesus calls you back from the story.
He looks at you.
You look at him.
He asks you, "Which son is more like you?"
Answer him.
Talk to him about the story.
Stay in the moment.
It is time to reenter 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 was originally published in Encountering Jesus: 20 Guided Meditations on His Care and Compassion.
What is Just War Theory? Just War Theory, often called just-war tradition or just war doctrine, is “a set of principles developed through the centuries by the Catholic Church that clearly outlines when a nation may ethically participate in a war…and sets clear limits on armed force once a war is engaged (Pennock, Catholic Social Teaching, p. 185) an important teaching of the Catholic Church. Based on the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church has set forth the following criteria for a “just war”:
Principles to follow in entering a war:
Just Cause – There must be real, lasting, grace and certain damage inflicted by an aggressor on a nation or community of nations.
Legitimate Authority – The right to declare a war belongs to the people who legitimately represent the people of a certain nation.
Comparative Justice – The rights and values involved in the conflict must be important enough to justify killing.
Right Intention – The war must be waged with a commitment to post-war reconciliation and peace, not personal gain.
Probability of Success – The odds of success should be compared to the likely cost of human life.
Proportionality – The damage and costs of the war should be proportionate to the good expected.
Last Resort – All peaceful efforts have been tried and exhausted before entering into war.
Standards to follow in fighting:
Immunity of Noncombatants – Civilians may not be the object of direct attack.
Proportionality – Only the minimum force necessary to obtain military objectives is used.
Right Intention – Leaders must keep in mind that only peace and justice is the aim of war.
Catholic Just War Lesson Plan
Objectives:
SWBAT develop a criteria for a just war.
SWBAT describe each criteria of a Just War.
SWBAT critique their own idea of a just war based on Catholic Just War Doctrine.
SWBAT apply just war theory to a modern conflict.
SWBAT take a position on a modern conflict as a just or unjust war.
Assessment:
Debate
Essay with supporting arguments
Lesson plan:
1) Creating a Class Criteria
Divide the class into groups of 4 and have them brainstorm criteria for a just war Have each group share their criteria and discuss as a class which criteria from each group will be use to create a master class-criteria.
2) Apply their criteria to a conflict they have studied in their social studies class. (e.g. based on what they know about the American Revolution, would the war be just based on their criteria?)
3) Provide the background to the Catholic just-war tradition
Develop a lecture based on the material above.
For some background (or to create handouts) see:
Theological And Moral Perspectives On Today's Challenge Of Peac (USCCB)
The Harvest Of Justice Is Sown In Peace
"Just War" Doctrine according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church
4) Discuss the differences between Catholic just-war tradition and the criteria that the class created previously. What did we have in common? Does the just-war tradition add something we missed?
5) Have the students apply the criteria for a just war to a modern conflict. Conflicts could include the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and possible conflicts with North Korean, Iran, or Sudan.
Have students research a specific conflict by giving them time in the computer lab or at home to develop a report.
Or, create a lecture/PowerPoint with specific information for the students to use in applying the just-war tradition.
6) Debate the conflicts – is it a just war?
Give students time to prepare their arguments based on the just war criteria. If there are no students on the opposing side, you should take them on in opposition.
To keep students occupied who are not in the debate, have them complete a graphic organizer that directs them to list and/or critique arguments of each side. Afterwards give them the opportunity to ask questions.
7) Conclude the lesson with an essay assignment in which students must apply just-war tradition to the conflict of their choice.
We celebrate the impending canonization of Brother André Bessette, the first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross!
Originally rejected from pursuing religious life because of poor health, when Alfred Bessette finally reached the door of the Holy Cross Brothers in 1870 he came with a note from his pastor that read, “I am sending you a saint.”
Called Brother André, he could barely read or write. He was assigned as a porter at the Congregation’s College of Notre Dame in Montreal, manning the door, scrubbing the floor, and working in the garden. His other responsibilities were to welcome guests, find the guests they were visiting, wake up the students for school, and deliver the mail. Many years later Brother André joked: “At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years.”
People soon realized that Brother André had the gift of healing. He would often heal people by touching them or rubbing their bodies with oil from a lamp burning in front of the statue of St. Joseph to whom he had a special devotion.
In 1904 he asked the Archbishop of Montreal if he could have permission to build a chapel to St. Joseph on the mountain near the college. The Archbishop asked, “Are you having visions of St. Joseph telling you to build a church for him?” Brother André responded: “I have only my great devotion to St. Joseph to guide me.”
Permission was granted as long as Brother André promised not to go into debt. Brother André put a small dish with a sign that read “Donations for St. Joseph” on a picnic table with a statue of St. Joseph at the top of the mountain. He collected nickel donations when he gave haircuts to the boys who lived at the college.
When he had a few hundred dollars, Brother André built a small 15’ x 18’ wood shelter to keep the growing number of pilgrims who came to him from getting wet. In 1924 construction began on a larger building, the oratory. The Great Depression interfered with the project, but Brother André, at ninety, was able to be carried up the mountain to see a statue of St. Joseph placed in the unfinished, unroofed basilica. When he died on January 6, 1937 nearly a million mourners filed by his coffin. The oratory was completed in 1955.
For his healing powers, the Church declared Brother André venerable in 1978. In 1982 Pope John Paul II beatified Brother André.
Early in the Lenten season of 2010, on February 19, Pope Benedict XVI, announced the formal canonization of Brother André will take place in Rome on October 17.
Join us in marking this joyful occasion for the Congregation of Holy Cross and all its ministries, including Ave Maria Press!
Quotations from Brother André
“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the best paintings.”
“Put your self in God’s hands; he abandons no one.”
“Practice charity with your neighbor—and this doesn’t mean only to give money to the poor. There are many ways to practice charity. We could, for example, keep ourselves from examining our neighbor’s conscience. There is also visiting the sick, who often do not need money, but who need good advice to help them get closer to God.”
“When you say to God, Our Father, he has his ear right next to your lips.”
“There is so little distance between heaven and earth that God always hears us. Nothing but a thin veil separates us from God.”
(Quotations are excerpted from Brother André: Friend of the Suffering, Apostle of Saint Joseph by Jean-Guy Dubuc, Ave Maria Press, 2010)
It is always a challenge to teach in ways that will grab the students’ attention. One way to do this in a course on the Scriptures is to highlight the warrior-heroes and battles of the Old Testament. This activity is especially useful if you teach at an all boy’s school. Assign students the following names of warriors of the Old Testament and have them create a report on them to present to the class.1. Joshua (Joshua 1:1-11; 5:13-6:27; 10:7-15)2. Caleb (Joshua 15:13-193. Ehud (Jgs 3:12-30) 4. Deborah (Jgs 4-5) 5. Gideon (Jgs 6-8)6. Jephthah (Jgs 11)7. Samson (Jgs 13-16) 8. Jonathan (1 Sm 14) 9. Saul (1 Sm 10-1210. David (1 Sm 17)11. David’s Warriors (2 Sm 23:8-39) 12. Joram (2 Kings 3) 13. Naaman (2 Kings 5) 14. Jehu (2 Kings 9) 15. Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18-20)16. Judith (Judith 8, 13) 17. Mattathias (1 Mc 2)18. Judas Maccabeus (1 Mc 3-5, 9) 19. Jonathan (1 Mc 9-13) 20. Simon (1 Mc 13) Give the students the following guidelines for the report: 1. Read the passage from Scripture about the warrior (including the footnotes). 2. Write summary of everything you can deduce from the Old Testament passage: unique qualities, reason for fighting, the enemies, their success of failure. 3. Describe whether they consider the warrior to have participated in “Miracle Warfare” (see below). In the Torah, “Divine Warfare” or “Miracle Warfare” was commonplace. Miracle Warfare is the idea, unique to the Israelites, that God will fight, not just with them, but for them against their enemies. Ask the students to decide whether or not they see this theology in action as they are doing their research. Does God literally fight on their behalf? If so, explain. *Note that studying these figures does not condone the evil of violence and war. You may also consider following up with a lesson on the Just-War Doctrine of the Catholic Church.
For Ash Wednesday, share the following journal reflection on the Temptation of Jesus from Luke 4:1–13.
Prelude
Refer to the shema in Deuteronomy 6:4–5. Point out that each of the temptations of Jesus is a temptation against the shema. Likewise, each reply from Jesus comes from Deuteronomy.
First Temptation
Ask a student to read Luke 4:1–4.
Explain that the first temptation is to the quick fix, the easy answer, the instant gratification. It’s Veruca Salt screaming at Willie Wonka, “I want it NOW!” The response of Jesus tells us to have patience, to reject the easy fix, and to discover how to rely on God.
Have students respond in their journals to the following:
In what ways do I seek instant gratification?
In what areas of my life do I need to learn patience and self-control?
Second Temptation
Ask a student to read Luke 4:5–8.
Tell the class that the second temptation is to power and wealth over and rejects our loving God.
Have the students respond in their journals to the following:
In what ways do I lord it over others? Put others down?
Third Temptation
Ask a third student to read Luke 4:9–12.
Help the students see that the third temptation is to fame, or to glory. Jesus responds to the devil with humility.
Have the students respond in their journals to the following:
What temptations to fame come my way via TV, videos, advertising?
How does the way I spend my money—on clothes, makeup, or whatever—lead me to succumb to this temptation?
Conclusion
Finally, have the students respond in their journals to this question: “To which temptation do you give in to the most?” Tell students that their answer will give them a starting point their Lenten penance—and for their own dying to sin and rising to a new way of living
This lesson is drawn from Catholic Essentials: An Overview of the Faith.
February 11 is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes who appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in on February 11, 1858 in Lourdes, France. Young Bernadette was gathering wood near a grotto when she heard a noise and felt a gust of wind. She turned and “something white in the shape of a girl.” She immediately knelt to pray the rosary before the Blessed Virgin disappeared. Bernadette witnessed many more visions at the grotto and the event grew in great popularity to become one of the most traveled to pilgrimage sites for Catholics. The feast day is a great opportunity to explore this devotion that is very important to many Catholics around the world.
Resources on the Web
Background Information on Our Lady of Lourdes
• Video of Fr. Jim Martin about St. Bernadette from “Who Cares About the Saints?” http://sqpn.com/2009/02/11/feast-of-our-lady-of-lourdes/ (YouTube Video)
• Webpage including history, readings, prayers, etc.: http://www.wf-f.org/OurLadyofLourdes.html
• American Catholic article: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1288
• Catholic Online has detailed descriptions of each of the apparitions as well as background information on St. Bernadette: http://www.catholic.org/clife/mary/lourdes1.php
• For a list of full movies including The Song of Bernadette (1943), visit: http://www.ignatius.com/Videos/bernadette/
Prayers for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes:
• Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/lourdes.htm
Reference Books:
• Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion by Hilda Graef, pp. 343-344, 347-356. http://www.avemariapress.com/itemdetail.cfm?nItemid=990
Lesson Plan
Objectives:
• Students will be able to recognize images of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to describe the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to illustrate the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
• Students will be able to pray a novena or other prayers for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Assessment:
• Create a storyboard visual representation of Our Lady of Lourdes
Teaching Approaches:
1. Type a Google Image search (http://images.google.com) for the phrase Our Lady of Lourdes. Show the students the common features found in pictures and replicas of grottos of Our Lady of Lourdes: Mary clothed in white with a blue shawl, St. Bernadette kneeling in prayer, one or both holding rosaries in hands of prayer, Mary’s halo reading “I am the Immaculate Conception,” a mix of stone and greenery, Mary standing in a small alcove. Note that the images express the descriptions given by St. Bernadette.
2. Provide students with a background to the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in an appropriate format: video, audio, copied text, or an invitation to explore websites on their own. See “Background Information on Our Lady of Lourdes” above.
3. Ask students to answer the following questions individually then discuss them as a class:
How would you describe St. Bernadette Soubirous?
How did St. Bernadette encounter Mary?
With what name did Mary reveal herself?
Why do you think this even became so popular?
4. Based on the information that they viewed or read and the pictures that they have seen, have the students create a story board production of a movie trailer for the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. For an example of a story board see: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/7217001/Movie-production-storyboard-example or http://cfbstaff.cfbisd.edu/paciottib/Video_Production/Module3-2.html.
5. To bring the lesson to a close, ask the students to pray together the following prayer. You might also challenge them to pray a novena (see above) in the evenings or in the mornings before school.
Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes
O ever-Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy,
health of the sick, refuge of sinners,
comforter of the afflicted,
you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings;
look with mercy on me.
By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes,
you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary,
whence you dispense your favors;
and already many sufferers have obtained
the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.
I come, therefore, with complete confidence
to implore your maternal intercession.
Obtain, O loving Mother, the grant of my requests.
Through gratitude for your favors,
I will endeavor to imitate your virtues,
that I may one day share your glory. Amen.
Source: http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/prayers/Lourdes.html
