SATISFIED TAKING CARE OF THE SOUL

Transcription

1 GOAL SATISFIED TAKING CARE OF THE SOUL LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW The goal of Satisfied is to teach teens about the soul, encourage them to care for it through a deeper prayer life, and convict them that they will only be satisfied if they seek God above all else. KEY CONCEPTS Every human has an immortal soul, which makes up his or her innermost being and is the core of human consciousness and freedom. Our soul yearns for God and God also yearns for us; this mutual desire draws us to a prayer life, a relationship with our God. Persevering through the difficulties of prayer will give us insight into who we are and who God is, ultimately leading us to a more fulfilling and satisfying life. ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT This Life Night begins with a fun Gather game that has teens blindly identifying objects in a box. The Proclaim explains what the soul is and the importance of caring for the soul through prayer, while weaving in the theme of seeking satisfaction in God alone. With Eucharistic Adoration and a Scripture reflection, the combined Break/Send helps teens dive into prayer and encourages them to leave behind finite happiness in favor of infinite joy. ENVIRONMENT Create a prayerful environment in your main meeting space. Project an image of the sanctuary of a beautiful church. Place flowers a nd s acred i mages o r s tatues i n the front. Or consider hosting this Life Night in the main church or daily Mass chapel. Set up a stage with lights, a microphone, and a podium. Put out chairs. Have a projector with slides ready. The slides have song lyrics, Scripture verses referenced in the Proclaim, and words of the Divine Praises and Benediction that are prayed to conclude Eucharistic Adoration. Use the slide template found on the Life Teen January 2018 USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January Dim the lights over the audience. Have a large crucifix as a focal point and create a sacred space around it. KEY TERMS: Soul Prayer SCRIPTURE: Psalm 63:2 John 4:10, Romans 12:12 1 Thessalonians 5:23 CATECHISM: 363, , Have the following supplies readily available to be set up. Altar or table Altar Cloth Corporal 4 to 6 Candles Incense and thurible Monstrance Lighter 58 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 59

2 MEDIA SUGGESTIONS LifeTeen: Choices (LifeSupport: January 2018) All Sons & Daughters: All Sons and Daughters - Rest In You (Lyric Video) (youtube.com) Restless, Audrey Assad (The House You re Building, Sparrow Records, 2010) It Is Well, Bethel ft. Kristine Demarco (You Make Me Brave, Bethel Music, 2014) SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: #LT_Satisfied AS YOU GET STARTED... For a Gather for a small church, have all the teens take a turn playing the game. For a more powerful and personal Proclaim, have a teen leader give the testimony. He or she can give the testimony during the Proclaim, as suggested, or before transitioning into Adoration. If exposing the Blessed Sacrament is not an option, go to the chapel during the Break/Send so that teens can be present to Jesus in the tabernacle during the prayer time. After this Life Night, consider springboarding Unleashed: Personal Prayer. HISPANIC INCULTURATION By Monica Harness A devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Sagrado Corazón de Jesus) has a very special place in the lives of Hispanics. It is very common to find the image of the Sacred Heart in their homes as well as the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Corazón Inmaculado de Maria). Novenas are also special to Hispanics. Conclude the Life Night in prayer by starting Day One of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena and encourage the teens to continue to pray the novena for the next eight days. Invite them to include their special intentions. Print out the novena for them to take home and post it somewhere it will be seen as a reminder to complete the novena. Notes: 60 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 61

3 PROCLAIM GATHER LIFE NIGHT: SATISFIED Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 min) Begin the Life Night by gathering teens into the meeting space, welcoming them, and opening in prayer. Invite up any teens that are at Life Night for the first time. If there are no new teens, randomly select two to three returning teens. Ask them to introduce themselves and share what they like to do the most. For example, play soccer, play video games, go shopping, talk with friends, etc. The other teens can welcome them with claps, snaps, or some other affirmation. What s in the Box? (10 min) Empty five tissues boxes and label them one through five. Put an item (flour, a sock, gummy bears, chapstick, eye mask, rosary, temporary tattoos, nothing, etc.) in each box. Place the boxes on a table in the front of the main meeting space. Cover the table with a sheet. Invite five teens to come to the front of the main meeting space for an upfront game. Reveal the tissues boxes under the sheet. Blindfold each teen. Tell the teens that they have 30 seconds to put their hand inside the empty tissue box, feel around, and guess what is inside the box. Then, they whisper their guess to a Core Member who writes it down on a piece of paper. They rotate until they have a guess for each of the five boxes. Reveal what s inside each box and give a prize to the teen with the most correct guesses. Satisfied Teaching (15 min) The Proclaim Outline and Proclaim Details can be found on pages 66 to 73. BREAK Eucharistic Adoration and Guided Reflection (40 min) Have the music minister play soft music to transition into a time of Eucharistic Adoration. Core Members pass out the Fulfilled handout, found on the January 2018 Life Teen USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January Next, lead the teens in a prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to be present. Have a priest or a deacon expose the Blessed Sacrament. Begin with one or two reflective, peaceful songs. Then, transition into a short time of silence. Next, lead the Fulfilled reflection from the back of the room, so that the teens are focused on the Eucharist and not on the leader. Introduce the reflection using the following: God comes to us, knowing that we desire Him. We might seek out things that do not satisfy us, but God knows that what we really want is His love. I m going to read a story about someone who was unsatisfied with what the world had to offer. Listen to what happens when she meets Jesus, and use your reflection worksheet to follow along. Read John 4:4-29. Allow for a period of silence as the teens reflect using the Fulfilled reflection. After about 20 minutes, the music minister plays one or two reflective songs intended to lead the teens into contemplative prayer. The priest or deacon then reposes the Blessed Sacrament, and the music minister plays an upbeat song or two. 62 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 63

4 SEND Wrap-Up and Closing Prayer (5 min) Finish by thanking everyone for entering into prayer. Share how your own heart was moved and conclude the the Life Night by saying a final prayer. Notes: 64 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 65

5 KEY TERMS SATISFIED PROCLAIM OUTLINE Soul: The spiritual principle of human beings. Each human soul is individual and immortal, immediately created by God. Prayer: The elevation of the mind and heart to God in praise of His glory; a petition made to God for some desired good, or in thanksgiving for a received good, or in intercession for others. Through prayer, the Christian experiences a communion with God through Christ in the Church. TEACHING POINTS TO THE CORE Like the objects in the Gather game, it s hard to identify a soul. The soul is at the core of who we are. A soul is what gives us the ability to rationalize, exercise self-control, and communicate with God. The soul is created by God immediately at conception, and is immortal. The soul deserves our utmost care and attention because it is made for eternal union with God. CARING FOR THE SOUL Project and read this quote: You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. St. Augustine, Confessions 1 There s a restlessness to our humanity; nothing will satisfy us but God. Share a personal testimony about a time when you were seeking satisfaction in things other than God. Talk about how you came to realize that God is the only One who can fulfill you. We can start to experience that heavenly fulfillment on Earth through prayer. Prayer is a vital necessity in the life of a Christian because it is how we come to know ourselves and our Creator. PRACTICALS OF PRAYER All the different types of prayer should lead us back to union with God. When we pray, we aren t only telling God what we re thinking or what we need; we enter into a conversation, just like friends would. Most people don t hear an actual voice when they pray, but rather, experience a tug at the heart or a sense of peace. It s important to build a habit of daily prayer so that we start to recognize God s presence in our day-to-day lives. While there are many reasons we can come up with to avoid prayer, we must realize that prayer isn t just about getting an answer or telling God what we need; it s about building a relationship with our Creator. THE FULFILLMENT OF DESIRE If you find yourself seeking happiness in many things and always coming up empty, consider this: your soul was made by an infinite being for eternity, and if you try to fill it with things of this world, you will always be left wanting for more. Project Psalm 142:2-3. No thing and no person but God will fill the desire in our hearts. 66 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 67

6 Play Choices, found on the January 2018 Life Teen USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January The youth minister returns to the front of the main meeting space and transitions to Adoration with praise and worship songs and a guided Scripture reflection. Notes: 68 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 69

7 TEACHING SATISFIED PROCLAIM DETAILS Like the objects in the Gather game, it s hard to identify a soul. What is a soul? Is it our emotions? Our thoughts? Our desires? Or is it something altogether different? The Catechism calls the soul the spiritual principle of a human. It is the human person s innermost aspect, the part of us that is most essential to who we are. Having a soul is what gives us the ability to rationalize, exercise selfcontrol, and communicate with God. From our soul comes our consciousness, freedom, intellect, and will, yet it is not fully contained in any one of those things. It is the source of our individuality and self-awareness. 1 Corinthians 15:44-45; CCC 363, 1705 The soul is created by God immediately at conception, and is immortal, which means that, even when the body dies, the soul lives on in eternal life. Both of these things tell us something important about the soul: it is made to be united to God for all eternity. 1 Thessalonians 5:23; CCC 366, 1703 CARING FOR THE SOUL Project and read this quote: You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. St. Augustine, Confessions 1 There s a restlessness to our humanity. We are always seeking, always searching, always desiring more. Anything we do, we do because we long for happiness. Share a story from your life to demonstrate the restlessness of life. For example, going to college, getting a job, working for a promotion, dating, committing to a relationship, discerning marriage, etc.. The goal is to demonstrate that we choose to do things that we believe will make us happy and it s a continual quest. Think about it: do we do things to intentionally bring pain or difficulty into our lives? Of course not. We choose our actions because we think they ll lead to our good. But if our souls were made by God and for union with God, then what will satisfy us besides Him? Psalm 63:2; CCC 27 Share a testimony about a time when you were seeking satisfaction in things other than God. This can cover a wide range from sin (underage drinking, partying, etc.) to good things that don t ultimately satisfy (athletic or artistic accomplishment, popularity, grades). Don t focus too much on the action, but more on how it left you unhappy, even though you thought it would make you happy. Then, reveal how you found satisfaction in God alone. Our souls will not be satisfied with anything but union with God, and we don t have to wait until heaven to start experiencing the joy and freedom that a life with God has to offer. He allows us to start experiencing that fulfillment while we are here on Earth through a relationship with Him in prayer. Mark 10:30 Prayer is essential to care for our souls. It is the way that we allow our soul - made by God - to be united to Him. We learn to forgive. We become more like Jesus. We allow the love of God to flow into our hearts and overflow into our daily lives, touching the people around us. Prayer is a vital necessity in the life of a Christian. CCC MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 71

8 PRACTICALITIES FOR PRAYER We know that we need to pray, but this can seem like a daunting task, especially if you find prayer boring, difficult, or unattainable. Maybe you only know memorized prayers and you find them repetitive, or you want to pray, but don t know where to begin. While there are many techniques for prayer reading Scripture, going to Mass, praying the rosary, or just telling God about your day they all have the same goal: a relationship with God. When we pray, we aren t only telling God what we re thinking or what we need; we enter into a conversation, just like friends would. We talk to Him about our lives, but we also listen as He speaks truth into our hearts, gives us guidance, and reveals the places He wants to heal. Psalm 145:18-19; CCC Most people don t hear an actual voice when they pray, but rather, experience a tug at the heart or a sense of peace. Maybe it s a word that sticks out to you when we read Scripture, or a feeling of mercy that swells up as you reflect on your day. God speaks in a variety of ways, and the more we pray, the more our soul learns how to sense God s movements. Prayer isn t just for big decisions or difficult times. By committing to daily prayer, we become aware of how God is speaking, no matter what s happening in our lives. When we pray, both the big and small moments of our daily lives become transformed by God s light. James 5:13 There are many reasons people choose not to pray. It seems unproductive. It s mysterious. There are times when the silence is painful and uncomfortable. And most commonly, I just don t have time. While all of these may look true on the outside, if we understand the beauty and mystery, the transformative power of spending daily, intentional time with God, all of these reasons fall to the wayside. We realize that prayer isn t just about getting an answer or telling God what we need; it s about building a relationship with our Creator. It s a mystery and can be difficult at times, but when we choose to trust Him, we become more united to Him. THE FULFILLMENT OF DESIRE Romans 12:12; CCC Prayer gives the Creator of the universe a chance to speak to our hearts. We allow the One who knows us best to tell us who we are and who He is. God is the answer to our restlessness. If you find yourself seeking happiness in many things and always coming up empty, unsatisfied, or lacking joy, consider this: your soul was made by an infinite being for eternity, and if you try to fill it with things of this world, you will always be left wanting for more. Project Psalm 142:2-3. No relationship, no possession, no amount of popularity, no accomplishment: no thing and no person but God will fill that desire in your heart. Only He can show you the meaning in your life. When we enter into prayer, we say, yes to God s plan for us. We trust that He knows us best. We believe that, as our Creator and loving Father, His desire for us is to be happy and whole. When we are set on the Lord and seek His will, we are satisfied in Him. Play Choices found on the January 2018 Life Teen USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January The youth minister returns to the front of the main meeting space and transitions to Adoration with praise and worship songs and a guided Scripture reflection. Notes: 72 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 73

9 _ SATISFIED: Taking Care of the Soul CORE TEAM OVERVIEW GOAL: The goal of Satisfied is to teach teens about the soul, encourage them to care for it through a deeper prayer life, and convict them that they will only be satisfied if they seek God above all else. GATHER (15 MIN): Welcome and Opening Prayer: What s in the Box?: PROCLAIM (15 MIN): Satisfied Teaching: BREAK (40 MIN): Eucharistic Adoration and Guided Reflection: SEND (5 MIN): Wrap-Up and Closing Prayer: Notes: 74 MORE THAN FLESH & BONES 75