THE WOUND A LIFE NIGHT ON THE SIN OF HUMANITY

Transcription

1 GOAL LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW THE WOUND A LIFE NIGHT ON THE SIN OF HUMANITY The goal of The Wound is to introduce the idea that sin is a wound and Jesus is the Divine Physician. KEY CONCEPTS Sin can be understood as a wound in our relationships. When we sin we wound our relationship with God, others, and even with ourselves. Different sins have different levels of gravity or seriousness. Mortal sin separates us from our relationship with God. Venial sin strains our relationship with God. Jesus is the Divine Physician. He came to heal us from the wound of sin and separation from God. ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT The Life Night begins with a fun Gather dynamic in which Core Members put on gore costume makeup to look like wounds and teens have to come up with the story of how they got their wounds. The Proclaim discusses sin as a wound and introduces Jesus as our Divine Physician. The Break is a personal reflection on sin and woundedness. The Send offers an opportunity to pray for an outpouring of mercy and healing with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. ENVIRONMENT The environment is a hospital. In the front of the main meeting space, have tables covered in white sheets and pillows to look like hospital beds. Project an image of a hospital room. Have the seats set up like they are in the waiting room. Have some Core Members dress as nurses and others as patients with open wounds. Use Halloween or costume makeup. The wounded Core Members are also critical to the Gather activity. Play hospital ambiance for background noise. See media suggestions. If providing snacks, have Jell-O. MEDIA SUGGESTIONS KEY TERMS: Sin Mortal Sin Venial Sin SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 53:5 Matthew 8:1-4 Matthew 9:1-34 Mark 2:17 Luke 5:17-39 CATECHISM: nbeats: Hospital Sound Effect l Hospital Ambiance l Hi Resolution Audio (youtube.com) AudreyAssad: New Every Morning-Audrey Assad (youtube.com) The Virus (Life Support: January 2017) Mercy, Amanda Cook (Brave New World, Bethel Music, 2016) SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: #LT_TheWound 8 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 9

2 AS YOU GET STARTED... For an alternate Gather, consider playing Psychiatrist. Have the teens sit in a circle. Send one teen out of the room and tell him/her that he/she is the psychiatrist. It is the psychiatrist s job to guess what ailment the rest of the teens are suffering from by asking questions. While the psychiatrist is still outside of the room, the rest of the teens decide an ailment they are all suffering from. Suggested ailments are: every time you talk you have to itch yourself, you are mute if your legs are crossed, every sentence you say has to have a number in it, you believe the floor is lava, etc. For a Gather for a small church, have only the youth minister wear the gore makeup, and make a big deal of the wound. To begin the Life Night, tell everyone the story of how he or she got the wound. For an alternate Send, have each teen open their Bibles and read and pray with Isaiah 53:5-7. Dim the lights, but not too dim that it s hard to read, and put on prayerful music. HISPANIC INCULTURATION By Stephanie Espinoza Nobody likes hospital visits, especially when they are due to an unforeseen medical circumstance or emergency. For families without legal status, a trip to the hospital creates an ever greater fear that they might be discovered and deported. While places like schools, hospitals, and churches are supposed to be safe spaces free of immigration officers, there is a heightened vulnerability when placing so much personal information into the hands of others, even when they re supposed to be helping you or a loved one who is ill. When delivering the Proclaim, consider incorporating themes of hope for teens who might be living in fear of being undocumented by teaching them that the Church is far better than any hospital. The Church is a hospital that gives hope because her head is Christ, who is merciful and loving to all of God s children in ways which overcome legalism or human conventions. Consider tying in Jesus healings on the Sabbath, which dismayed the Pharisees, but give us an example of true charity in every circumstance. (Mark 2:23-28) Also, consider inviting a Spanish-speaking youth or Core Member to help lead a bilingual Divine Mercy Chaplet during the Send. Rather than beginning the prayer on each small bead of the decades with For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have them say, Por su dolorosa pasión instead. The rest of the group can respond with have mercy on us and on the whole world as usual. Notes: 10 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 11

3 GATHER LIFE NIGHT: THE WOUND Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 min) Gather the teens into the meeting space, welcome them, and open in prayer. Invite up any teens that are at the Life Night for the first time. If there are no new teens, randomly select two to three returning teens. Ask them to introduce themselves by saying their name and answering the following questions: What is the goriest wound you have ever had? How did you get it? How were you treated for it? Have the group welcome them with applause or another form of affirmation. What Happened? (20 min) Have four to six Core Members put on open wound costume makeup. Kits can be found at amazon.com by searching open wound makeup kit. Put the wounds on their faces arms, hands, necks, or a combination of body parts. Offer a variety of wounds on a variety of body parts, the bigger and gorier the better. Have the wounded Core Members come to the front of the main meeting space and stand in a line. Ask for the same number of teen volunteers to come to the front of the main meeting space. Assign the teens to a Core Member and task them with coming up with the story behind the wound by answering the question, How did you get that? Invite the teens to share the story behind the wound with the whole group. By round of applause, have the group cast votes for the best story. The teen with the best story wins a prize. PROCLAIM BREAK How d You Get That? (15 min) Instruct the teens to spread throughout the main meeting space and find a comfortable spot where they can pray. Put on prayerful music. Hand out a writing utensil and the How d You Get That? reflection, found of the January 2018 Life Teen USB and online at lifeteen.com under: Life Support: January SEND Divine Mercy Chaplet (20 min) Dim the lights and create a prayerful environment. Put the Divine Mercy image on the projector and pass out the Divine Mercy Chaplet handout. These are both found on the January 2018 Life Teen USB or online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January If available, pass out rosaries. If not, remind the teens that they can follow along on their fingers. Explain the basics of the Divine Mercy message using the following: The message of Divine Mercy is that God loves us and wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and then let it flow through us to others so the whole world receives healing. Sin is a wound that affects each and every one of us. Let us turn to our Divine Physician and ask for healing. Continue by walking the teens through the chaplet itself. Explain that it starts with the Sign of the Cross, followed by an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Apostle s Creed, followed by five decades of the Divine Mercy prayers. Review the specific Divine Mercy prayers found on the handout, and then pray the chaplet together. The Wound Teaching (15 min) The Proclaim Outline and Proclaim Details can be found on pages 14 to LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 13

4 KEY TERMS THE WOUND Sin: A deliberate offense against God. PROCLAIM OUTLINE Mortal Sin: A grave infraction of the law of God, constituting a turning away from God, in grave matters, full knowledge, and full consent. Venial Sin: Failure to observe necessary moderation in lesser matters of the moral law, wounding the relationship with God. TEACHING POINTS BEHIND EVERY WOUND IS A STORY When we get wounded, whether it s a burn, a cut, or a skinned knee, people always ask, What happened? or How did you get that? SIN IS A WOUND Sin can also be understood as a wound. When we sin, we wound our relationships with God, with others, and even with ourselves. Share a testimony about how a sin of yours wounded your relationship with God, with others, or with yourself. MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN There are a great many kinds of sin. Saint Paul s letter to the Galatians lists some; fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing. Different sins have different levels of seriousness. Mortal sin separates us from our relationship with God. Venial sin strains our relationship with God. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met. The sin must be of grave matter, it must be done with full knowledge that it is wrong, and it must be done with full consent. Grave matter means the act is serious. For example, murder and adultery are always grave matters. Full knowledge is knowing that the matter is wrong. Our conscience naturally informs us of what is right and what is wrong. Full consent is giving consent and choosing to do the grave act knowing it is wrong. AVOIDING SIN Nobody likes being sick. Likewise, no one likes being wounded by sin. We want to live happy, holy, healthy lives. To become healthy, we must avoid sin and near occasions of sin. This means different things for different people depending on their knowledge and consent. For example, alcoholics know that once they have a drink they lose control, the ability to consent, to their drinking. A non-alcholic can have a drink or two and still control when he or she stops. A non-alcoholic avoids sin by not giving consent to a third of fourth drink. Because an alcoholic can t do this, an alcoholic avoids sin by not drinking at all or not walking into the bar or party. This line of thinking translates to a great many grave sins drugs, pornogrpahy, and premarital sex. These are all gravely immoral and we know this because our conscience informs us. However, our consent to the sin can be be given at different moments. It is our responsibility to know our weaknesses and act accordingly. If we know certain situations lead to sin, we must use our will to not enter that situation. 14 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 15

5 HARD TEACHING No one likes to be told they have made a mistake or they are a sinner. Many people have walked away from the Church because we believe in the reality of sin. Just because it is hard, does not mean it is untrue. Doctors want to fix our wounds, so they bring our attention to them and explain them to us. Likewise, God does not tell us we are sinners to condemn us, but so we can be convicted to turn away from sin, and a life of darkness, and to His Son, Jesus, and a life of light. Project and read John 3:17 and John 8:12. THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN One of the titles of Jesus is the Divine Physician. While Jesus was on Earth, He healed both the physically and spiritually sick. In the Gospels, there are accounts of Him healing lepers, paralytics, the women with the hemorrhage, two blind men, the blind Bartimaeus, a man with a withered hand, the crippled women, and more. However, Jesus made it clear that He was the Savior and that He came to heal us from the gravest wound of all. Project and read Luke 5: Jesus did what only God could do; He forgave the sins of the paralytic. Project and read Mark 2:17. He died on the cross so that all humanity might be healed from the wounds of sin. Project and read Isaiah 53:5. Invite the wounded Core Members back to the front of the main meeting space. Give them a paper towel and tell them to take off their makeup. After a minute of them trying, explain that sometimes we need help outside of ourselves, we need the help of a doctor. Then, a Core Member dressed as a doctor comes to the stage with makeup wipes and cleans the wounds off the Core Members. THE CHURCH IS A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS Pope Francis has been using traditional imagery of the Church as a field hospital. He describes the world as a broken place that needs somewhere to bring its spiritual injuries; we live in a world that needs an emergency room more than a courtyard. We don t bring up sin to condemn but to lead to healing. You can t address a problem you don t know exists. Jesus offers us mercy and healing. The Church is a place where we can go to receive healing. Notes: 16 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 17

6 TEACHING THE WOUND BEHIND EVERY WOUND IS A STORY PROCLAIM DETAILS Transition from the Gather to the Proclaim using the following: Behind every wound is a story. When we get wounded, whether it s a burn, a cut, or a skinned knee, people always ask, What happened? or How did you get that? Share a story from a time when you were wounded and the story behind your wound. SIN IS A WOUND Sin can also be understood as a wound. It is a wound in our relationships. When we sin, we wound our relationships with God, others, and even with ourselves. When we miss Mass on Sunday or fail to pray regularly, our relationship with God is wounded. When we gossip about others, lie to others, or steal from others, our relationships with others are wounded. When we cheat on a test, talk negatively about ourselves, or don t respect our bodies, our relationship with our very self is wounded. CCC 1850 Share a testimony about how a sin of yours wounded your relationship with God, others, or with yourself. Just like our physical wounds, our spiritual wounds also have a story. We don t lie to people because we want to lie to them. We lie because we are ashamed of a personal mistake or shortcoming. Or we lie because we are afraid to tell the truth because it may hurt someone s feelings. We settle for impure relationships, not because we want impurity, but because we are so desperate to be loved. MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN There are many kinds of sin. Saint Paul s letter to the Galatians lists some; fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, and carousing. CCC 1852, Galatians 5:19-21 We may not know what some of those words mean, so let s take a closer look. Fornication is any sexual act outside of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Licentiousness is similar to fornication; it means being promiscuous in sexual matters. Idolatry is worshipping something that is not God. It could be our iphone, money, style, sports, etc. Sorcery is another word for magic. Enmity and strife is having unnecessary hostility and animosity towards others. Dissension and factions are disagreeing behaviors that lead to division. Also, different sins have different levels of gravity or seriousness. Some sins are more damaging to our relationship with God than other sins. Venial sin strains, or hurts, our relationship with God. Mortal sin separates, or completely breaks us, from our relationship with God. CCC 1855 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met. The sin must be of grave matter, it must be done with full knowledge that it is wrong, and it must be done with full consent. These terms are important. Grave matter means the act is serious. For example, murder and adultery are always grave matters. Full knowledge is knowing that the matter is wrong. Our conscience naturally informs us of what is right and what is wrong. Full consent is giving consent and choosing to do the grave act knowing it is wrong. CCC LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 19

7 Venial sin is committed when the matter is less grave or the person is not fully aware it is a sin or does not have the ability to give full consent. CCC 1862 AVOIDING SIN Nobody likes being sick. Likewise, no one likes being wounded by sin. We want to live happy, holy, healthy lives. To become healthy, we must avoid sin and near occasions of sin, and this means different things for different people depending on their knowledge and consent. For example, alcoholics know that once they have a drink they lose control, the ability to consent, to their drinking. A non-alcholic can have a drink or two and still control when he or she stops. A non-alcoholic avoids sin by not giving consent to a third of fourth drink. Because an alcoholic can t do this, an alcoholic avoids sin by not drinking at all or not walking into the bar or party. This line of thinking translates to many grave sins drugs, pornogrpahy, and premarital sex. These are all gravely immoral and we know this because our conscience informs us. However, our consent to the sin can be be given at different moments. Pornography Some of us can sleep with screens in our rooms and it won t lead to sin. For others, this is not the case. If being alone in your room with a screen leads to looking at inappropriate websites and further sin, it is your responsibility to avoid the near occasion of sin by leaving your screen in a public space. We choose to not give consent to the sin before it gets too hard not to. Premarital Sex We are fools if we think that being alone in a room with our girlfriend/boyfriend is not going to lead somewhere. Why do you think so many parents have the Door Open rule? If being alone in a room with your significant other leads to sin, it is your responsibility to not put yourself in that situation. We choose to not give consent to the sin before we are at the edge of committing it. If sexual morality is something your youth group needs to be taught, consider springboarding a mid-week going deeper group using Sex Positive. It is our responsibility to know our weaknesses and act accordingly. If we know certain situations lead to sin, we must use our will to not enter that situation. This goes for mortal sin and lesser, venial sins. What can you do to avoid gossiping, jealousy, immodesty, and other sins? HARD TEACHING No one likes to be told they have made a mistake or they are a sinner. Many people have walked away from the Church because we believe in the reality of sin. Just because it is hard, does not mean it is untrue. Doctors want to fix our wounds, so they bring our attention to them and explain them to us. Likewise, God does not tell us we are sinners to condemn us, but so we can be convicted to turn away from sin, and a life of darkness, and to His Son, Jesus, and a life of light. Project and read John 3:17 and John 8:12 THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN John 3:17, John 8:12 One of the titles of Jesus is the Divine Physician. While Jesus was on Earth, He healed both the physically and spiritually sick. In the Gospels, there are accounts of Him healing lepers, paralytics, the women with the hemorrhage, two blind men, the blind Bartimaeus, a man with a withered hand, the crippled women, the man with dropsy, the man at the pool of Bethzatha, and more. He was known as a healerbefore He was know as a Savior. Luke 17:11-19, Matthew 8:1-4, 9:1-31, 20:29-34, 12: LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 21

8 However, Jesus made it clear that He was the Savior and that He came to heal us from the gravest wound of all: sin. Project and read Luke 5: Jesus did what only God could do; He forgave the sins of the paralytic. Project and read Mark 2:17. He died on the cross so that all humanity might be healed from the wounds of sin. Project and read Isaiah 53:5. Invite the wounded Core Members back to the front of the main meeting space. Give them a paper towel and tell them to take off their makeup. After a minute of them trying to take off their makeup by themselves, explain that sometimes we need help outside of ourselves we need the help of a doctor. Then, a Core Member dressed as a doctor comes to the stage with makeup wipes and cleans the wounds off the Core Members. THE CHURCH IS A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS Pope Francis has been using traditional imagery of the Church as a field hospital; I see the Church as a field hospital after battle, he told us in one of his homilies. He described the world as a broken place that needs a place to bring its spiritual injuries. We live in a world that needs an emergency room more than a courtyard. He said,...the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds... La Civita Cattolica, Homily, September 2013 We don t bring up sin to condemn, but to lead to healing. You can t address a problem you don t know exists. Sin exists, and we are all wounded by it. Jesus offers mercy and healing. The Church is a place where you can go to be healed. CORE TEAM OVERVIEW THE WOUND: A Life Night on the Sin of Humanity GOAL: The goal of The Wound is to introduce the idea that sin is a wound and Jesus is the Divine Physician. GATHER (25 MIN): Welcome and Opening Prayer: What Happened?: PROCLAIM (15 MIN): The Wound Teaching: BREAK (15 MIN): How d You Get That?: SEND (20 MIN): Divine Mercy Chaplet: Notes: 22 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 23