HELL-BOUND A LIFE NIGHT ON HEAVEN AND HELL

Transcription

1 GOAL LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW HELL-BOUND A LIFE NIGHT ON HEAVEN AND HELL The goal of Hell-bound is to clarify common misconceptions about heaven and hell and inspire the teens to make choices based on love of God. KEY CONCEPTS Man and woman are created with free will so that they can choose to be in a relationship with God or not, a choice which God respects. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness. (CCC 1024) Hell is the finality of our decision to choose ourselves over God. KEY TERMS: Free Will Heaven Hell Sin SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 2:9 2 Peter 3:9 1 John 3:14-15 CATECHISM: ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT This Life Night begins with a fun competition that demonstrates an ancient allegory about heaven and hell. The Proclaim encourages teens to consider the realities of heaven, hell, and free will. The Break provides time for an examination of conscience in which teens choose virtuous actions to replace sinful ones, and the Send is an introduction to the Fatima prayer. ENVIRONMENT The environment for this Life Night embraces the cheesy clichés of heaven and hell. If possible, have Core Members wear Halloween costume horns and all black to greet the teens at the door to encourage them not to go to to the main meeting space. Be sure that these costumes are cartoon-like and not scary. Any food served at the Life Night is provided outside and should be difficult to serve or have something missing. For example, provide gallons of water, but no cups; offer Oreos, but scrape out the filling; serve hamburgers without toppings. Play a song on repeat such as I Love You by Barney or Friday by Rebecca Black. At the door of the main meeting space, have a Core Member dressed as St. Peter. He signs teens in, turning some away for silly things, such as, You didn t take out the trash, You rolled your eyes at your younger sibling, etc. He allows others in one at a time for equally silly things such as, You did your homework, You cleaned up your dog s poop, etc. In the main meeting space, have Core Members wearing white with halos and angel wings. Make the room bright and white. Hang clouds and have a harp soundtrack playing in the background. Place a picture of Jesus in the front of the room. As teens enter, have them sit and stare at it. 26 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 27

2 MEDIA SUGGESTIONS Life Teen: Locked From the Inside (Life Support: May 2018) Life Teen: Choices (Life Support: January 2018) Valérie Milot: B. Smetana: Vltava (Moldau) - Valérie Milot, harp/harpe (youtube.com) SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: #LT_Hellbound AS YOU GET STARTED... For an alternate Gather, consider playing heaven, hell, and purgatory. Designate a wall as heaven, the wall opposite to it as hell, and the middle of the room as purgatory. Ask all of the teens to begin on the wall designated as hell. Instruct the teens to run to the designated place as you call it out. If a teen delays or touches the wall last, they have to sit down. Play until one teen wins. For a deeper Send, consider inviting local priests to hear confessions. Move to the church or Blessed Sacrament chapel to end the Life Night with a time of praise and worship while the teens celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. HISPANIC INCULTURATION By Stephanie Espinoza Contributors: Juan Aznaran, Angie Marino Important Notes for Pastoral Care The topic of hell is taken very seriously in Hispanic/Latino households, and the reality of hell and Satan is not something that is seen as able to be taken lightheartedly or handled jokingly. If your Core Team is going to dress up in the costumes with horns and all black at the doors of the meeting space, consider sending the corresponding Parent Letter (which explains the reasoning behind the costumes to parents in Spanish) home with the teens the week before the Life Night. Hispanic/ Latino parents might walk up to the doors, see those outfits, and decide they will not let their teen stay for the Life Night. Additionally, have a few people who speak Spanish greeting parents and teens to allay any concerns parents may have. Cultural Insights Hispanic/Latino kids often grow up hearing about el Cucuy as a demon-like figure who will escort them to hell for doing anything from talking back to their mom to stealing a piece of candy from the grocery store. There is a lot of talk in Hispanic/Latino homes about all the things they can do (big or small) to end up in hell but not much to balance that with actions they can take to spend eternity in heaven. This often makes heaven seem unattainable and condemnation to hell certain, thus fueling greater fear and anxiety around these already intimidating topics. Keep this in mind as you pivot in the Proclaim from how certain actions reflect our choosing heaven or hell, highlighting the reality that Jesus makes heaven possible for each of us. Notes: 28 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 29

3 GATHER LIFE NIGHT: HELL-BOUND Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 min) Gather teens in the main meeting space. Welcome them to the Life Night, introduce any teens or Core Members attending for the first time, and begin in prayer. Fork It Over (10 min) Previous to the Life Night, create extremely long forks long enough to be unable to feed yourself with it by taping a plastic fork to the end of a wooden dowel. Have one per teen. Divide the teens into groups of six to eight and distribute the forks. Have the teens sit in a circle and place a bowl of marshmallows in the middle. As a team, each group competes to be the first to eat all of the marshmallows. Explain the following rules only: They cannot move from their spot or move the bowl, and they must hold the fork at the end of the stick. (Ideally, the teens are unable to feed themselves and can only complete the task if they feed one another.) Transition into the Proclaim using the following: Sometimes, our perception of hell is somewhat comical. We make light of it with little devil horns and images of fire. We may joke saying, My hell will be (insert the most annoying or aggravating thing in your life). All of these may express a particular, watered down aspect of hell, but the game we just played can give us greater insight. An old allegory conveys hell as many people sitting around a table with long spoons. They are starving but cannot feed themselves. Because they are so turned in on themselves, for eternity, they never realize that they can eat if they feed one another. During this Life Night, we are going to explore the reality of hell, but most importantly we will talk about the beauty of heaven. PROCLAIM Hell-bound Teaching (15 min) The Proclaim Outline and Proclaim Details can be found on pages 34 to 42. BREAK Small Group Discussion (25 min) Divide the teens into the small groups from the Gather activity with one Core Member in each group. Begin the small group with a prayer, and then use the following questions to facilitate discussion, beginning with a round of would you rather questions: Would you rather spend eternity with an exposed booger in your nose while at school or spinach in between your front two teeth while with your crush? Would you rather spend eternity constantly hearing nails on the chalkboard in the distance or hearing deafening microphone feedback for ten minutes every two hours? Would you rather spend eternity getting to pick the radio station in the car or always having dibs on the remote control? Would you rather spend eternity always having the desires of your heart fulfilled or never questioning your self-worth? Spend time with this question if it sparks conversation. Regardless, share that both of these are realities in heaven, so we don t ultimately have to choose. What images, movies, or songs come to mind when you think about heaven and hell? How do these images influence our understanding of heaven and hell? How do they conflict with Church teaching? 30 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 31

4 What questions come to mind when you think about heaven and hell? Spend time addressing these questions. For a Core Member who is uncomfortable or unable to answer certain questions, write them down and give them to the youth minister. Describe what it looks like to have a healthy fear of hell. How does a healthy fear of hell push us toward heaven? Be sure to emphasize that healthy fear is not paralyzing. It s recognizing that hell exists, and we can actually spend eternity without the love and joy offered by God. How can knowledge of heaven and hell make you more attentive to the choices you make throughout each day? SEND Cut & Fill Examination of Conscience (15 min) Gather the teens into the main meeting space. Pass out the Cut & Fill Examination of Conscience handout and a pen to each teen. Handouts can be found on the May 2018 Life Teen USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: May Challenge them to spend time examining the choices they have made thus far and make an appointment to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Be sure to provide them with times for weekly confession or any upcoming penance services. Fatima Prayer (5 min) Use the following to transition into prayer: In 1917, Our Lady began appearing to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. During these apparitions, she urged the children to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners and peace in the world. She asked them to pray the rosary daily and gave them a prayer to include with each decade. It is a simple prayer that we can memorize and pray with the rosary or on its own throughout our day. Project and pray the Fatima prayer together: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of thy mercy. Amen. Notes: 32 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 33

5 KEY TERMS HELL-BOUND PROCLAIM OUTLINE Free Will: The power of the will to determine itself and to act of itself, without compulsion from within or coercion from without. Heaven: Eternal life with God; communion of life and love with the Trinity and the communion of saints. Hell: The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the saints, reserved for those who refuse, by their own free choice, to believe and be converted from sin, even to the end of their lives. Sin: An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. TEACHING POINTS BECAUSE I DESERVE IT We often have the perception that getting to heaven or going to hell is based on a formula. If I am good, God lets me into heaven. If I am bad, God sends me to hell. If we stick with the formula, we always deserve hell. Read Genesis 2: Adam and Eve make a decision with a clear consequence. In choosing to sin, man sentences himself. It is not about what we deserve but about how closely we are conformed to Christ. Heaven and hell hinge on a relationship, not a formula. THE CHOICE IS YOURS God created man to be in a loving relationship with Him, which necessitates free will. We make choices, and every choice is one to love God or not. At the moment of death, our decision to cooperate with grace, or not, becomes a permanent choice with eternal consequences. I CHOOSE MYSELF The Church teaches that hell exists and is not contrary to our image of a loving God. He unceasingly offers us grace to live according to His will. God doesn t send us to hell. We choose our sin over Him, and He respects our choice. Once in hell, a person permanently excludes himself or herself from communion with God and those who love Him. Consider playing the video Locked From the Inside found in the Media Suggestions. BEYOND IMAGINATION While we seldom acknowledge the existence of hell, many also fail to reflect on the glory of heaven. We hear the words eternal rest or eternal worship and imagine eternal boredom. Ask teens to share different images of heaven. We have many of images of heaven, and although they may represent part of what heaven is, they fall short they may even dilute the beautiful reality of heaven. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme definitive happiness. (CCC 1024) Most of the time, we aren t even aware of our deepest longings, and happiness seems so fleeting. We always long for more more affirmation, more love, more purpose. The greatest reality of heaven is God s complete presence and our total union with Him. Not only will we not have to suffer, be embarrassed, or experience loss, we will desire nothing because God will be enough for us. 34 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 35

6 A NEW EQUATION We can t earn heaven. God gives us the ability to enter into eternal life through Jesus Passion, death, and Resurrection. We enter into and can partake of that new life through the grace of Baptism. He changes up the equation: Sinful humanity plus grace equals the ability to be before Him. Grace is a gift that we have to unwrap and use. It requires cooperation on our part. It requires a choice. Our choices lead us closer to the joy of heaven or further from it. Furthermore, the choices we make bring aspects of heaven or hell into our lives now. What reality will you choose to live? Notes: 36 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 37

7 TEACHING HELL-BOUND PROCLAIM DETAILS THE CHOICE IS YOURS God created man to be in a relationship with Him. He created us to love Him and be loved by Him. A loving relationship necessitates free will, or the ability to choose. Just like Adam and Eve, we are given the gift of free will. We make choices, and every choice is one to love God or not. BECAUSE I DESERVE IT If you receive allowance for doing chores, but don t do the chores, do you deserve the allowance? If someone rarely shows up for practice, do they deserve to start on gameday? Consider including other examples relevant to your particular teens. We often have the perception that getting to heaven or going to hell is based on a formula; A plus B equals C. In a sense, our formula is based on what we deserve. If I am good, God will let me into heaven. However, if I am bad, God will send me to hell. Here s the hard truth: if we stick with the formula, we always deserve hell. Humanity plus sin always equals the inability of man to be in the presence of God, which is hell. In Genesis, we read about Adam and Eve making a decision that had a clear consequence: You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die. Because of their decision, and every decision we make in choosing to sin, man sentences himself. Genesis 2:16-17 In His deep love for us, God alters the equation by making death something that can unite us with Him for all eternity. It is no longer about what we deserve, but how closely we are conformed to Christ. Heaven and hell hinge on a relationship, not a formula. A person who chooses to love God seeks His grace to live a life that continually grows in faith, hope, and charity. He or she makes choices that are geared toward the will of God and good of others. Sin is the choice we make to love ourselves over God. We turn away from Him or completely reject Him. In sinning, we offend God and wound ourselves and others. At the moment of death, our decision to cooperate with grace, or not, becomes a permanent choice with eternal consequences. I CHOOSE MYSELF Ask the teens if they have ever heard from someone, or thought themselves, that hell does not exist. Follow up the question by asking about objections to the existence of hell. There are plenty of arguments against the existence of hell. Some say it is merely a punishment our parents or the Church threaten to keep us out of trouble or an antiquated idea that people don t bother speaking about anymore. The more significant struggle is reconciling the idea of a good and merciful God with the image of eternal fire and suffering. Does He really send or allow people to go there? Consider playing the video Locked From the Inside found in the Media Suggestions. The Church teaches very clearly that hell exists and that its existence is not contrary to our image of a God who is love. God is unceasingly offering us the grace needed to live according to His will, and the decisions we make allow us to be more or less receptive to grace. Sin is always a selfish act and a rejection of grace. We turn in on ourselves and cannot see the needs of other people or God s own desire for our life. 38 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 39

8 Consequently, we isolate ourselves from others and God. We think we can satisfy our own needs. We also convince ourselves we are not wrong, so we never ask for forgiveness. Because of our free will, God cannot and will not force us to desire Him or to ask for His mercy. God doesn t send us to hell, we choose our sin over Him, and He respects our choice. Once in hell, a person permanently excludes himself or herself from communion with God and those who love Him. BEYOND IMAGINATION John 3:19 While we seldom acknowledge the existence of hell, most of us also fail to reflect on the glory of heaven. We hear heaven referred to as eternal rest or eternal worship and we may imagine eternal boredom. We just sit and stare at God or have an eternal praise and worship session. It lacks excitement and drama and eventually gets old. Ask teens to share different images of heaven. Follow up by asking them if they have ever had an experience of immense beauty. Allow time for them to share. We have many different images of heaven, and although they may represent part of what heaven is, they fall short they may even dilute the beautiful reality of heaven. All of the beauty and joy we encounter on Earth, whether in nature or our relationships, is just a reflection of what we will encounter in heaven. 1 Corinthians 2:9, 13:12 Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme definitive happiness. Most of the time, we aren t even aware of our deepest longings, and happiness seems so fleeting. We always long for more more affirmation, more love, more purpose. Even our relationship with God requires for us to constantly seek greater depth. We strive to love and trust Him more, have better times of prayer, and recognize His presence in our life. The greatest reality of heaven is God s complete presence and our total union with Him. In heaven, nothing keeps us from knowing and experiencing His love and returning it fully. Not only will we not have to suffer, be embarrassed, or experience loss, we will long for nothing because God will be enough for us. A NEW EQUATION CCC 1024 Although the Church states that someone is in heaven (the process of declaring someone a saint) the Church will never declare that someone is in hell. We believe and trust in the mercy of God. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 1 John 4:8, CCC 1033 While there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn heaven, God gives us the ability to enter into eternal life with Him because of Jesus Passion, death, and Resurrection. We enter into and can partake of that new life through the grace of Baptism. Jesus changes the equation: Sinful humanity plus grace equals the ability to be before Him. By establishing the Church, grace is freely offered as a gift from God. We don t earn it, but we still have to unwrap it and use it which requires cooperation on our part. It requires a choice. Daily we make choices that lead us closer to the joy of heaven or further from it. When we enter into heaven or hell, it will be familiar to us because of the life we live on Earth. The choices we make bring aspects of heaven or hell into our lives now. What reality will you choose to live? 40 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 41

9 Notes: HELL-BOUND: Heaven and Hell CORE TEAM OVERVIEW GOAL: The goal of Hell-bound is to clarify common misconceptions about heaven and hell and inspire the teens to make choices based on love of God. GATHER (15 MIN): Welcome and Opening Prayer: Fork It Over: PROCLAIM (15 MIN): Hell-bound Teaching: BREAK (25 MIN): Small Group Discussion: Begin with a round of would you rather questions found on page 31. What images, movies, or songs come to mind when you think about heaven and hell? How do these images influence our understanding of heaven and hell? How do they conflict with Church teaching? What questions come to mind when you think about heaven and hell? Spend time addressing these questions. For a Core Member who is uncomfortable or unable to answer certain questions, write them down and give them to the youth minister. Describe what it looks like to have a healthy fear of hell. How does a healthy fear of hell push us toward heaven? Be sure to emphasize that healthy fear is not paralyzing. It s recognizing that hell exists, and we can actually spend eternity without the love and joy offered by God. How can knowledge of heaven and hell make you more attentive to the choices you make throughout each day? SEND (20 MIN): Cut & Fill Examination of Conscience: Fatima Prayer: 42 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 43