To the Leaders: Please read through the Leader s Guide for Parent Learning Centers for the details about how to plan, organize, and succeed with these wonderful events. Objectives of the learning for this theme: To recognize that the liturgy is the work of the Trinity. In the liturgy of the church, God the Father is blessed as the source of all the gifts of creation. He has blessed us in Christ, so we might be God s adopted sons and daughters in the Spirit. To more fully grasp that Christ s work in the liturgy is sacramental. His body, the church, is a sacrament (sign and instrument) through which the Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery of salvation. Through her liturgical actions, the pilgrim church already participates in the heavenly liturgy. To appreciate that the Holy Spirit prepares the assembly to encounter Christ in the liturgy. To understand that the sacraments are signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church. The celebration of their rites signifies and makes present the graces of each sacrament. To learn how to talk with your child about Catholic liturgy and the sacraments in ways that will help them grow into a lifetime of faith. The opening moments Step Timing Talking Points 1. Check in and Get Started 2 minutes The lead catechist introduces him or herself and welcomes everyone formally from the front of the room using a microphone, if needed. Introduce the pastor and pastoral staff to everyone. Introduce the Learning Center leaders. 2. Prayer 2 minutes Turn down the recorded song which has been playing as people arrived. Begin with the Sign of the Cross. The leader prays a brief prayer, such as this: Gracious God,
we praise you and thank you this night for the many signs of your love with which you bless us. We remember the saving works of Christ, whose love we celebrate in sacramental signs and deeds; through them we recognize your love for us and renew our commitment to be your holy people, Christ s Body, the Church. Send your Holy Spirit tonight, we pray, that we may have open hearts to be drawn more deeply to you now and for eternity. We pray through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is one with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. 3. Introduce the theme 3 minutes The Theme The lead catechist speaks to the group, using these or similar words: This meeting will focus on The Liturgy and Sacraments. As we begin our time together, let us listen to the word of God: Reader: A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (11:23-26) For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God! In this passage from St. Paul s letter to the Corinthians, we hear the reverence with which Paul speaks of Christ s institution of the Eucharist. We can imagine the readers of the letter, members of a community Paul helped to begin, being reminded of Christ s sacramental presence with and among them when they gather for the sacred meal.
We, too, are reminded of this wonderful gift, and we realize that in encountering Christ through the sacraments, we are called to live as Christ s people in our world. In this event, we want to help you instill this same love and reverence for Liturgy in the hearts of your children. Share here about your own experience of the sacraments. Choose one that has been most meaningful in your life and tell how it has healed you, connected you to others, celebrated a key moment in life, or simply led you to Jesus. Keep this brief but make it personal. 4. Dismissal to the 1 st round of Learning Centers about 2 minutes Your options tonight for Learning Centers include: Here list what those options will be, using these or similar words (mention that there are 3 rounds of visits, then everyone meets back here for evaluation and closing prayer): Option #1 will be led by [name] and will meet [location]. This option is for you parents with younger children, ages 3 or 4 through about 8 or 9. Option #2 will be led by [name] and will meet [location]. This option is for you parents with children ages 9 through about 12, depending on the maturity of your child. Option #3 will be led by [name] and will meet [location]. This option is for parents with junior or senior high children, or young adults. Option #4 will be led by [name] and will meet [location]. It will explore the theological background to our theme. Option #5 will be led by [name] and will meet [location]. This option will make concrete suggestions on how you can take this home for the season of [name the season] and add Catholic elements to your home, respecting also the non- Catholics who may live there. 5. 1 st Round 12 minutes Note: The outlines for each learning center below are also the handout for that Learning Center. It s important to send the parents home with something in their hands to help them remember what we did here. Continue rotating parents among Learning Center groups until three Learning Centers have been visited by all.
Getting Started: Share this information with the parents, using these or similar words. Offer an example from your own experience as a parent or catechist to illustrate these points. Remember you have only 12 minutes! Your young child is likely very anxious to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion for the first time, or he or she may have recently received these sacraments. This is a blessed time in your family s life, as you discover or rediscover the wonder of Christ s life and forgiveness, poured out freely for us. Often, parents say their child s preparation and reception of these sacraments helps them to enter more fully into the celebrations, as their faith is reignited and their awe in God s abundant grace is kindled; it is, of course, a real blessing that your child is now fully participating in the celebrations along with you, making it more possible to concentrate and to pray! This early discovery of faith is a terribly important period in your child s life. Even if you aren t Catholic yourself, you can probably see how celebrating these early Sacraments is a sort of passage into the Church. Indeed, we speak of this as initiation, or entry, into the community. Invite the parents to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences about the questions below with each other in groups of 2 or 3. Ask them to note their answers for a large group discussion to follow. When the small groups are finished, spend a few minutes with the whole group, inviting people to share their response for all to hear. This helps concretize the conversation. Do you recall your own First Communion or First Confession? What was your experience of that? How can you help your child learn about the Liturgy?
How does your participation in the liturgy change the way your family lives in relationship with God, each other, and others you know or those you do not know? Going a bit Deeper: After the parents have shared, offer these additional points. When we speak of The Liturgy and Sacraments, we are talking about rites of the Church in which Christ acts in particular ways. The Sacraments really are moments in which we encounter and are encountered by Christ. Through the sacraments, we are drawn nearer to Christ, prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive Christ and to allow our hearts, minds, and lives to be shaped as Christ s people. For those who come to Mass but do not receive Holy Communion (because they re too young, because their hearts and souls are not ready, or because they are not in full communion with us Catholics), the Liturgy still offers a rich blessing. The music, readings, homily, prayers and community are all a source of grace. So it is with your very young child who may not receive Communion yet. As you interact with your child at home, draw his or her attention to these concepts through your words and actions: o The Church has seven sacraments. They are signs of God s love. We celebrate these at the parish, but we also take them home with us as parents. We live these sacraments in our daily lives. o Jesus gave the sacraments to remind us that he is with us always, and that always includes Tuesday evening and Friday lunchtime, not merely Sunday morning. o Sacraments are signs that come from Jesus and give grace. Grace is experienced as a sacred power that enters us and makes us able to live as children of God. Your child has been in the state of grace since his or her conception. God never leaves us. o The Sacraments of Initiation are Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. We call them initiation because they re how we enter fully into the life of the community. They re entrance rites. o The Sacraments of Healing are Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. We are healed because God touches our hearts. In these sacraments, we turn to God for help and God always answers yes. o The Sacraments of Service are Holy Orders and Matrimony. We think of them as service because they lead us to a lifestyle in which others take center stage our parish if we re ordained, or our spouse and family if we re married.
Creating Households of Faith Sending it all home! Make a special memories book. o Gather photos of your child s Baptism, along with other memorabilia such as an invitation to the Baptism or a party that was held afterward. o Help your child make a scrapbook or photo album that will hold reminders of sacramental celebrations and other special moments. o If your child has already received Reconciliation and Holy Communion for the first time, include pictures from those occasions as well. o Talk with your child about why these celebrations are so special. Talk with your child about how we live the Sacraments in daily life. o You can take the Sacraments home with you from church! Talk with your children about how the sacraments help us to know that Christ is always with us, and that God loves us endlessly. o Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation join us to Christ and help us to keep our relationship with Christ first in our lives; we experience Christ s love in special ways through these sacraments. Ask your child to share what it means to be included in a group of friends. Ask about those children who are rejected. Sharing a meal (echoing Eucharist), inviting them to play, and giving them the same attention given to others help a child live these sacraments. o Confession and Anointing help us when we have sinned or are ill. Christ knows that we will sometimes fail and then regret it, and he understands that people sometimes are seriously ill. God knows we need special attention at those times and gives us these community-healing sacraments. When your child, or a friend of your child, is ill, help them see that staying with and visiting the sick is a way of being Christ to them. o Through Ordination or Matrimony, we make commitments to God and others for life, realizing that our lives are not just for us but are for others. How does your child understand these sacraments, even at this tender age? Ask the parents to share their experiences of talking with their children about Christ s love through the sacraments.
Pause often to marvel in beauty, good feelings, and fun times. In the Church we use a big word to describe such pauses. We call it by a Greek name, mystagogy. It means simply to pause, look back over what just happened, and savor it together. o After an event at the parish, or at school, or after the Christmas holiday has passed, or at any other suitable time, sit down together as a family and go back over the events. Ask questions like, What was your favorite thing? What do you still remember about that? What do you hope will happen next? Can you see God s hand in this? o Such pausing and sharing helps you all savor the moments and find God in the events of daily life.
Getting Started: Share this information with the parents, using these or similar words. Offer an example from your own experience as a parent or catechist to illustrate these points: Elementary-age children are acquiring the ability to be comfortable with abstract concepts. They grow in their ability to connect what they learn in classes by applying the ideas to their lives, and they appreciate the living witness of trusted adults. These developments in maturation help us to know how to help children of this age to find life and meaning through sacramental celebrations. Your child may find it difficult to put his or her questions or thoughts into words, but he or she likely has moments of insight, doubt, and wonder, just as older youth and adults do. Having celebrated the First Sacraments a year or several years ago now, children of this age need help to make the Liturgy special for them. They depend on you as parents to encourage them and keep them interested in church-related events. The crucial thing here is to continue to participate in the Sunday Mass as a family or to ensure that your child understands the expectation that he or she will attend Mass when staying with friends. Talk about what is missing in your life when you miss Mass, and reinforce the blessing of our sacramental life in knowing Christ s love for us. Invite the parents to take a moment to think about the questions below, and ask them to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences with each other in groups of 2 or 3. Ask them to note their answers for a large group discussion to follow. When the small groups are finished, spend a few minutes with the whole group, inviting people to share their response for all to hear. This helps concretize the conversation. How would you tell your child about the importance of being at Mass on Sunday? What would you say? What is your own experience of regular parish engagement? How do you keep yourself alive in faith?
Looking back over your life, how have the sacraments played a role in your own growth and development? Going a bit Deeper: Here are the next points to share: When we speak of The Liturgy and Sacraments, we are talking about rites of the Church in which Christ acts in particular ways. The Sacraments really are moments in which we encounter and are encountered by Christ, and through the sacraments, we are drawn nearer to Christ, prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive Christ and to allow our hearts, minds, and lives to be shaped as Christ s people. As you interact with your child at home, draw his or her attention to these concepts through your words and actions: o The Church year celebrates the Paschal Mystery. What does this mean? The Paschal Mystery is the life, sacrifice, death and rising of Christ. We live this in our own lives when we follow his teachings and donate ourselves to each other in love. o The Sacrament of the Eucharist is at the heart of Christian life. For this reason, we celebrate it weekly throughout our lives. o The bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. And we also become the Body of Christ as a community when we all share in Holy Communion. We become what we celebrate. o The word of God is conveyed through Scripture and Tradition. Jesus is truly present in the word as it is proclaimed and preached. o All of the baptized are called to follow Christ by serving others.
Life Connections for the Household of Faith Encourage active participation. Encourage your child to actively listen and participate in Mass and sacramental celebrations by listening, watching and singing. o Practice what you preach! Fully participate yourself, modeling what you hope for your child. Fight boredom with renewed understanding o Young people sometimes express boredom with Mass because of the repetitive nature of our ritual celebrations. Help her or him to think about the other activities in their lives in which repetition is important, in which they willingly participate, for example, athletic practices and/or games. o It helps a child of this age to compare weekly Mass celebrations with weekly TV shows they like, or weekly school activities. o Practice makes perfect! Remind your child that anything worth doing is worth practicing, especially our Christian life. Like any important thing in our life, we get out of the celebration what we put into it. This is a perfect time to encourage honest and genuine sharing among parents. Some may have not experienced any direct opposition from their children in regular participation in Mass or Reconciliation; others may find this a weekly struggle. Their sharing together will be beneficial to all. Some may find this conversation awkward, if they do not regularly attend Mass themselves; do all you can to encourage their participation in the conversation as a way of helping them recognize your true commitment to support them. Sharing and Learning Share strategies for making Mass a successful family time of worship, prayer and Sunday celebration. Invite parents to share ideas they use that are working, as a means of allowing parents to assist each other.
Getting Started: Introduce this topic using these or similar words: Young adults can often be people of remarkable insight and wisdom, interspersed with moments of real emotional, spiritual and interpersonal challenge. We often sense the depth and breadth of this inner development, and we gain brief glimpses of it in moments of crisis, and in moments of pure joy. When your young adult comes to you with doubts about faith or church practice, they are really coming, in part, to be reassured. Your gentle, firm response at times like this helps the young adult find an anchor. But most of all, seeing you take part every week is the biggest influence on their lives. Many young adults find particular blessing in offering their gifts in liturgical ministry, while others avoid sacramental celebrations whenever possible. Even in families in which Mass participation has been irregular, it is possible and crucial to reestablish the Sunday Mass as central, through genuine conversation and parent leadership. Perhaps your young adult willingly participates in sacraments and helps you to perceive God s presence in new or renewed ways; consider yourself blessed, and thank God for the gift of your child! In either event, build on the moments in which your young adult is open to Christ s sacramental presence, and through that openness, enjoy the grace of Christ s being with and among you. Invite the parents to take a moment to think about the questions below, and ask them to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences with each other in groups of 2 or 3. Ask them to note their answers for a large group discussion to follow. When the small groups are finished, spend a few minutes with the whole group, inviting people to share their response for all to hear. This helps concretize the conversation. What do you think your teenager believes about God and the Church? How do you and your teenager talk about these things?
What helps your young adult child recognize the importance of the Church in his or her life? Going a bit Deeper: Here are your next points: When we speak of The Liturgy and Sacraments, we are talking about rites of the Church in which Christ acts in particular ways. The Sacraments really are moments in which we encounter and are encountered by Christ, and through the sacraments, we are drawn nearer to Christ, prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive Christ and to allow our hearts, minds, and lives to be shaped as Christ s people. As you interact with your child at home, draw his or her attention to these concepts through your words and actions: o Sunday observance includes participation in Mass, rest, and attention to living a holy life. Develop Sunday in your home as a special day, one on which you spend time together as a family. o The Eucharist is at the very heart of what it means to be Catholic. Because of this, we celebrate it each week. If your young adult is bored with Mass, ask them to consider what it is they bring to it, rather than looking for something to get from it. o The liturgical year connects our lives more closely to the Paschal Mystery of Jesus, and throughout the year we walk the journey of faith. Faith like this provides us with a basis for meaning in life and the grace of good choices.
Life Connections for the Household of Faith Ask your young adult to help your family mark liturgical seasons. The rhythm of liturgical feasts and seasons helps us to celebrate the fullness of Christ s Paschal Mystery and our connection to Christ s life throughout the year. Ask your young adult to help your family mark liturgical seasons by creating a special prayer area in your home or by fashioning a centerpiece for the family table for each season o Advent is often marked by an Advent wreath or calendar; the liturgical color is violet (often a blue-violet for Advent). o Christmas, of course, is marked with the crèche and a Christmas tree. Invite your young adult to write or find a Christmas prayer for your family s meal, and remember that Christmas is a season that lasts well past Christmas Day into early January. o Ordinary time (from Pentecost in the spring to Advent in late fall) helps us focus on what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The liturgical color is green. o Lent s color is violet. The season helps us to focus on penitence, on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. o Triduum is the most sacred three days of our year. It runs from the Mass of the Lord s Supper on Holy Thursday through evening prayer on Easter Sunday. Mark each day with a special prayer or symbol of our faith. o Easter s color is white; the Easter season lasts fifty days, and focuses our attention on Christ s resurrection; throughout Easter we hear the stories of the early believers and their journey of faith together. o And for young adults, the most important feast may be Pentecost. Many young people of this age are preparing for Confirmation, and this Feast celebrates the Holy Spirit filling the hearts of the disciples. Sharing and Learning Invite parents to share with each other their experiences of talking about God and faith with their teen; hear their thoughts and ideas; encourage them to write down any ideas that might be of benefit to them and their family in the future.
Developing the theme. Optional use of Growing Faith booklet #21 10 minutes, more or less The leader continues now to develop the content of this event, using these talking points: The lead catechist now continues: Our sacramental life truly is central to our lives as Catholic Christians. Through the sacraments, we know and participate in Christ s saving love, and we are strengthened to live as Christ s people, to be a sign and witness of God s love through our actions, attitudes and thoughts. We will explore the privilege and grace of our sacramental life as we continue together. Using the handout which is below, invite participants to think of ways that we can live the sacraments in our daily lives at home, work, school, or parish. The handout has an instruction for the small groups on it. This might take about 15 minutes. There is quite a bit of material to cover here, Ideas to send home as a way of extending this event 2 minutes Establish a special family tradition for Sundays. Ask each family member to take a role and help plan and carry out these traditions. They might include such things as a conversation about the Mass on the way home, a special Sunday meal, time together in the evening, just to be together, weekly or monthly service to someone in need, a brief time of quiet on Sunday afternoon, visiting nearby relatives or friends. Find your children s Baptism photos (and your own, if you have them), candles and Baptismal garments, and share your memories of the day. Who came? Why was Baptism important to you? What do you hope your child will be or do as a result of being a member of Christ s Body?
Talking Points for theology on Liturgy Sacraments: Send them Home! For each of the Sacraments being discussed here, choose one or two ways you can live it more fully in your daily life as a household or individual. Write that commitment in the column to the left. 1. Baptism & Confirmation a) Today we teach that we are initiated into Christ, which means we enter into the death of the Lord; we learn what it means to donate our very selves in love. 1. We meet Christ through others, especially the poor. 2. We learn to turn our hearts to Christ through forgiveness and generosity. 3. We share that in love with others. 4. We share with others what we are experiencing. b) Our baptism is the basic way we are called to minister to others by loving them and serving them, with Christ as our model. c) You can live your baptism at home when you welcome others, forgive freely, share meals, and make peace with neighbors, visitors, friends of the family, and your own family members. d) This helps us extend the idea of being church to our daily lives as the People of God, wherever we live, work, study and play. 2. Eucharist a) Today we focus again on the idea that Christ left us a meal as a memorial of himself this meal is also a demonstration of his love for us, as he sacrificed and donated himself to us. b) Therefore, the more we share meals ourselves, the more we build up the community of our homes, the domestic church. It is a good thing to become a homemaker! c) When we share supper at home together, or in each other s homes, we prepare to gather for Mass. We open our hearts to one another and, in this opening, the solidarity of oneness in Christ emerges. This sharing of meals is immediate preparation for the Eucharist. d) Paul reminds us to include the poor, rejected and newcomer in this as well.
3. Reconciliation a) Today we return to an understanding that God loves us eternally, forgiving us seventy times seven times, which is the model for how we should treat each other. b) Learn the skills of forgiveness in your household. 1. Extend the example which Christ gave us while on the cross into everyday life with your family members, friends, and also with your enemies. 2. Who are your enemies? Anyone whom you hold at arms length. Anyone against whom you hold a grudge. Anyone whom you have not forgiven. 3. Forgiving is the pathway to understanding the enduring freedom which is the promise of the Gospel. c) So today we also shift the focus of being freed to the arena of justice. See Luke 4: 16-22 to see how central justice was in the ministry of Christ. 1. Once we see injustice, we must set it right: Matthew 3:15 we must do what God wants. 2. The liberation of Christ is not so much from personal sin as from oppression, injustice, rejection, & alienation. 4. Healing & Anointing a) Today the focus is on healing. We are healed as we enter into relationship with Christ and the Church. b) In your daily life at home, come to understand the nature of God: a. God does not cause illness, death, injury, or accidents to happen God loves us, and a loving parent would not behave that way, even to test our faith. b. God suffers with us - but God is not a satellite floating in the clouds, beaming down healing to those who pray correctly for it. c. There is an element of randomness and chance in life. God desires that we find grace in our suffering, but the suffering itself is not the blessing we receive. d. Some things that happen are accidents, pure & simple. These are not planned by God for us. They are just accidents. c) God gives us grace - the power to cope and overcome. This grace is celebrated in community and shared. We touch and heal each other. We offer each other strength and support, in sickness and in health.
5. Matrimony & Holy Orders a) The focus of Matrimony is on a covenant shared between two people and God. This covenant is the essential building block of daily life in our household. b) The focus of Ordination is on service to the People of God. Priests stand among their people as servants, teaching, leading, and presiding all in order to bring holy order to the community. c) For both of these sacraments, the key is to die to oneself, to surrender oneself in love for others, either family and spouse, or parish. 1. The Paschal Mystery is at the core of commitment. 2. We learn to surrender - but one day at a time! 3. We learn to donate our very selves to each other.
This Learning Center is one that must be created and developed by you and your leaders. Here are some suggestions from us: Remember that each Learning Center runs only about 12 minutes. In this amount of time, you could develop one or two main points. Advent: A short workshop on how to build an Advent Wreath and suggestions for how to spend Advent as a Catholic household would fit into this period. o You may want to offer a take-home Advent Wreath Kit either for sale or as a free item. o Or you may provide each household with an Advent Calendar. (We make a reproducible one available on the web site annually.) o Or you may send everyone home with a day-by-day Advent booklet for use within the household. (Again, we make these available on the web site.) Lent: A short workshop on how to make Lent a season of faith within the household would be very helpful. This workshop should treat the various elements of Lent:
o Fasting, almsgiving, prayer, & abstinence. (We offer an annual resource on the web site called Getting Started with Lent which is reproducible.) o The Stations of the Cross and how to pray them at home could be a workshop all its own. (We offer a Stations of the Cross booklet for families and children on the web site.) Households of Faith outside of Lent or Advent: o Teach homemaking! Offer parents a short workshop on the importance of sharing meals as a family. (We offer an excellent PowerPoint and handout for this purpose on the web site. It s called How to Have Supper.) Invite parents to share their own experiences about suppertime or whatever meal they re able to share as a family. o Offer a short workshop on family prayer including demonstrating some good family Bibles, prayer books, or other resources. Again, invite parents to share how this is going for them at home now. o Opportunities for Service. Ask the social concerns ministry group in the parish to provide a short workshop on opportunities for families to work in service ministries together: Meals for the poor or homeless Visits to senior care facilities Holiday needs for households with illness or immobility Or others o Your own local ideas!
The closing moments Evaluation 2 minutes Hand out a short written evaluation tool (see below) that can be quickly filled in and briefly shared in the table group. Ask the table leaders to briefly sum up their table s comments to the larger group. Have table leaders collect and give the written evaluations to the lead catechist for further evaluation for the team later. Closing Prayer Shared food 2 minutes, if time permits and the room setup allows for it You may wish to play the song used at the beginning once again here at the end. You may wish to simply end with an Our Father or Hail Mary. Or you may close with a spontaneous prayer. Invite everyone to share refreshments. You may want to have sugar cookies frosted with crosses or hot cross buns.
Evaluation of this Experience 1. How well did this experience connect to your daily life? circle one please 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ----not very well ------------ poorly-----------------------pretty well-------------------very well!---------excellently------ Please explain: 2. How did this experience help you grow in your faith and connection to the parish and the church? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ----not very well ------------ poorly-----------------------pretty well-------------------very well!---------excellently------ Please explain: 3. What could we have done better in your opinion? 4. What other kinds of faith formation would you like to see for the future here in our parish? 5. Who else would you like to invite to take part in lifelong faith formation?