Junior High This Week s Goal: Help the youth to reflect upon the way of life Jesus taught the Apostles, and the 4 pillars to which (in Acts 2:42) the early Christians devoted themselves: Growing in our Faith Going to Church Loving Others with Faithful Friends A Daily Prayer Life Environment: Small Group stations are set up in various rooms; the main room is a relaxed setting, upbeat music playing in the background, and a Welcome to G.I.F.T. PowerPoint displayed. (10 Minutes) Icebreaker There s a lot to do in this session, so don t spend too much time breaking the ice this month. Welcome everyone with a cheerful greeting, then get personal: share a quick story about something funny or exciting that has happened to you lately. Then, jump into the proclaim. (15 Minutes)
(15 Minutes) Opening Song: New Every Morning by Audrey Assad Opening Prayer: Our prayer today will be a song, New Every Morning, by Audrey Assad. Let us quiet our hearts. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Begin playing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grz 3Hxw9GWU Close with: Heavenly Father, Help us to draw closer to you, help us to receive your mercy and to share your mercy with others. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be more like you. Sometimes life can be challenging, we face hardship and discomfort. Help us to take up these little crosses in our life with joy, remembering always that you died on the cross out of love for us. We pray, God, that you open our mind and hearts so that we may be receptive to you today, especially during this GIFT session. We make this prayer in Jesus holy name. Amen. Scripture: Acts 2:42 Proclamation (Part 1): Last month we talked about the four marks of the Church. Does anyone remember what they are? (Allow youth time to respond.) Good! The four marks of the Church are: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This month, we re going to learn about the four pillars of the Church. For many structures, pillars are necessary components of the foundation. Without a good foundation, these structures would likely collapse. Similarly, the pillars of the Catholic Church provide the structure of our personal faith without them our relationship with Jesus, like other structures, would collapse over time. Creed: The Faith Professed The first pillar of our Faith is the Creed. When we pray the Creed, we profess everything we believe: I believe in God the Father almighty... I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God... I believe in the Holy Spirit... I believe in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This is the essence, the core, of our Catholic Faith. How well do you understand the Faith you profess to believe? Deep down, we all have a desire to know God, because God created us in his image. Many people try to find God in worldly things money, power, possessions, fame. However, only in God will we be satisfied. Sacred Scripture, which we ve been focusing on this year, helps us to draw closer to God because, in Scripture, God reveals himself to us. The Church has passed down Sacred Scripture to us so that we can grow in our understanding of our faith, and profess the Creed with confidence and joy! Sacraments: The Faith Celebrated The second pillar of our Faith is the Sacraments. You ve all heard of the Sacraments! How many are there? (Allow time for youth to respond) Yes, there are 7 Sacraments. Can I have 7 volunteers to name one of the Sacraments? (Allow time for students to respond) The sacraments are powerful signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, through which Jesus gives us his life (CCC 1131). What is a symbol? Can anyone give me an example of a symbol?
(Allow time for responses) The Sacraments are symbols, but they re also more than just symbols they are sacred mysteries. They make visible an invisible reality. During consecration, the bread and the wine visibly remain the same; but, unlike a symbol that merely represents something, the bread and the wine truly become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Sacraments (CCC 1113). The Sacraments help us to grow in holiness. Through the Sacraments, Jesus nourishes and strengthens our personal faith. This, in turn, nourishes and strengthens our entire lives, as we draw closer to God. With that in mind, are you going to Mass and receiving Jesus regularly? Christian Morality: The Faith Lived Through Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church, we come to understand another pillar of our Faith: living a moral life. As disciples of Christ, we re all called to live a life that emulates his. (CCC 1721). Sin separates us from God because when we sin, we re failing to love God. When we sin, we re failing to live a life that imitates Christ. God gives us the 10 Commandments to guide us in how we are to live our lives, because he wants us to go to heaven! Jesus sums up the 10 Commandments when he says Love your neighbor as yourself. What does it meant to love our neighbors as we love ourselves? (Pause) It means that we must serve them, love them, treat them with dignity and respect, show them mercy, forgive them even when they sin or wrong us for that is what Jesus would do. And, Jesus wants us to do this even if those around us don t. Do you have friends who share your Catholic Faith? We absolutely need good friends, faithful friends, to help support us as we try to live holy and loving lives. Prayer: The Faith Prayed We all know that good relationships whether with a friend, parent, or sibling require good communication, and sincere conversations. When we talk to a friend we get to know them better, and as a result, we deepen our friendship. Similarly, in order to know God better, we must talk to him. Prayer is the way we communicate with God; it s how we form a personal relationship with him. St. John Damascene defined prayer as the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God. According to Scripture, it s the heart that prays. Did you know Scripture says, prayer comes from the heart, over one thousand times?! If your heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain (CCC 2562). Even in the midst of sin, there s a part of us that s desperately searching to know God, our creator. Moreover, even when our hearts are far from God, God never tires of calling us back to him. God continually calls each of us to encounter him through prayer: Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse the deity of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter. In prayer, the faithful God's initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response (CCC 2567). Every day, no matter what especially when we re struggling with sin we should be growing in our friendship with Christ. So, how s your personal prayer life? Are you praying regularly? Without the pillar of personal prayer and all four pillars our personal faith will collapse! If we want to be real Christians to follow Jesus in the way the Apostles taught the first Christians we must be growing in all four pillars: we need to be learning, receiving the Sacraments, growing in love and friendship, and praying daily.
Activity Break: Now, we have a special activity planned for you! This activity will test your knowledge of bridges and the importance of a strong foundation, as well as your ability to collaborate with one another! Remember earlier in the lesson, when we talked about why foundations and pillars are important to certain structures? Can anyone explain this? (Allow time for a response.) Great! Now, you re going to find out just how important that is through a little competition. I will assign you your teams (Note: you can also allow students to choose their teams, but be prepared for friends to choose friends!). Here are your instructions: You will all receive 50 marshmallows (don t eat them!) and 80 toothpicks. Your goal is to construct a bridge that will be able to span across this distance (show them the area where the bridges will be placed for testing, the weights to be used, and the method of testing). You will have 15 minutes to do this. Then, we will see which team s bridge can hold the most weight! Do you have any questions? (Allow time to answer questions). Alright, you can begin! (Start 15 minute timer; give a 10 min, 5 min, and 1 min warning). Procedures: Youth should be in groups of 3 (you may want to assign groups ahead of time). Groups must build a bridge that spans over six inches. Show them where they will be testing their bridges. (Allow 15 minutes. for youth to construct bridges) **Hint: the best method to make a bridge is to assemble the two sides and then add the top and the bottom** Test: Place the bridges on the tables. Then, place the cup on top of the bridge, adding pennies until the bridge collapses (Keep track of how many pennies are in the cup). Whoever s bridge can hold the most weight, wins! (10 minutes) Materials: Timer Mini Marshmallows (50/group) Toothpicks (80/group) Plastic cup Large collection of pennies Two tables/desks six inches apart (this is where the youth will place their bridges to test) Prize for winning team (optional) **While youth are building their bridges, build a basic 4- pillar structure to use in a demonstration (use simple materials, such as blocks)** **When activity is done, have children return to their seats to begin the second part of the proclamation**
Proclamation (Part 2): As we just saw, the foundation of a structure is extremely important to its function and sustainability. The pillars of the Catholic faith the Creed, the Sacraments, Christian morality, and prayer are equally important to our faith life. Without all four pillars (remove a pillar from your structure), our faith will crumble over time. It won t be able to sustain us; we ll give into temptation, and our relationship with God will be weakened. Throughout the ages, the Saints have been models of living out these four aspects of our faith. In fact, it is their embodiment of these four pillars that allowed them to become Saints. Before we break into our Small Groups, let s look at a couple of them. St. Therese of Lisieux (Show video :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz3ywi jpagy St. Therese of Lisieux was deeply devoted to prayer. She said this about prayer: For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. Pope St. John Paul II (Show video:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9ly vkmy874) Pope St. John Paul II said this about the Eucharist: The Eucharist is the secret of my day. It gives strength and meaning to all my activities of service to the Church and to the whole world. Each one of us is called to become a saint. We re all incredibly different, and yet each of the saints did have something in common: the four pillars. Ok, let s break into Small Groups now and discuss this together.
(25 minutes) Introductions: (10 minutes) Welcome everyone back to the Small Group and begin with a short prayer. High, Low & God Moments Have everyone go around in a circle and share a high, low, and God moment that happened to them over the past month or week (you can decide). Stress that no one else should be talking when someone is sharing. High the best moment that happened over the past week (Example: Getting a 100 on a quiz, or a fun trip, etc.) Low the worst moment that happened over the past week (Example: Being late for school, being sick, etc.) God Moment A moment when God s presence in your life was made obvious to you (Example: A sunset, during prayer, helping someone, during Church, etc.) **Really press the youth on this one, as this is usually the most difficult one for them to answer. It s important that they learn to see God in everyday situations Small Group Discussion Questions: (15 minutes) 1. What did you like most about the bridge activity? Did you find it challenging? Why? 2. Out of the four pillars (learning more about our Catholic Faith, receiving the Sacraments, truly loving people, and personal prayer) which one do you think you do most successfully? Which one do you think you need to work on the most? (You may want to allow students to write down the answers to these questions first, to allow enough time for reflection; then have them share) 3. Why is it important that we practice all four pillars? 4. What s something you learned today about St. Therese of Lisieux? And, Pope St. John Paul II? 5. What helped these men and women to live out their faith fully? 6. Did you know we are all called to be Saints? Why are we all called to be Saints? 7. Moving forward, what is one thing you can do to strengthen the foundations of your faith? How can you do this?
(10 Minutes) Summary Wrap Up: If you remember anything from today s session, hopefully it s that when we choose to put Christ at the center of our lives, we have the ability to change the world to become Saints. The world needs Saints; the world needs you and me not to be afraid to share the joy and truth of the Gospel, the love of Jesus, the mercy of God. When we build our lives on the pillars of the Creed, the Sacraments, moral living, and prayer, God will allow us to transform the world! Birthdays: Happy Birthday to students who have a birthday this month (have birthday students stand, everyone sing Happy Birthday) Closing Prayer: Closing Song(s): All the People Said Amen by Matt Maher SUPPLIES NEEDED: Timer Mini Marshmallows (50/group) Toothpicks (80/group) Plastic cup Large collection of pennies Two tables/desks six inches apart (this is where the youth will place their bridges to test) Prize for winning team (optional) Blocks (or other materials) to build the 4- pillar structure Projector/Screen to show (3) Youtube Videos Lord, We thank you for our time here today. We pray that we might all continue to grow as your disciples and to have the courage to live out our faith, even when it is difficult. Help us to grow in the four pillars of our faith, that we would become the saints you have created us to be. We ask for the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Pope John Paul II as together we pray: Hail Mary.