RETURNING AGAIN Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting EDGE NIGHT OUTLINE SCRIPTURE & CCC: Matthew 17:1-8 John 20:24-29 Acts 2:31-32 1 Corinthians 15:12-58 1 Thessalonians 4:16 1 Peter 3:21 CCC 997-1004 CCC 1025-1026 SUPPLIES NEEDED: Rolls of toilet paper Pens/pencils Index cards GOAL The goal of this Edge Night is to help the middle school youth learn about life after death and the reuniting of the body and soul at the end of time. EDGE NIGHT AT A GLANCE The last line of the Creed is one that interests most of us. We want to know what happens when we die and what heaven is like. The middle school youth will be no different. What is to come is a mystery. Scripture does not give us a clear and concise picture of life after death. However, Scripture does tell us that the faithful will be with God in heaven and that this full communion with God is far beyond any joyful experience here on earth. Scripture also tells us that when Christ returns...we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (I John 3:2). St. Paul writes, For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed this mortal nature must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:52-53). We come to better understand this with the accounts of Jesus appearance after His resurrection. People did not recognize Him at first because of His glorified body. When we die, our souls will be separated from our bodies. The body decays while the soul goes to God. On the last day when Jesus returns again, the body will be resurrected and the soul and body will be reunited. We will no longer be in our lowly, fallen bodies, but our glorified bodies. Jesus made this possible when He rose from the dead on the third day. This Edge Night begins with a game of toilet paper dodgeball where one person can resurrect his teammates and bring them back into the game. This game leads to a teaching on the Resurrection of the Body where the youth will understand that it is Christ that makes it possible to for us to be resurrected from the dead. A question and answer time will follow for the youth to have all of their questions answered regarding life after death. Finally, the Core will wrap up the semester by inviting the youth to stand for their faith. BEFORE THE NIGHT Invite a priest, deacon or a theologian well versed in this subject to attend the Edge Night for the question and answer session. Give plenty of warning about the topic so there is plenty of time to prepare. Also, give the speaker the time frame for the Q&A session so he/she knows how long each answer should be. Note: If your pastor is joining you in the middle of the Edge Night, please inform him that you are playing toilet paper dodgeball so that he does not get upset when he walks in and sees the room covered in toilet paper. ENVIRONMENT Make the environment fun, but keep most of the room open for the opening icebreaker. The night focuses on life everlasting. You could also put thought bubbles around the room with questions that might come up during the night: Where is heaven? What happens when I die? Will I have the same body forever? 70
GATHER OPENING MUSIC See song suggestions in Media Suggestions sidebar. W E LCO M E & INTRODUCTION 1. Welcome and introduce new teens. 2. Recognize and celebrate any youth or Core celebrating a birthday by singing Happy Birthday. 3. Present a brief overview of the session. OPENING PRAYER This prayer should be based on the overview of the session. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and understanding about the theme/topic for the night. TOILET PAPER DODGEBALL Divide into two teams, each choosing a doctor (keep the identity of the doctor a secret). Choose two doctors for larger groups. Instead of using regular dodge balls, you will use rolls of toilet paper to throw at each other. As a roll of toilet paper is thrown it will fall apart and unravel this is part of the fun of the game. The rolls must be thrown in whatever condition they are picked up (unraveling, pieces torn off, etc.). The rest of the game is played similarly to regular dodgeball. The roll(s) of toilet paper are thrown at people on the opposing team. When a flying roll of toilet paper hits someone, he/she is out and must sit down on the sidelines. In a normal game of dodgeball, a caught ball allows a teammate to return to the game. But, in this version only the doctor can bring teammates back into the game. Here s where the doctor comes in: the doctor s healing touch can bring back one person at a time on his/her team. As the game is being played, the doctor can walk over to his/ her sideline and touch a teammates hand. The teammate may return to the game and resume normal play. The opposing team wants to discover the identity of the doctor so that they can get him/her out and prevent the doctor from bringing teammates back to life. Hint: The players who are resurrected by the doctor should not simply pop up when touched; this will give away the doctor s identity. Also, we recommend having decoy randomly touch teammate s hands to throw off the other team. When the doctor is hit and out of the game, the team s only hope is their skill. The object: Eliminating the opposing team, including their doctor. This game can be likened to us needing a doctor to raise our bodies on the last day. We need Christ to resurrect us from the dead and bring us back into the game. MEDIA SUGGESTIONS: Song: I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin (Hello Love, Sparrow Records) Song: Resurrection Day by Matt Maher (Overflow, OCP) Movie: The Princess Bride (1:10:05 1:17:00) 71
NOTES: RETURNING AGAIN Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting EDGE NIGHT OUTLINE PROCLAIM SCRIPTURE PROCLAMATION 1 Corinthians 15:35-49 THOMAS AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY SKIT Have the Core Team perform the skit about Thomas. The disciples in the upper room saw Jesus appear to them in His resurrected body. Thomas was not there and had a hard time believing that what they told him was true. See skit on pages 76-77. PROCLAIM TALK I believe in the Resurrection of the Body and life everlasting. Amen. This is the last part of the Creed and it is fitting, because it deals with the last things: what happens to us when we die. Most of have a lot of questions about heaven, life after death, what happens to our bodies, etc. While we don t have all of the answers, we are going to look at what the Church teaches about life after death and resurrection. You will have time at the end of the night to write down your questions, so start thinking about them now. Your soul is immortal, meaning it cannot die. But at some point, we all die. When we die, our souls go to meet God, but our bodies decay the soul separates from the body. At that time, your soul will either be united with God forever in heaven, be separated from God forever in hell or go through a period of purification in purgatory (and then go to heaven). This is what is called our particular judgment (CCC 1021). But that is not the end of the story. We believe that when Jesus Christ returns in glory all of His followers will be resurrected. This means that our souls and our glorified bodies will be united. Those who have done good will resurrect to new life and those who have done evil will resurrect to judgment (CCC 998). This is called the Last Judgment. When will Jesus return? No one knows the exact date, but when He does the dead will rise and all will be judged (living and dead). The world as we know it will pass away and God will establish a new heaven and a new earth. This will be the perfect fulfillment of God s plan for creation. What does this mean? What is a resurrected body? Jesus Christ made it possible for us to experience the Resurrection of the Body, as He was the first to resurrect from the dead. On the third day following His death, He rose from the dead in his resurrected body. So did He have the same body? Are you stuck with the same body for the all eternity? The answer is yes and no. It was indeed His body, and He proves this by showing the disciples the marks in His hands and feet. However, it is important to note that no one recognized Him at first. Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, the disciples on the road to Emmaus and others did not recognize Him when they first saw Him. That is because, in the Resurrection, our lowly body will change into His glorious body. (CCC 554) What is a glorified body? Jesus revealed Himself in all of His glory to Peter, James and John at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8). This 72
is what your resurrected body will be like. After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared and disappeared as He wished and He could walk through walls. However, He could still touch and be touched, He ate, breathed and did all of the other things that bodies do. This is how our bodies will be in the Resurrection on the last day. How? So how is this possible? Remember the dodgeball game. When you were knocked out of the game, how did you get back in? You needed the doctor to resurrect you. We need Christ to resurrect us from the dead. We need to have faith and believe in Christ and live our lives as a response to the love of God. This is why we need the Creed and we need to live according to our faith. It is not enough for us to be good people. We need Jesus Christ; we need a savior. The point of the Church, the Creed and everything we do here is to help you know, love and serve God so that you can be united with Him forever in heaven! Death can be scary and sad, but as Christians we know that death is not the end of the story. It is just the beginning! BREAK SMALL GROUP PRAYER As your small group begins say a prayer for the group and the activities for that session. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION In your small group discuss the following questions: 1. What did you learn from listening to the talk? 2. John 11:25 Then Jesus said: I am the resurrection. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies, he will live. Explain this Scripture in your own words. 3. How does learning about the Resurrection of the Body give us hope? 4. Why is it important that we take care of our bodies? 5. Today, you hear a lot of people claiming they know what happens we die. How can knowing and praying the Creed help you know the truth about what happens when we die? WHAT NEXT? Give each youth a small index card and a pen/pencil. Tell the youth that there will be a Q&A session when they get back into the large room. There will be someone present to answer questions about heaven, hell, the after life, the Resurrection of the body or other questions you have about life everlasting. The questions will be gathered and a facilitator will ask the priest/deacon/speaker the questions. Encourage the youth to write clearly so their questions can be read. BACK TO THE CREED Take out the poster that you have been working on throughout the semester with the Apostle s Creed on it. Take some time to look over the poster as a group and recall what you have learned this semester. Highlight or color the last sections of the creed that you have discussed. NOTES: 73
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. RETURNING AGAIN Resurrection of the Body and Life Everlasting EDGE NIGHT OUTLINE 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. If time permits, ask the youth the following questions: 1. Are you remembering our lessons when you hear the Nicene Creed at Mass? 2. What parts of the Nicene Creed stick out to you when you are praying it? 3. Are you praying the Nicene Creed at Mass or just saying it? QUESTION AND ANSWER As the Core Team brings their groups back, turn in the index cards with questions. Have the facilitator take a moment and organize the questions according to similar categories. The facilitator will ask the questions and help to keep the conversation moving. SEND STAND IN FAITH The Resurrection from the dead is Christ s promise to those that have faith and live their lives as Christ has called us to. Life everlasting in the glory of God in heaven is what is in store for us. But living our faith is not easy and standing for the Creed of our faith is not easy. Invite the youth to stand and come forward if they are ready to believe and live all that the Church professes to be true. Have a Core Member pray a short prayer over each youth that comes forward. During this time, play some music in the background, like Chris Tomlin s I Will Rise. SUMMARY CHALLENGE Before the middle school youth are sent home they will be challenged to remember: 1. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth in His resurrected body. His disciples and apostles did not recognize Him at first because of His glorified body. 2. We too will rise on the last day and be glorified with God in heaven. We do not lose our bodies, but rather, our glorified bodies and souls are united in the Resurrection. 3. Everlasting life is offered to those who have faith in the works of Jesus Christ and who live their faith by following His commandments. 4. We studied the Creed this semester so we can understand our relationship with God so we can spend eternity with Him. TO THE PARENTS OF Tonight, we wrapped up our semester on the Creed by discussing the last line of the Apostle s Creed, I believe in the Resurrection of the Body and life everlasting. We discussed heaven and the Resurrection of the Body. On the last day, when Jesus Christ returns in glory, our bodies and souls will be reunited in the glory of God in heaven. The youth had the opportunity to ask a priest/deacon questions about heaven and the Resurrection of the Body. Here are some discussion starters for the ride home: 74
ADAPTATION IDEAS: If toilet paper dodgeball is not allowed, you could also play a version of freeze tag and have one person who is the doctor able to unfreeze people. 1. How was the question and answer session? What were some of the questions asked? 2. Is your understanding of heaven now different after this Edge Night? How so? 3. What were the biggest things that stood out from this semester on the Creed? What are the top three things that you learned? If your group is too small or too large for a question and answer session, consider a small group discussion instead. Instead of doing the skit, incorporate The Princess Bride video clip of Wesley being brought back to life. See the media section on page 71. 75
THOMAS & THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY SKIT Proclaim Skit EDGE NIGHT SKIT The skit is a humorous portrayal of Thomas doubting that the apostles had seen the resurrected Lord. In this skit, Thomas does his best Bill Cosby impersonation from his famous standup routine on Noah s ark (go to www.youtube.com and type in bill cosby noah to watch). Thomas is very skeptical and does not really believe what the other disciples are telling him. Cast: Thomas Disciple #1 Disciple #2 Disciple #3 Jesus (walking into the upper room) Alright, I think I got everything we needed. I got fish and bread and oh, Peter, I got the Doritos you wanted Disciple #1: Thomas, we have seen the Lord! The Lord? Disciple #2: He was just in this room. He came and spoke with us. right. And what did He say? Disciple #1: He showed us His hands and His feet and he said to us, Peace be with you. right. You saw Him walk through the door? Disciple #3: Not through the door. He just appeared in the room, like He walked through the wall. through the wall? right. Jesus the ghost? Disciple #2: No, He was not a ghost. We touched His hands and feet and He breathed on us. 76
EDGE NIGHT SKIT I right. Am I being punk d? Where s Ashton Kutcher? (Jesus appears behind Thomas) Jesus: Thomas! right. (without turning around, he feels behind him to see if there is really a person behind him) Jesus: Peace be with you. 77