Level 6, Chapter 2: "The First Commandment in Our Own Day" Lesson Introduction Duration: 1 ½ hours Primary Aim: We must love (put) God above all else. FIRST COMMANDMENT IDOLATRY RICH YOUNG MAN DUE WORSHIP One true God God has revealed everything we need to know and believe We owe God everything Worship of anything that is not God is idolatry God is number one nothing in our life is as important as God We must (really want to) love God above anything in this world Loving God first, we realize that everything and everyone in this world is not as important as our relationship with God We can live without our earthly possessions but not without God There is no sacrifice that we can make to atone for our sins Jesus is the perfect priest, perfect sacrifice, and perfect love, to atone for our sins Every Mass we attend brings Jesus perfect sacrifice and love before us Materials: Bibles, evaluations, pencils, glass jar(s), unshelled walnuts, rice, rosaries, Music Issue, Prayer handout. Key Words (Vocabulary): Worship: giving honor, praise, and sacrifice to God. Adore: to praise and honor. Superstition: belief that creatures have supernatural powers. Impiety: the sin of lacking reverence or proper respect for God. Idolatry: sin of worshipping something other than God. Sacrifice: the offering up of something to God. Stewardship: the good use of created things. Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 1
Lesson Plan 1. Opening Prayer and Scripture (6:30-6:35 PM) Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, We thank you for creating us and for revealing yourself to us. We know that you are the one true God who alone should be worshipped. Help us to understand and believe all that you have revealed to us. We ask that you guide us to always put you ahead of everything else in our lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Catholic Prayer: "Our Father" (with emphasis on "Our Father...") Scripture Reading: Mark 10:17-22 2. The Rich Young Man (6:35-6:45 PM) Discuss the story of the rich young man: Did the rich young man keep the commandments? Did he know about God? Did he use his things well? (Love them more than God?) How did Jesus look at the rich man ( he loved him ) Why was the rich young man sad? Do we work hard for the things we have? Do we deserve them? Are our possessions a gift from God? Is it hard to give up our possessions? Why? (What if you had to give up cell phones, television, video games, the internet, or MP3 players?) Did the rich young man love God? How much? What is detached love? How can we have a detached love for our possessions? 3. Activities (6:45-7:05 PM) a. Activity 1 (6:45-6:55) "Name Game": Have everyone sit in a circle. (For larger groups or if time is constrained, one might want to break into circles of twenty or less). Each person needs to think of an action that corresponds to the first letter of his or her name. E.g., Julie jumps, Willie whistles, Danielle dances, etc. As the game proceeds from one person to the next person in the circle, the person whose turn it is must repeat the name and activity of all those that preceded them. (E.g., The second person in the circle would have only to repeat the first person's name and action and then their own while the 20th person would start with the first person's name and action, then the 2nd's --- proceeding along the circle until reaching the 19th person and finally themselves.) b. Activity 2 (6:55-7:05) "First Things First": Needed for this activity for each team of youth are (1) a glass jar to represent a soul; (2) ten walnuts in their shells (other similarly sized objects would also work) to represent the 10 Commandments, the Sacraments, Mass, prayer life, and putting God first; and (3) rice to represent good things youth like to do. Prior to class for each jar that will be used, place ten nuts in the jar. Pour in rice until the jar is half full. Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 2
Shake the jar so that the nuts are surround by the rice. Then pour more rice into the jar up to its brim. Pour the rice and nuts out of the jar and place them in separate containers. Identify these containers as corresponding to that jar. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining jars. Once in class, break the youth into teams. Each team is assigned an empty jar with its corresponding containers (one containing rice, the other nuts). Assign the teams of youth the task of getting all the rice and nuts into the jar. Following their attempts, discuss. (If the youth pour all of their rice (the things they like to do) into the jar first, there will not be room for the nuts (God)). Ask them what things they like to do (hang out with friends, sports, etc.). Tell them that the jar represents their souls, the nuts represent God, and the rice represents things they like to do. The things they like to do are good, but they cannot be put before God. Based on that, might they have approached the exercise differently? Depending on how each of the teams did (some might have figured out how to successfully get all the rice and nuts into the jar), you might want to have them repeat the exercise based on their new perspective. This activity can also be done as a demonstration if time is limited. 4. "First Commandment" (7:05-7:15 PM) I am the Lord your God; you shall not have other gods before me." The First Commandment requires all people to recognize or acknowledge God as the one true God, Creator and Lord of all things, and to worship and adore him as our God. We owe everything to God our very life! We are completely dependent on him without God we would not exist! By our reverence and worship we acknowledge our debt and gratitude to our Creator. To give God loving worship we must believe in him and believe all that he has revealed to us. We must learn more about God to: believe in him, have hope in his teachings, and live these teachings in love. We learn about God through his Revelation. We have a duty to learn God's Law and to obey them. We have no excuse for being ignorant about God and his truths. What are ways we can learn about God? (Religion class, listen to homilies, read the Bible, Catechism, lives of the Saints). The First Commandment forbids us to act in any way contrary to what we owe God. Superstition is placing our trust in something other than God. Golden calves are out, but in today's society there are many ways that people show they do not trust in God: horoscopes, psychics, numerology, tarot cards, Ouija boards, witchcraft, Satanism. These are dangerous abominations before God. The worship of things other than the one true God is a form of idolatry that has become more common in recent times. Our priorities can be out of order. (God should be # 1, not sports or your cell phone.) Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 3
5. "Idolatry" (7:15-7:20 PM) God created many good things (food, animals, friends, love). We must never place these things before God. Not to have "strange gods" means we are not to love anyone or anything as much as we love God. Doing so is called idolatry. Our love for him acknowledges his supreme position above all creation. The good use of created things is called stewardship, through which we give glory to God. Every created good is a gift from God. What are some examples? Food is a great gift from God. It keeps us alive, it tastes wonderful, etc. How might we value it more than God. We can place food before God by choosing to break appointed days and times of fast and abstinence (e.g., breaking the Eucharistic fast, eating meat on Good Friday). How should we use it to glorify God in good stewardship. By thanking him for it, sharing it with those do not have it, using it well, not wasting it. 6. "Due Worship" (7:20-7:25 PM) The sacrifice we offer in the Mass is the highest possible act of worship. It contains all that is necessary for giving due worship to God. In the Mass we acknowledge God as Creator, our Lord and Master. We thank him in gratitude for all he has given us. We ask him for all we need and for what will help others. In the Mass, we offer the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross (the only thing that can make up for our sins and offenses). When we participate in the Holy Mass, we can give God the love and worship we owe him. Let's do so often! Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 4
7. Evaluation (7:25-7:30 PM) Fill in the blank answer key 1) The First Commandment is: I am the Lord your God; you shall not have other gods before me. 2) The First Commandment requires us to recognize God as the one true God and to worship and adore him. True or False. 3) Being entirely dependent on God is a sign of weakness. True or False, he is our God and we are his creatures. 4) The highest possible act of worship we can offer God is the sacrifice we offer in the Mass. 5) The rich, young man went away sad because he had not kept all the commandments. True or False, he went away sad because he had many possessions and did not want to part with them. 6) In the Mass, we offer the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. 7) Write one or more petitions to pray during our Intercessory Prayers. For...... We pray to the Lord. Conclusion: prayer in the Church (7:30-8:00 pm) Exposition Hymn: Father I adore you Intercessory Prayers Divine Mercy Chaplet Hymn: Sanctuary Benediction Divine Praises Hymn: "Give Me Jesus" Faith and Life Series, Lesson Plan Guide 5