cofirmed FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD 1.5 hour Cofirmatio sessio desiged to be facilitated by a catechist or youth miister.
cofirmed for service to the world OBJECTIVES Explai the coectio betwee Cofirmatio ad service, ad ecourage cofirmadi to uderstad service as a part of their Christia vocatio ot just a requiremet that they eed to fulfill i order to be cofirmed. Ivite cofirmadi to respod to the call to service through solidarity. Highlight global water scarcity as oe example of how we ca live out our call to service i solidarity with those who suffer aroud the world. Offer a alterative service opportuity, like a group project or a persoal commitmet icludig a essay reflectio, i lieu of or as a supplemet to required service hours. KEYWORDS Catholic Relief Services: CRS is the official iteratioal humaitaria agecy of the Catholic commuity i the Uited States. CRS is motivated by the example of Jesus Christ to assist poor ad sufferig people. CRS serves people i 93 coutries o the basis of eed, without regard to race, religio or atioality. Cofirmatio: Cofirmatio is a sacramet of iitiatio. Cofirmatio perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacramet which gives the Holy Spirit i order to root us more deeply i the divie filiatio, icorporate us more firmly ito Christ, stregthe our bod with the Church, associate us more closely with her missio, ad help us bear witess to the Christia faith i words accompaied by deeds. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, o. 1316) Solidarity: Solidarity is oe of the Uited States Coferece of Catholic Bishops seve themes of Catholic social teachig. Rooted i Scripture ad traditio, solidarity proclaims, We are oe huma family whatever our atioal, racial, ethic, ecoomic ad ideological differeces. We are our brothers ad sisters keepers, wherever they may be. Lovig our eighbor has global dimesios i a shrikig world. (USCCB, Seve Themes of Catholic Social Teachig ) Water Scarcity: Water scarcity meas there is ot eough water i a give regio to meet the eeds of a populatio. By 2025, 1.8 billio people will be livig i coutries or regios with water scarcity. (Source: UN-Water) 2 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
MATERIALS Bowl filled with water Bibles (oe for each participat, if possible) Slips of paper that list these Bible passages: Matthew 8:1 4; Matthew 25:31 46; Mark 1:40 42; Mark 6:35 44; Mark 10:21 22; Luke 10:29 37 Projector, laptop, Iteret access Maskig tape Buckets (oe for every two to four people) Hose/sik/wadig pool filled with water or a creative waterig statio for bucket-carryig activity Double-sided hadout: Cofirmed for service to the world, foud at the ed of this facilitator s guide Dowload Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo/We Are the Body of Christ, Jaime Cortez (Spirit ad Sog, a divisio of OCP). You will eed a computer or ipod ad speakers. PREPARATION Read this facilitator s guide ad become familiar with the sessio. Prepare a prayer space with a bowl of water i the middle for the opeig prayer. Set up the bucket-carryig activity: Use the tape to mark a startig poit (the well or river ) ad a fiishig poit (home) for the groups to carry water. Cosider settig up obstacles to demostrate the ofte harsh ad dagerous coditios people face fetchig water at a well or river ad the carryig it home. Obstacles could iclude aimals, forests, marketplaces, hills ad robbers. Participats, chairs, stairs ad tables ca be used as obstacles. Decide where participats will get water (e.g., fill a wadig pool, idetify a hose, etc.). If possible, set up this activity outdoors. Write or prit a Bible verse o each slip of paper, ad make eough slips for each participat. It s okay to have multiple copies of the same verse. Set up the projector, laptop ad Iteret access with this video loaded from CRS YouTube chael: Eglish: Water for Life: Brazil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbkg6i2bxxw Spaish: Agua para la vida: Brasil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95d50pyila (Or ivite studets to use their smartphoes to view the videos. Read through sessio for additioal details.) Prit double-sided copies of the hadout, Cofirmed for service to the world, for each perso. Prepare computer/speakers to be ready to play Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo/ We Are the Body of Christ to iclude i the opeig prayer. CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD 3
4 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
SESSION OUTLINE OPENING PRAYER: 5 MINUTES A brief reflectio o water as a symbol of the Holy Spirit CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE: 25 MINUTES Cofirmadi lear how Cofirmatio commissios them for a life of service ad solidarity as Christ s disciples, ad as members of the Catholic Church. WORLD WATER ACTIVITY AND REFLECTION: 30 MINUTES Participats apply what they leared about beig cofirmed for a life of service to the issue of global water scarcity. Through a hads-o activity, they cosider how their ow lives would be affected if they did ot have reliable access to water i their homes ad commuities. They lear how CRS helps people aroud the world gai access to clea water. LIFE OF SERVICE BRAINSTORM: 25 MINUTES Participats braistorm how they ca live i solidarity with people who lack access to clea water through a group service activity ad/or their ow persoal commitmet. Participats ca geerate their ow ideas for fulfillig their service requiremet, shiftig the emphasis from service hours to a lifelog commitmet to discipleship. CLOSING PRAYER: 5 MINUTES A brief reflectio o how the saits lived lives of service
Photo by Kare Kasmauski for CRS opeig prayer (5 miutes) Gather cofirmadi aroud a prayer space with a bowl of water at the ceter. ASK:: What are some symbols of the Holy Spirit? (Possible aswers: water, aoitig, oil, fire, cloud ad light, the seal, the had, the figer, the dove. See Catechism of the Catholic Church (os. 694-701). Explai: A symbol that we might ot associate with the Holy Spirit is water. Water is a sig of the Holy Spirit s actio i Baptism. At Baptism, we pray for the comig of the Holy Spirit, ad this is a sig of our ew birth i Christ through the Spirit. We are also baptized by the Holy Spirit ito oe body i Christ. (CCC o. 694) As we look at the water i frot of us, let us remember i prayer that we were baptized ito oe body i Christ ad let us pray that we are stregtheed through the sacramet of Cofirmatio for service to all i our huma family who suffer. We remember i a special way people aroud the world without regular access to clea water. Close by havig participats sig or reflectively liste to Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo/We Are the Body of Christ. I the ame of the Father, ad of the So ad of the Holy Spirit Come Holy Spirit! May the water of our Baptism Ekidle i us a care for all the members of our oe body, especially those who suffer the most. May the water of our Baptism Give us the stregth to carry out your call to care for others especially whe it is most challegig or ucomfortable. May the water of our Baptism Ecourage us to live our faith i commuity, especially i the commuity gathered here today. I the ame of Jesus, we pray. Ame 6 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
cofirmed for service (25 miutes) Explai: Today we will reflect o how the sacramet of Cofirmatio aoits us for lives of service to those i eed aroud the world. Service hours are ot just somethig you have to check off i order to be cofirmed; a commitmet to service is a crucial part of preparig for Cofirmatio ad of uderstadig how our Catholic faith calls us to live. ASK cofirmadi to share with a parter: What service have you already doe as a part of your Cofirmatio preparatio? What did you ejoy about it? Or, if cofirmadi have ot yet leared about or started their service requiremet, outlie those requiremets here ad the ask: What kid of service would you like to do? Why? Why do you thik service is required for Cofirmatio? Explai: The Catechism of the Catholic Church outlies what Cofirmatio is all about: Cofirmatio perfects baptismal grace; it is the sacramet which gives the Holy Spirit i order to root us more deeply i the divie filiatio, icorporate us more firmly ito Christ, stregthe our bod with the Church, associate us more closely with her missio, ad help us bear witess to the Christia faith i words accompaied by deeds. (CCC, o. 1316) Let s break this dow. CONFIRMATION PERFECTS BAPTISMAL GRACE Cofirmatio is ecessary for the completio of baptismal grace. For by the sacramet of Cofirmatio, [the baptized] are more perfectly boud to the Church ad are eriched with a special stregth of the Holy Spirit. (CCC o. 1235) We are baptized by the Spirit ito oe body. As by oe Spirit we were all baptized, so we are also made to drik of oe Spirit. (CCC o. 694) St. Paul tells us that we are part of oe body, ad if ay member of the body suffers, we all suffer. Imagie havig a toothache. Eve though it s a very small part of your body, you caot forget that your tooth hurts whe your tooth hurts! As a part of the mystical body of Christ, we are uited with all of our brothers ad sisters. Their sufferig is our sufferig. Have you ever experieced this yourself? Thik about a time whe you were hurtig because someoe else was hurtig. Eve whe we do t kow other people who Alejadro Ortega, 13, ad Fr. Roberto del Cid, at St. Patrick Catholic Church i Miami, Florida. Alejadro was bor i Veezuela but moved to Miami. After watchig a documetary about orphas i Malawi, he got the idea to hold a bake sale to fudraise for the orphas of Malawi. Because fellow parishioers were so supportive, the project grew ito a commuity evet. Alejadro raised more tha $5,000 ad chose to doate the moey to CRS because of our work with orphas i Malawi. Photo by Alexia Fodere for CRS CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD 7
suffer persoally, we are affected. This is what it meas to be a part of oe body. Ad so we are called to respod to care for the sufferig members of the body. The belief that we are a part of oe body i Christ is solidarity. Solidarity meas, We are our brothers ad sisters keepers, wherever they may be. Lovig our eighbor has global dimesios i a shrikig world. (USCCB, Seve Themes of Catholic Social Teachig ) Solidarity is global; it ivites us to care for all people aroud the word. CONFIRMATION INCORPORATES US MORE FIRMLY INTO CHRIST AND LEADS TO CHRISTIAN WITNESS Cofirmatio uites us to Christ ad helps us bear witess to Christ through words ad deeds. ASK: What was Jesus about? Which of his words ad deeds come to mid? Had out slips of paper with the Biblical citatios. Ivite cofirmadi to look up the passages ad the report back to the group about what Jesus did or said. The Gospels show over ad over how Jesus lived by servig people i eed ad urgig others to do the same. He speds time with society s outcasts. He heals those who suffer. He reaches out to people of differet ethicities, religios ad cultures. We are cofirmed to be witesses to Jesus missio o earth. Our service commitmets are ot just about doig somethig good or about checkig off a requiremet. It is about becomig more like Christ ad livig as his disciples i what we say ad do. The sacramet of cofirmatio aoits us for lives of service to all people. CONFIRMATION STRENGTHENS OUR BOND WITH THE CHURCH AND ASSOCIATES US MORE CLOSELY WITH HER MISSION ASK: I oe word, how would you describe the missio of the Church? Take aswers. The, either search o a laptop ad projector or ask cofirmadi to do a Google image search of Pope Fracis ad the poor with their smartphoes. ASK: Based o the images retured i the search, how would you describe the missio of the Church i oe word? Explai: The Church receives the missio of proclaimig ad establishig amog all peoples the Kigdom of Christ ad of God, ad she is o earth the seed ad the begiig of that kigdom. (CCC o. 768) ASK: What do you thik the world would look like if the Kigdom of Christ ad of God reiged? How well does the actual state of the world match up with this? What ca you do to help build Christ s kigdom o earth? Take aswers. If access to water does ot come up aturally, be sure to metio it here. Explai: This is part of what you are stregtheed for i Cofirmatio: to build the kigdom of God. Our Catholic faith matters. Service is ot about service hours, it s about helpig to live out the missio of the Church o earth by buildig the Kigdom of God ot just i our ow commuities, but throughout the world by livig i solidarity with others. This is a challege ad privilege of our faith. 8 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
world water activity ad reflectio (30 miutes) Explai: Let s thik agai about specific ways that the world does ot reflect the Kigdom of God. We talked about how people aroud the world do ot have access to food ad water. Let s look more closely at the reality of global water scarcity for a few miutes. ASK: What are differet ways we use water i our homes, schools, parishes ad commuities? Has ayoe ever bee i a situatio where safe drikig water was ot easily available? What did you do? You might prompt participats by askig if ayoe has ever goe backpackig ad had to haul water, visited aother coutry where they had to drik bottled water or had their water shut off because of a power loss or costructio. Explai: I the Uited States, most people ca tur o a faucet ad get water for cleaig, cookig, drikig, etc. However, i may parts of the world, people i eed do ot have access to water. Water scarcity is a term used to describe a regio s lack of access to eough water to meet the eeds of a populatio. People usually wome ad girls travel log distaces to wells or rivers to get water. This water has to last the etire day ad is ot always clea. We will ow do a activity that requires you to carry water ad imagie what it would be like to travel log distaces to wells ad rivers every day to get the water you eed. Divide cofirmadi ito groups of two to four people ad give each group two buckets. Use the tape to mark a startig poit (the well or river) ad a fiishig poit (home) for the groups to carry water. Have group members desigate a perso to fill the bucket at the well ad the perso(s) to carry it home. Groups ca have more tha oe perso carry the bucket ad ca decide o the best way for their group to carry it. Cosider settig up obstacles to demostrate the ofte harsh ad dagerous coditios i which people must gather water at a well or river ad the retur home. Obstacles could iclude aimals, forests, marketplaces, hills ad robbers. Participats as well as chairs, stairs ad tables ca be used as obstacles, but use commo sese to esure obody is ijured. Have supervisors ear obstacles to prevet mishaps. If weather permits, hold this activity outdoors. Photos by Kare Kasmauski for CRS CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD 9
After the activity, ASK: Was it easy to carry the water? Could you do this for more tha a mile, 3 miles or farther? May people aroud the world mostly wome ad girls do this every day. How do you thik this impacts their health ad safety? Read the followig statemets aloud, pausig betwee each oe: May people throughout the world do ot have access to water. Approximately 3 millio people die each year because of iadequate water, saitatio ad hygiee. 780 millio people do ot have access to clea water. 2.5 billio do ot have access to adequate saitatio. Access to saitatio, the practice of good hygiee ad a safe water supply could save 1.5 millio childre a year. More tha 300 millio of the 800 millio people i sub-sahara Africa live i a water-scarce eviromet. By 2025, 1.8 billio people will be livig i coutries or regios with absolute water scarcity. (Source: UN-Water) Activity adapted from CRS FoodFast The Catholic Church i the Uited States is respodig to the water crisis worldwide through Catholic Relief Services. CRS is the official iteratioal humaitaria agecy of the Catholic commuity i the Uited States. Motivated by the example of Jesus Christ, CRS assists poor ad sufferig people i 93 coutries o the basis of eed, without regard to race, religio or atioality. Gettig ivolved with CRS is oe way we ca live out the Gospel call to give witess to the Christia faith i words ad deeds. We will watch a brief video ow that shows how CRS is helpig people address water scarcity i Brazil. Photo by Kare Kasmauski for CRS ASK: What i the video did you fid most iterestig or surprisig? Show video: Water for Life Brazil (Agua para la vida Brasil) Eglish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbkg6i2bxxw Spaish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95d50pyila What were some of the ways the Church respoded to lack of access to water? 10 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
life of service braistorm (25 miutes) Explai: We have leared today about how the sacramet of Cofirmatio aoits us for a life of service i solidarity with people aroud the world. We ve also spet time reflectig o the issue of global water scarcity ad have see a example of how the Church respods to this reality by helpig people gai access to life-givig water. Now we will braistorm together about how we might joi that respose through acts of solidarity collectively as a Cofirmatio class, idividually through our ow persoal commitmet, or both. We are ot respodig so that we ca complete service hours, but because Cofirmatio commissios us to follow Christ s call to discipleship through word ad deed. BRAINSTORMING GROUP SERVICE OPPORTUNITY ASK: We ca live i solidarity by thikig ad actig locally ad globally. How ca we respod i solidarity to global issues of water scarcity? What commitmet ca we make together as a group betwee ow ad whe you are cofirmed? Give participats a chace to braistorm ideas together i small groups ad preset their ideas back to the large group. Cosider posig a challege to see which group ca thik of the most, or most creative ideas. I lieu of service hours, cosider ivitig cofirmadi to fulfill their service requiremet by makig a persoal commitmet to live i solidarity with those who lack access to water. Ivite them to detail their commitmet ahead of time ad to write a essay or complete a creative project about their experiece to be shared with the parish. If you decide to allow cofirmadi to pursue a group or persoal commitmet istead of service hours, provide istructios at this time. BRAINSTORMING INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENTS Explai: Cofirmatio remids us that service is about how we live as Christ s disciples. Take a few momets to reflect siletly o a daily commitmet you ca make to live i solidarity with those without access to clea water betwee ow ad your Cofirmatio. The hadout is a tool; do t feel limited oly to what s listed there. I will distribute a hadout with some prompts for reflectio. IDEA FOR A GROUP PROJECT: Reusable Bottles campaig Orgaize a parish campaig promotig reusable bottles to raise awareess about water scarcity ad ivite people to live i solidarity by beig coscious of their water usage. Cosider ivitig cofirmadi to make videos, write stories or speak at Masses or religious educatio classes for youger childre about water scarcity ad why we are called to respod as people of faith. Sell reusable bottles after Masses ad doate the proceeds to a CRS water project. Iclude iformatio about the water project i your parish bulleti. Distribute hadout Cofirmed for service to the world. After cofirmadi have had time to quietly reflect, ivite them to share their ideas with the large group. Close the sessio by ivitig cofirmadi to reflect o the back of the hadout with their family or sposor before your ext meetig. CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD 11
closig prayer (5 miutes) Explai: I preparatio for the Sacramet of Cofirmatio, we ofte perform may hours of service to help those i eed. I doig so, we practice love ad service i imitatio of the saits whose ames we ofte take at Cofirmatio. (USCCB, Cofirmatio: Stregtheed by the Spirit, Called to Actio ) Pope Emeritus Beedict XVI tells us that the Holy Spirit pours love ito our hearts so that we may become istrumets of grace i order to pour forth God s charity ad to weave etworks of charity i the world. (Pope Beedict XVI Caritas i Veritate, No. 5) As we close our sessio today, let us remember that the saits devoted their lives i service to others. We ask their itercessio ow ad pray that like them, we will practice love ad service. I will begi our prayer ad the we will take turs sayig the ame of our Cofirmatio sait. We will all respod, Pray for us! If cofirmadi have ot chose Cofirmatio saits, ivite them to choose either a sait that they admire or eve a persoal role model who they believe demostrates a life of discipleship. I the ame of the Father, ad of the So, ad of the Holy Spirit Lovig God, Thak you for gatherig all of us here together today. We pray that, ispired by Christ s witess ad the missio of the Church, we will respod to your call to devote our lives i service to those i eed throughout the world. We ask i a special way for the itercessio of all of the saits who have goe before us, our family members, frieds, ad the saits (ame the saits chose as your cofirmatio saits). We ask for their itercessio ad prayers that we may live out your witess despite the challeges we may face Prompt cofirmadi to take turs amig a sait ad ivite all to respod, Pray for us. Sed your Holy Spirit dow o us ad stregthe us to live as your disciples. I your ame we pray. Ame Photo by Silverlight for CRS 12 CONFIRMED FOR SERVICE TO THE WORLD
cofirmed for service to the world how ca you be of service to those who live without access to safe water? pray Write a short prayer that you could memorize ad say as a matra each day at a certai time whe you use water. For example, you could offer the prayer daily whe you brush your teeth! your prayer: lear Help educate your parish commuity about global water scarcity. Cosider writig a short reflectio that could be published i the parish bulleti, makig a video that could be posted to the parish website or creatig a display that could be hug i the parish gatherig space or religious educatio buildig. your ideas: act Make a daily commitmet to live i solidarity with those who do ot have easy access to safe water by limitig your water usage. You might decide to limit showers to o more tha 5 miutes or commit to ot leavig the water ruig whe you brush your teeth, shave, etc. your ideas: give Thik of a creative way to raise moey for a CRS water project. CRS Gift of Hope water projects (gifts.crs.org) fud items like had-washig statios, tools to dig a well ad commuity waterig statios. your ideas:
Neisa Challco washes her hads with the family`s ew faucet, which brigs water from a water system costructed by a CRS-fuded project i Bolivia. The goal of the project is to improve health i poor, rural commuities especially amog childre uder age 5, who are at most risk of illess, ad eve death, from usafe water. Neisa Challco se lava las maos co el uevo grifo de la familia, que trae el agua de u sistema de agua costruido por u proyecto fiaciado por CRS e Bolivia. El objetivo del proyecto es mejorar la salud e las comuidades rurales pobres especialmete los iños meores de 5 años, que está e mayor riesgo de efermedad e icluso la muerte, debido a la isalubridad del agua. Photo by Silverlight for CRS QUESTIONS for cotiued reflectio to discuss with family members or sposors: Cofirmatio uites us to Christ ad helps us bear witess to Christ through words ad deeds. What was Jesus life about? Which of his words ad deeds come to mid? What does service have to do with Cofirmatio? Share a story about whe your faith has ispired you to be of service to others. Defie solidarity i your ow words. What is oe way we ca live i solidarity as a family with people aroud the world who lack access to water? PREGUNTAS para reflexió y dialogo cotiuo co los miembros de la familia o los padrios: La Cofirmació os ue a Cristo y os ayuda a dar testimoio de Cristo a través de palabras y hechos. Acerca de qué se trataba la vida de Jesús? Cuáles de sus palabras y hechos viee a tu mete? Cómo se relacioa el servicio co la Cofirmació? Comparta ua historia de cómo su fe lo ha ispirado a servir a los demás. Defia la solidaridad co sus propias palabras. Cuál es ua forma e que podemos vivir e solidaridad como ua familia co persoas alrededor del mudo que carece de acceso al agua? Catholic Relief Services is the official iteratioal humaitaria agecy of the Catholic commuity i the Uited States. We are motivated by the example of Jesus Christ to assist poor ad sufferig people i 93 coutries o the basis of eed, without regard to race, religio or atioality. CRS es la agecia oficial de la comuidad católica e los Estados Uidos dedicada a la ayuda humaitaria iteracioal. CRS se motiva co el ejemplo de Jesucristo de asistir a los pobres y a quiees sufre e 93 países, basado e la ecesidad, si importar raza, religió o acioalidad. 2014 Catholic Relief Services. All Rights Reserved. US14166