REPRESENT AN EDGE NIGHT ON SACRAMENTALS SCRIPTURE Leviticus 8:10-13 Matthew 10:12 Luke 10:5 CCC 1668-1670 1677 YOUCAT 272 KEY WORDS Sacramentals SUPPLIES NEEDED Sacramental Scavenger Hunt handout page 90 MEDIA SUGGESTIONS YouTube: Raw emotion when surprised with Taylor Swift concert tickets by Tania Flesher YouTube: Mumford & Sons I Will Wait by MumfordAndSonsVEVO REPRESENT OUTLINE EDGE NIGHT GOAL The goal of this Edge Night is to introduce the middle school youth to sacramentals. They will be given some examples of sacramentals, and see how they set us apart as Catholics. EDGE NIGHT AT A GLANCE This Edge Night will begin with a brief testimony from a Core Member about his or her favorite sacramental. The teaching will focus on what sacramentals are and how they relate to our Catholic identity. After the teaching, the middle school youth will have an opportunity to go on a sacramental scavenger hunt and discuss how to use sacramentals in their daily lives. The Edge Night will end with the youth praying a decade of the rosary together. ENVIRONMENT Make the room look like a concert venue. Have a stage set up with instruments on it and moving, colored lights going when the youth walk in. Hang band T-shirts along the walls and hang up any old band posters the Core Team may have. Have the Core Members dress up like rock-stars or in the attire of their favorite band. Have signs taped to the walls that say, We Heart with a band name and other signs you would see at concerts. As you develop this theme of a concert make sure that all material, songs, and attire are appropriate. CORE TEAM FORMATION Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church that prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and confer blessing (CCC 1677). They were not instituted by Christ and therefore, do not bestow grace on us as the seven sacraments do, but they dispose us to cooperate with grace (CCC 1670). Sacramentals help to remind us of our need for prayer and allow us to deepen our understanding of Christ s passion and His power. 84
Use the following for discussion or personal reflection: What sacramentals do you use most often (some examples are scapular, rosary, holy water, images, crucifixes, and medals)? What can these sacramentals teach us? How can they lead us closer to Christ? What graces have you been opened to from these sacramentals? TO THE PARENTS This week at Edge we talked about sacramentals and their place in the Church. A sacramental is a sacred sign or action in which a blessing is conferred (YouCat 272). The youth went on a sacramental scavenger hunt to learn more about the sacramentals in our church such as statues, candles, the stations, holy water and the rosary. They were encouraged to pray more with the sacramental and to use them to be a part of their Catholic identity. Here are some questions to ask your son or daughter this week: What is a sacramental? Why are they important? Out of the ones you talked about at Edge, which on was your favorite? What is one way we can bring sacramentals into our home? GATHER WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION (5 min) PROCLAIM REPRESENT TEACHING (10 min) Gather in all the youth together, introduce any new youth, and recognize any birthdays. Give a brief overview of the night and then begin in prayer. TESTIMONY (5 min) Have a Core Member briefly share with the youth about his or her favorite sacramental and give a testimony to the power of this sacramental in his or her life. This teaching can be found on pages 88-89. Here are the main points from the teaching: A sacramental is a sign or action that confers blessing. Sacramentals do not give us grace as sacraments do, but they prepare us to receive and cooperate with grace. Sacramentals are unique to Catholicism and help to make our faith visible and tangible to us and others. REPRESENT OUTLINE 85
REPRESENT OUTLINE BREAK SACRAMENTALS SCAVENGER HUNT (30 min) Supplies Sacramental Scavenger Hunt handout page 90 Break the youth into small groups. Each small group will be given a clue that will lead them to the sacramental they will be learning about first. There are five different sacramentals, have an even amount of small groups going to each station. Once you have decided how many small groups will go to each station give out the appropriate clues that will lead them to the sacramental station they will be starting with. The clues to get the youth to each sacramental station can be found on page 90. Once the youth have reached the proper sacramental station have a Core Member at each station to give a brief teaching about the sacramental. Once they have finished the teaching have the Core Member hand out the proper clue to get the whole group to their next station. Here are sample teachings for each of the sacramentals. Station 1: The Rosary The word rosary means crown of roses and when we pray the rosary we are asking for the intercession of Mary, the Queen of Heaven. The prayers of the rosary (the Hail Mary and Our Father) are found in Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42 and in Matthew 6:9-13. The rosary is a meditation on Scripture that takes us through the paschal mystery and the life of Christ. For each decade (10 Hail Mary s) we reflect on a passage from Scripture. The reason the rosary is so powerful is because Mary is powerful. Through her obedience to God, she was chosen to bring Christ into the world. She obeyed God in all that she did during her entire life. She raised God s only Son and loved Him tremendously. Mary is the Mother of God and her requests to the Lord, which we bring to her when we pray a rosary, do not go unheard. Station 2: Saint Statues Having statues of saints is a way that we can honor some of the great heroes of our Church. They allow us to see examples of faith in action and teach us about the history of our Church. In honoring the saints, we honor God, who worked so powerfully through them to show us how to live. (Discuss some of the saint statues in your particular parish). Along with having saint statues in places of prayer, we can also wear medals with different images of saints on them. Medals can be worn to remind us of our faith and to ask for the intercession of a particular saint. Many saints are called patrons of something. This means that those who did something in their lives that represents certain things, such as St. Cecilia who is the patron saint of music, or St. Sebastian who is the patron saint of athletes. There are even saints who can pray for us if we struggle with something or have a sickness, such as St. Lucy who is the patron saint of eyes, or St. Peregrine who is the patron saint of cancer patients. When we wear medals of these saints or see their statues, we are reminded that they are already in heaven ready to pray for us and intercede for us before God. Remember that we are all a part of one big family and the saints are our brothers and sisters who want to help us get to heaven. Station 3: The Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross are a series of 14 pictures or carvings that portray the Passion and Death of Jesus. It is recommended that every Catholic prays the stations during Lent, but the stations can be prayed at any time. The stations allow us to grow in understanding of Christ s Passion and Death and the reality that these events really did happen. We do this through praying the Scriptures and walking with Christ as He carries His cross. As we walk with Christ we are reminded of His great love for us, and that we can join our pain and suffering with His on the cross. We can understand the feeling of falling down or feeling alone like Christ did. It allows us to grow in communion and friendship with God when we remember His humanity and His sacrifice for us. Station 4: Holy Water Holy water is a sacramental we use every time we enter the church. It is water that has blessed by 86
the priest. We bless ourselves with holy water to be refreshed by the power of the Holy Spirit and to remind us of our Baptismal Promises. Baptismal Promises are the promises that we made at our Baptism, of those that were made for us by our parents. Renewing these promises include renouncing Satan and sin, believing in God, the Father Almighty, Jesus Christ born of the Virgin, His Death and Resurrection, and the power of the Holy Spirit. We renew those vows often during the Liturgical year and when we sign ourselves with the holy water before Mass. When we bless something with holy water, including ourselves, we are always asking for Jesus to cleanse and renew us. Station 5: Candles God often uses fire or flames in the Old and New Testament to reveal Himself. From speaking to Moses from a burning bush (Exodus 3) to giving the disciples the Holy Spirit in the form of fire (Acts 2:1-13). God knows and created fire to be powerful. He also knows the importance of light, which is why He sent His Son as the Light of the World to bring us out of the darkness of sin and death. Candles remind us of this light and the power of God to overcome the darkness. Candles are blessed and used to signify Christ s presence in the Holy Eucharist in the tabernacle, at Mass, and during Eucharistic Adoration. Votive candles, which are smaller than the candles around the altar, are used to signify prayers rising before God and are often in Churches underneath statues or depictions of saints. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS (20 min) After the scavenger hunt, have the youth go back to their small groups. Begin in prayer and use the following questions for discussion. In your own words, what is a sacramental? Which sacramentals did you already know about? Which ones had you seen, but you did not know they were sacramentals? Which sacramental do you think you will pray more with? What other sacramentals do we have in the Church? TAKING IT DEEPER: SMALL GROUP ADAPTATIONS FOR 8 TH GRADE For the 8 th grade youth who are looking to go deeper, use the following questions to further the discussion. What sacramentals do you think you could incorporate into your prayer? Were there any sacramentals that were not mentioned that you have heard of or are interested in? How can sacramentals help you explain your faith to your friends? How can you use sacramentals to represent your Catholic faith at school? What would you say to your friends if they asked you about a sacramental you were wearing? SEND CLOSING PRAYER (10 min) Gather the youth back into the large group and proceed back into the Church. Gather under a statue or icon of Mary. Remind the youth what they learned about statues, Mary, and the other sacramentals. Begin the prayer by having the youth bless themselves with holy water. Then light a candle and remind the youth that candles not only remind us that Jesus is the Light of the World, but they also symbolize our prayers rising to heaven. Have each youth offer up an intention and pray a decade of the rosary to end the Edge Night. FURTHER ADAPTATION IDEAS If you are not able to do the scavenger hunt in your church bring in different sacramentals to your main meeting room and just have the youth rotate from station to station within the meeting room. REPRESENT OUTLINE 87
REPRESENT TEACHING KEY WORD DEFINITIONS Sacramental - A sacred sign or action in which a blessing is conferred (given). REPRESENT We all have our favorite bands. Whether we have that one song we cannot get out of our heads, a whole album we play on repeat, or even a lead singer we think is cute. Often we can see that when someone loves a band they can do some pretty crazy things. They buy t-shirts, merchandise, songs, concert tickets, wait in lines for hours, and sometimes even get tattoos. All these things are done because they feel connected to the band in some way, and they want to show their support and their connection in a material, tangible way. Have you ever thought about why people spend so much money on things that represent their favorite band or team? Well, as humans, we like tangible objects. We like things that we can hold and touch that represent something bigger like our T-shirt that represents our connection to our favorite band. This desire for something tangible to represent another reality in our life is not reserved solely for music or sports but even the Catholic Church knows this need and fills it. The Church gives us tangible objects that help open us up to the grace of God. These things are called sacramentals. CCC 1131 YouCat 272 REPRESENT TEACHING WHAT IS A SACRAMENTAL? Sacramentals are sacred signs or actions in which a blessing is conferred. They do not give us the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that seven sacraments do, but they draw us to the sacraments and prepare us to receive grace. You probably have seen many sacramentals even if you have not heard them called that before. When you walk into Mass and bless yourself with the holy water, that is a sacramental. Other sacramentals you might recognize is receiving ashes on your forehead on Ash Wednesday. Sacramentals always include a prayer, which is often accompanied by a specific CCC 1668 Luke 10:5, Matthew 10:12 CCC 1669 Key Word 88
sign such as, the laying on of hands, the Sign of the Cross, or the sprinkling of holy water. CCC 1670 WHY SACRAMENTALS? Sacramentals exist to make holy every part of our lives. They are material objects that we can touch, hold, and feel that allow us to prepare to receive grace. Some sacramentals, like the Sign of the Cross and holy water, are communal, and we do them together. Others, like devotion to a particular saint, are done more personally and privately. It is important to know that sacramentals are not superstitions, and we must treat them correctly. A superstitious use of sacramentals means that our attitude towards them is if I do this, God will do that. We have all done that at some point in our lives. For example, if I do my chores maybe mom will give me ice cream, or if I take out the trash, then I will get to stay up late. We even do this in prayer sometimes. Something like if I say an extra Hail Mary every day God will give me what I want. But, proper use of sacramentals means that we want to draw closer to God and be reminded of His love, mercy, glory, and power, not that we get something we want. CATHOLIC IDENTITY Sacramentals, when used properly, allow us to understand our faith more deeply. For example, looking at a crucifix helps us understand Jesus sacrifice and how much He loves us. Praying a rosary allows us to enter into Scripture and the life of Christ, Mary, and the Apostles. Sacramentals can also help us remember God throughout the day. Wearing a rosary bracelet, saint medals, or a crucifix is a constant reminder that we should often be praying. That we should be asking for the intercession of the saints, and striving to live our lives in a way that pleases God. Sacramentals are also a great way to reflect our Catholic identity. They can almost be considered a spiritual uniform, aligning us to a certain saint or aspect of our Catholic faith the same way a fan would wear a band s t-shirt or buy a poster. Sacramentals not only display our devotion to a particular saint or practice, but sacramentals also open us up to receive graces. When we pray for the intercession of a specific saint or ask for the protection of Mary by wearing scapular, we are able to receive new graces. This happens because we are asking for them and showing our desire for them through the sacramental. Sacramentals have a very special and unique place in our Catholic faith. We cannot underestimate the grace we receive from these seemingly simple things like blessings, rosary beads, and medals. Now that we have had the chance to discuss what sacramentals are and why they are important, we will now have the opportunity to learn more about a few specific ones. REPRESENT TEACHING 89
REPRESENT HANDOUT SACRAMENTALS SCAVENGER HUNT INSTRUCTIONS: As a group, figure out what sacramental the following clues are describing. Once you have figured out the correct sacramental, go and find this sacramental to learn more about it. CLUE 1: This is made of beads and rope and connects us to Jesus mother. CLUE 2: These holy men and women remind us that it is possible to live holy lives, yet they never say a single word and never move. CLUE 3: They line the walls of our church and tell us the sad, yet glorious story of how our souls were saved. CLUE 4: We touch it whenever we enter the church. We bless ourselves with it, yet we cannot hold on to it. CLUE 5: We rely on this to see things around us, but the more we use it the smaller it gets. REPRESENT HANDOUT 90
REPRESENT HANDOUT SCAVENGER HUNT ANSWER KEY CLUE 1: The rosary CLUE 2: A saint statue CLUE 3: The Stations of the Cross CLUE 4: Holy water CLUE 5: Candles REPRESENT HANDOUT 91
REPRESENT CHECKLIST EDGE NIGHT CHECKLIST EDGE NIGHT DATE: EDGE NIGHT TOPIC: CORE TEAM ASSIGNMENTS: Environment Opening Prayer Games Proclaim Closing Prayer WEEK PRIOR TO EDGE NIGHT: Hand out/email the Edge Night to the Core Members Assign duties to the Core Team Pick videos and/or songs Gather all the supplies Email Core Team the Edge Night Core Formation WEEK OF THE EDGE NIGHT: Prep for games and the environment Meet with the Core Member doing the Proclaim (if applicable) Videos: Songs: DAY OF THE EDGE NIGHT: Email parents the information about the Night and any announcements Gather and set-up for the night Pray! REPRESENT CHECKLIST Notes 92
REPRESENT EVALUATION EDGE NIGHT EVALUATION INSTRUCTIONS: Evaluation is a key to successful ministry. Use the following questions to discuss and evaluate your Edge Night. What is going well at our Edge Nights? What can we improve? Would you be interested in leading prayer, explaining games, or giving a Proclaim teaching? Was there one particular part of this Edge Night you did not think was necessary? What and Why? Are our Core meetings effective? How can I better serve you as a youth minister? What can we do to better serve our youth? REPRESENT EVALUATION 93
Notes 94