THE BATTLEFIELD FORMING A BATTLE PLAN FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE CATECHISM # 407-409 # 1808 # 2157 # 2725-2745 # 2846-2849 YOUCAT # 494 # 505 KEY TERMS Temptation SCRIPTURE Deuteronomy 31:6 2 Chronicles 20:17 Luke 9:1-2 Luke 10:19 Philippians 4:13 James 4:7 KEY CONCEPTS Our world is a battlefield. Our hearts are conflicted between good and evil, between following Christ and committing sin. We must know our areas of weakness and fortify those areas. We must learn how to guard our hearts from spiritual attack by being aware of when spiritual attack is likely to come. By forming a battle plan, we attain a routine of prayer and a route of action when we find ourselves in times of spiritual conflict. SOCIAL MEDIA #TheBattleLT #LTBattlefields THE BATTLEFIELD OUTLINE GOAL This Life Night provides practical insight for teenagers facing spiritual battle. They will be challenged to recognize the areas of weakness in their lives that the devil may attack and fortify those areas. ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT This Life Night begins with teenagers checking in with their small groups for a time of discussion. This discussion sets up themes that will be presented in the Proclaim for the Life Night. Teenagers are challenged to form a battle plan to help them against spiritual attack in their lives and allow them to strive toward sanctity. During the Break, teenagers reflect and write their battle plan, and share it with a partner during the Send. Teenagers are challenged to enact their plan immediately and strive toward sainthood following the Life Night. 58
PARENTAL NOTICE This week at Life Night we discussed the areas of our life that are open to spiritual battle. We challenged teenagers to reflect on areas where they are weak and need to fortify their spiritual defenses. Your son or daughter wrote a battle plan that examined these areas and then he or she made resolutions for how to respond with prayer and action. Take time to reflect on your own life and areas where you find spiritual attack most prevalent. How can you combat these areas? Spend a few minutes reflecting on your own faith; the greatest example that at teenager can have of our Catholic faith comes from you. ENVIRONMENT Set up an environment that is comfortable for prayer. Journaling and prayer partner time takes place in the main meeting space; set up a sound system to play music during these activities. Set up a screen and projector to play the video during the Proclaim. MEDIA SUGGESTIONS Life Teen Video: "Armor of God" (Life Teen Video Support: The Battle) GATHER PROCLAIM SMALL GROUP CHECK-IN (20 min) The youth minister welcomes all of the teenagers to the Life Night and he or she leads an opening prayer. The youth minister instructs teenagers to form into their small groups for a check-in. The Core Member leading each group uses the following questions to begin a discussion: Since the beginning of the semester, what has your prayer life been like? Has it improved? Stayed the same? Gotten worse? What is one area of spiritual battle that you understand better now? What are questions you still have? As a small group community, how can we support each other in prayer over the coming weeks and months? What do you need to do, personally, to live out your faith outside of the youth group? VIDEO: ARMOR OF GOD (5 min) Play the video Armor of God found on Life Support Video: The Battle. This video provides a sound transition into the Proclaim teaching. TEACHING: THE BATTLEFIELD (10 min) Teenagers are challenged to recognize the areas of their lives that are a battleground and take measures to remain spiritually grounded in those areas. They will learn the seven principles of spiritual warfare and apply them to their daily lives. An outline for the teaching can be found on pages 61 to 63. BREAK YOUR BATTLE PLAN (20 min) Pass out the handout found on page 64 to the teenagers and give them time to find a space where they can reflect. Explain that, in order to THE BATTLEFIELD OUTLINE 59
be spiritually healthy, we have to know where our spiritual battles are likely to exist. After teenagers have time to work on this, gather back into the main meeting room. SEND LIFE NIGHT RECAP (5 min) After all the teenagers are gathered back into the main meeting space, recap the main concepts from the Life Night: Our world is a battlefield. Our hearts are conflicted between good and evil, between following Christ and committing sin. We must know our areas of weakness and fortify those areas. We must learn how to guard our hearts from spiritual attack by being aware of when spiritual attack is likely to come. By forming a battle plan, we attain a routine of prayer and a route of action when we find ourselves in times of spiritual conflict. PRAYER PARTNERS (15 min) ball through). On the floor, create a grid using masking tape. Five teenagers lay down on the grid as the ships on each side. Teams take turns throwing a playground ball over the tarp; the opposite team lets them know if they hit a teen. Teenagers are out once they are hit with a playground ball. The first team to strike out all opposing players wins the game. Instead of prayer partners, ask small groups to pray over each other. If you select this option, be sure to schedule more time for the Send. UPPERCLASSMAN SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS Use this section throughout the semester to provide deeper questions for small groups consisting of juniors and seniors: What are some of the challenges you face in your spiritual life? Have those challenges gotten easier or more difficult since the semester began? Where are there spiritual battles in your life right now? How can we, as a small group community, support you? How can you be an example of faith to younger teenagers? Are you living this out and being a good example of a Christian? Why or why not? THE BATTLEFIELD OUTLINE Instruct the teenagers to find a partner of the same gender from their small group. The two will share their battle plans with each other in order to hold the other accountable. After sharing, the two will pray with and over each other for strength, courage, and persistence in following their battle plan. Close the Life Night by praying a Hail Mary and challenging the teenagers to follow up with their accountability partner at least once during the coming week. After everyone has had an opportunity to share and pray, gather the group together and close the Life Night by praying a Hail Mary. ADAPTING THIS LIFE NIGHT For smaller groups, consider playing human battleship for a Gather game. Set up a large tarp through the middle of the room that begins at the floor and has space between the top and ceiling (enough to throw a playground In what ways do you want to continue to grow in prayer before you graduate from high school? How do you plan to make this happen? What can the small group do to help you reach these goals? 60
THE BATTLEFIELD TEACHING KEY TERM DEFINITIONS Temptation The tugging or pull to commit sin LIFE IS A BATTLE Over the past few weeks, we have broken open the reality of spiritual battle. This battle takes place within our human heart and within the world around us. CCC 407-409 James 4:7 This battle began when our first parents, deceived by the devil, disobeyed God. Since that moment, we have felt the effects of original sin in our lives. Christ redeemed the world and offers us mercy and grace. Through Christ, we may enter into heaven. He has won the victory over sin and death. Even though the war is decided, there are battles still being fought. The devil, envious of humanity, seeks to destroy and ruin as many lives as he can. His goal is to keep us from heaven. 2 Chronicles 20:17 Key Term CCC 2846-2849 We have protection from Christ; through the sacraments, angels, and prayer we can combat temptation and sin. The devil does not need to claim us. We know the battle, we know the enemy, and we know who is on our side. We have the tools to fight. Now, we need a plan. YOUR BATTLEFIELDS The first step in formulating a spiritual plan for engaging in this battle is by knowing our battlefields. These are the places where we are likely to be open to spiritual attack, temptation exists, or where our faith is challenged. THE BATTLEFIELD TEACHING 61
We need to name and recognize these places. If we do not do that, we will not be able to fortify our defenses. First, we need to look for any places where we have opened a door spiritually that makes us vulnerable to spiritual attack. If there are areas of persistent or habitual sin, especially sin that is grave, recognize those areas. If having a computer in your bedroom is causing you to sin, get rid of it. If owning a smartphone causes you to sin, get rid of it. Jesus is pretty clear if something causes you to sin, get rid of it. Some of us may have opened up a spiritual door through the occult, trying to use magic, or unknowingly becoming involved (or knowingly becoming involved) in satanic practices. If you have done this, go to confession and seek the counsel of a priest. If you are actively involved in dark spirituality, seek a priest immediately. It may be difficult to break free from this, depending on your level of involvement, and you will need help. Next, look at areas where your faith is challenged. It may be a group of friends, at home, at school, or at work. The constant challenge to our faith can lead to burnout, doubt, or frustration. These become entry points to the lies of the devil. He can easily exploit a situation where our faith is mocked and make us believe that everyone mocks us or hates us. Finally, identify areas of temptation especially areas where you may be tempted to the seven capital sins. These sins are greed, envy, lust, pride, sloth, anger, and gluttony. Ask yourself when you are most tempted to these sins, and what situational aspects you can remove from your life in order to diminish or remove temptation. THE BATTLEFIELD TEACHING PRAY ALWAYS After we identify our battlefields, we need to resolve to pray for those areas. If we fall into habitual sin, we may need to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation more regularly. If that sin revolves around an addiction, we may also need to seek additional counseling. We may resolve to attend Mass more than simply Sundays or to begin praying a Rosary daily. Part of your battle plan may involve others to hold you accountable people to pray with and support you as you support them. Setting a routine of prayer helps us protect ourselves against spiritual attack. It also helps fortify us and give us courage when the attack comes from unlikely places. CCC 2157 Luke 9:1-2 CCC 1808 CCC 2725-2745 62
Deuteronomy 31:6 Luke 10:19 Philippians 4:13 COURAGE IN THE BATTLE When we face spiritual attack, we need to be courageous. Courage is a virtue that we practice. We help it grow in God s grace. In order to practice it, we need opportunities to use it. Opportunities will arise, but we must ask God for the grace to be courageous when they do. By having a good plan knowing where we will encounter attack, and preparing for it in prayer we will be ready when the opportunity to be courageous presents itself. THE BATTLEFIELD TEACHING 63
THE BATTLEFIELD HANDOUT MY BATTLE PLAN 1. Every person s life has battlefields. The devil does not choose battles where we are strong, he chooses places where we are weak. Where are your weaknesses? Where are you most likely to engage in battle? 2. The seven deadly sins are entry points. Some we may not struggle with at all, but others may be consistent temptations. The seven deadly sins are gluttony, pride, sloth, greed, envy, lust, and anger. Which of these is the greatest temptation for you? When do you find it the most difficult to overcome this temptation? 3. What is your daily routine of prayer? Is it as strong as it should be? Below, write out your daily routine and identify areas where you can pray more, or areas where you may find yourself most likely to engage in a spiritual battle against sin. 4. We cannot fight a battle alone. Who can be your accountability partner and spiritual companion on the journey? How do you need that person to keep you accountable? THE BATTLEFIELD HANDOUT 5. Frequent reception of the sacraments is critical in forming a solid battle plan. When are you going to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Are you going to go to more Masses in addition to Sunday Mass? Make a plan for receiving sacraments frequently and write it below. 64
THE BATTLEFIELD CHECKLIST LIFE NIGHT CHECKLIST CORE PLANNING TEAM: DATE OF LIFE NIGHT: ONE MONTH PRIOR TO THE NIGHT: Give copies of the Life Night to each of the members of the planning team. Each person should read the Scripture and Catechism references as well as review the planning guide before the brainstorming meeting. TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO LIFE NIGHT: Turn in a detailed outline of the Life Night to the youth minister. Allow the youth minister to give feedback and make any necessary changes. Create a list of needed supplies and materials. Assign a person to be responsible for collecting and/or purchasing the materials needed. Decide the people that will be doing the following things. Make sure they have a copy of the script and/or teaching outline. Inform them of any practices and/or deadlines. Teaching WEEK OF THE LIFE NIGHT: Written outline of the teaching is given to the youth minister and practiced. Get the planning team together for a brainstorming meeting (this should last no longer than 1 hour). The team prays and discusses where the teens are in their faith journey in relation to this topic. Then using this planning guide as a starting point, the team adapts the Life Night to meet the needs of the teens and the parish. Create a detailed outline with any changes and/or adjustments. Assign the person responsible for each part of the Life Night: Environment Small Group Check-in Video: Armor of God Your Battle Plan Prayer Partners Run a dress rehearsal of the Life Night. Youth minister gives feedback. Create environment and collect needed supplies. E-mail entire Core Team an overview of the night and small group questions. DAY OF THE LIFE NIGHT: Set up the environment. Make sure the room is clean and presentable. Set up audio and video. Test the video clips to make sure both picture and sound work. Walk the entire Core Team through the Life Night. Make sure all transitions are ready and everyone knows their roles. Pray! Pray for the teens attending the Life Night. Pray for God's will to be done through the night. Pray over those involved. THE BATTLEFIELD CHECKLIST 65
THE BATTLEFIELD EVALUATION LIFE NIGHT EVALUATION INSTRUCTIONS: Use the following questions to discuss and evaluate your Life Night. 1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Life Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain. 1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Life Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain. 2. What was the strongest aspect of this Life Night? 2. What was the strongest aspect of this Life Night? 3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do after this Life Night? 3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do after this Life Night? 4. What can we improve for future Life Nights? How can we accomplish this? 4. What can we improve for future Life Nights? How can we accomplish this? 1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Life Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain. 1. On a scale of 1-10, how well did this Life Night accomplish the goal we set? Explain. 2. What was the strongest aspect of this Life Night? 2. What was the strongest aspect of this Life Night? THE BATTLEFIELD EVALUATION 3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do after this Life Night? 4. What can we improve for future Life Nights? How can we accomplish this? 3. What kind of follow-up do we need to do after this Life Night? 4. What can we improve for future Life Nights? How can we accomplish this? 66
Notes THE BATTLEFIELD NOTES 67