1
TRANSFORMATION An Edge Social Night for Holy Fire LEADER OVERVIEW As Catholics we are blessed by the gift of the sacraments. The sacraments are powers that come forth from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in His Body, the Church. They are the masterworks of God in the new and everlasting covenant (CCC 1116). All of the sacraments come forth from the Life of Christ and what was visible in His life is passed down to us through them. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. All of them are instituted by the Lord and they reveal the mystery of God who is love. (CCC 1117-1118) The sacraments are our life-giving source, our connection to the One true God. Our faith is nourished, sustained, and strengthened by the sacraments. The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men to build up the Body of Christ and, finally, to give worship to God (CCC 1123). When the Church celebrates the seven sacraments, she participates in and expresses the faith that was handed down from the apostles. The liturgies in which the sacraments are celebrated are a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition of the Church. (CCC 1124) Christ is at work in each sacrament and it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies (CCC 1127). This is the great mystery of the sacraments, their hidden nature that is only signified by the sights, sounds, and celebration of the sacrament. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are at work together in the sacraments and they work ex opere operato. This literally means from the works worked so the graces of the sacraments are dependent solely on the works of the sacrament being performed. The graces dispensed in the sacrament are not dependent upon the holiness of the person performing the actions or the one receiving the grace, but rather by the power of God (CCC 1128). That being said, it is also up to the recipient to be properly prepared for the sacrament they are receiving and open to the grace of the sacrament. (CCC 1128) Sacraments are necessary for our salvation. This is the path that Jesus paved and these are the instructions He left to His Apostles that have been passed down over time. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life and the sacraments are our way to follow, participate and be filled with His life (John 14:6). The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior (CCC 1129). It is through this living union, our spiritual adoption as sons and daughters of God, that our eternal salvation is brought about. Sacramentals are different from sacraments. They render various moments of life holy and prepare one more fully to receive the graces of the sacraments. Wrapped up in the life of the Church s sacramentals are also various forms of popular piety rooted in different cultural practices. (CCC 1667-1679) 1
TRANSFORMATION An Edge Social Night for Holy Fire EDGE NIGHT OVERVIEW GOAL The goal of this Edge Night is to help youth understand the transformative power of the sacraments and to learn more about the sacramental life of the Catholic Church. SUMMARY The Gather begins the Edge Night with a family dinner to give the youth an opportunity to sit down with one another to build up community and discuss what they learned and experiences at the Holy Fire event. After dinner, the youth have an opportunity to play a fun, transformative messy game. The Proclaim is a brief teaching about the sacraments and their ability to transform our lives. During a combined Break and Send, the youth have an opportunity to reflect on an area in their lives where they need the transformative power of Christ and have an opportunity to pray for one another. MAIN IDEAS There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church and they all have visible realities that point to the invisible realities of transformation happening in our lives. Each sacrament has specific graces for different areas of our lives and the sacraments are necessary for our salvation. Sacramentals are different from sacraments. They remind us of holy things and open us up to receive more grace. ENVIRONMENT The theme of the Edge Night is transformation. On one side of the room put up words on black paper that describe life lacking Christ (shame, sorrow, sin, darkness, hate, anger, envy, etc.) and on the other side put up words on white paper that describe a life lived full of grace and Christ (joy, peace, happiness, fulfillment, belonging, etc.). Set up enough tables and chairs for the youth to sit down for a family dinner. Put tablecloths on the tables along with all the proper and necessary utensils. Place a nice center piece in the middle of the table to make a welcoming and beautiful setting. Even if you usually serve a meal at Edge, take some extra time to make this particular dinner a little more special. MEDIA Edge Video Support 11: Sacramental Life (lifeteen.com) 2
SCRIPTURE John 6:54 CATECHISM 1116-1118, 1122-1129, 1667-1676 Notes: 3
TRANSFORMATION An Edge Social Night for Holy Fire EDGE NIGHT OUTLINE GATHER Edge Night Introduction (5 min) As the youth walk in, give them food items according to the small groups they will be assigned to or food items at random if you do not have pre-made small groups. These could be things like candy bars, suckers, chips, etc. Welcome the youth and begin in prayer. Introduce anyone who is new, recognize any birthdays, and ask about any big events happening this week. Introduce the Core Team Members (adult leaders) and give a brief overview of the topic using the following as a guide: The idea of transformation is popular, the desire to take something and make it new. To take something and make it better, more beautiful, or more appealing. What we sometimes fail to remember though is that our inner state of being matters more than what things look like on the outside. All these words you see upfront on the black paper describe life without Christ or the grace He offers, and then on the other side are words that describe what life is like lived with Christ. But can one person really be the difference between loneliness and belonging or the difference between anger and joy? Yes. An encounter with Christ is always a transformation. In our church, we encounter Christ in a very real and tangible way through the sacraments. Family Dinner (40 min) To break the youth into small groups, have them find the other youth with their same food item and sit all together at a table. Depending on how many tables there are, more than one small group can sit together. Give a brief explanation of why you are having a family dinner using the following as an example: One of the great things about the sacraments and a life with Christ is you are brought into a family. The sacraments take place in a community and tie us into the life of the Church and give us a place where we belong. Tonight we are going to celebrate that we are all a part of this family by having a family style dinner together. Either serve the food to the tables or set up a buffet. As the youth sit down to have a meal together, invite a Core Member (adult leader) at each table to encourage the youth to share about their experience at Holy Fire. Here are some icebreaker questions to get conversations started at the table: What was your favorite part of the Holy Fire event? Why? Which speaker could you relate to the most? Why? What were the prayer experiences like for you? 4
In what ways did you encounter Jesus? Explain. What did you learn that will help you live out God s mission and will for your life? What things did you learn at Holy Fire that you can do in your everyday life to grow in a relationship with Christ? SUGGESTIONS Make sure that the youth do not just sit with their friends but stay in their small groups so they can continue to get to know one another. Have music playing softly in the background and a slideshow of pictures from the Holy Fire event the youth attended. Also consider having the Core Members (adult leaders) serve the dinner to the middle school youth. STEP IT UP Have the meal catered and hire people (or get volunteers) to serve the food. Complete Makeover (15 min) After all the youth finish eating dinner, clear away the tables and gather them in a large group. This game is played up front with three to six pairs of youth. The youth in the pairs should be the same gender. 1. Call up six to twelve youth, depending on the size of the group, and pair them off with a member of the same gender. 2. Place a large tarp across the floor and have a chair for each pair off to the side. 3. Have each pair pick which person will go first. 4. Invite the person who chooses to go first to stand, with his or her hands on his or her hips, in front of the other youth. 5. For the girls, give makeup supplies (eye shadow, blush, lipstick, and mascara) to the person standing behind her partner. For the guys, give shaving cream and a fake razor to the person standing behind his partner. 6. The person with the supplies will then proceed to put his or her arms through the space under the arms of his or her partner who is standing in front. For the girls, she will attempt to put on her partner s makeup, and for the guys, he will attempt to cover his partner s face with shaving cream and then shave it all off clean with the fake razor. 7. After these makeovers are complete, have the youth switch places and give each pair a chair. 8. Invite the youth who had their makeup done or face shaved to stand behind their partner, who is sitting on a chair, and give each one a can of whipped cream or shaving cream. 9. He or she then proceeds to give his or her partner a new hairstyle using the whipped cream or shaving cream. 10. Take lots of pictures and award prizes based off of applause of the crowd for best makeovers. 5
SUGGESTIONS If you are not able to get enough makeup supplies, use washable paint and do extreme makeovers. If you are not able to find fake razors, give the youth popsicle stick to use as a razor. Make sure to have proper supplies for the youth to clean up after the makeovers (makeup remover, towels, water, etc.). STEP IT UP Instead of doing makeovers, bring in a chemist to do different science experiments that show different types of transformations when elements are added together. PROCLAIM Transformation Teaching (5 min) This teaching can be found on pages 8 to 9. BREAK / SEND Transformation Story (5 min) Call up a designated Core Member (adult leader) or special guest to share briefly with the youth about how Christ has transformed his or her life. Christ Transforms (5 min) Invite the youth to spread out around the room and give each of them a slip of paper and a pen. Play quiet, reflective music in the background and instruct the youth to reflect on something spiritual in their life that they want Christ to transform. This could be overcoming a sin or addiction, or to grow in a great understanding of Jesus, or to have the capacity to forgive someone. After all the youth have had an opportunity to reflect, instruct them to get into their small groups. In small groups, invite the youth to share their reflection with the group if they feel comfortable and have the Core Member (adult leader) lead a prayer for all the youths intentions. Conclude the small groups by saying an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be together. SUGGESTIONS Have your priest come at the end of the night to give a blessing for the youth. Notes: 6
7
TRANSFORMATION An Edge Social Night for Holy Fire TEACHING GUIDE GETTING STARTED To cover the basic information follow along and craft the talk based off of the bullet points. If your youth are ready to take it deeper, start incorporating a few of the Going Deeper call out boxes (like the one below) by picking the ones your youth would relate to the most. GOING DEEPER Check inside these boxes for tips and ideas on how to take your youth a little deeper with the Proclaim. THE SACRAMENTS Project an image of an athlete or an Olympian who overcame great obstacles in his or her life to achieve such greatness in their sport. Give a little bit of a background about this athlete and the obstacles he or she overcame. When we see people go through these types of transformations or overcome great obstacles, there is often so much more going on inside of them that gives them the strength to make these physical changes in their lives. In the same way, when we receive the sacraments there is something invisible that is happening inside of us that is giving us incredible strength and endurance in our spiritual lives. Sacraments are visible signs of invisible realities in our spiritual lives. For example, the holy water that is used in the Sacrament of Baptism is a physical sign of the invisible reality of what happens during Baptism. The invisible reality is that original sin is washed away and we are made sons and daughters of God and begin our new life in Christ. (CCC 977, 1213) Ask the youth to name some of the physical things that are used during the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church - Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Holy Orders, Matrimony, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick - and they reveal to us the great love and mystery of God. (CCC 1116) GOING DEEPER Play the video Sacramental Life from the Media Suggestions and discuss how the sacraments accompany us during different stages of life. Project a fun image of superheroes. Sometimes it is fun to imagine what it would like to have a superpower like being able to fly or to be invisible. But we actually do have access to super spiritual powers through the sacraments. 8
All of the sacraments are all filled with specific graces and powers that come forth from Jesus Christ. And, by the working of the Holy Spirit, the sacraments give us spiritual powers to overcome obstacles. The sacraments give us strength for the battle against evil. The sacraments continually build up and sustain all the members of the Church throughout their lives. (CCC 1117-1118) The sacraments confer the grace they signify because Christ is at work in them. For example, the Sacrament of the Eucharist pours out the graces of salvation, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation pours out the grace to repair our relationship with God when it has been destroyed by sin. Each sacrament has it s own specific grace and way that it effects and strengthens our spiritual lives. (CCC 1127-1128, 1407, 1468) Sacraments make us holy. They give us strength and grace in specific ways to help us to grow in our relationship with Christ and to become more Christ like. They build up all the members of the Church (the Body of Christ) and nourish our faith. (CCC 1122-1124) GOING DEEPER Take time to discuss what holiness looks like in the life of a middle school youth and ways that they can grow in holiness. Project an image of the Last Supper with Jesus elevating the bread or the cup. Not only do the sacraments give us spiritual strength for all areas of our lives, but the sacraments are necessary for salvation. They are the path that Christ has paved for us to walk and they strengthen and unite us to Christ. Jesus even tells us specifically that the Eucharist will bring us eternal life - he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:54). (CCC 1129) The Catholic Church also has sacramentals, which are different from sacraments. There are many sacramentals but a few you might be familiar with are holy water, the rosary, the crucifix, or the scapular. These things are holy signs in our daily life and help open our hearts and minds to receive the grace of the sacraments fully. (CCC 1667-1676) GOING DEEPER If your youth have a greater interest in learning more about sacramentals consider doing the Edge Night Represent which can be found online at lifeteen.com under Edge Support: November 2015. The sacraments are transformational. They change everything. You may not be able to visibly see what is happening in your soul when you receive them, but the graces from the sacraments you receive are at work in your everyday life. They make you more Christ like and help you and strengthen you on your journey in faith. Challenge the youth to start paying closer attention to the words that are being said and the symbols that are being used when they receive the sacraments. Notes: 9
10 Notes:
By To learn more about Life Teen and the various ministry resources, events, camps, and training that we offer please head to LifeTeen.com or send an email to Info@LifeTeen.com 2017 Life Teen, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and/or icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher. The information contained herein is published and produced by Life Teen, Inc. The resources and practices are in full accordance with the Roman Catholic Church. The Life Teen name and associated logos are trademarks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Use of the Life Teen trademarks without prior permission is forbidden. Permission may be requested by contacting Life Teen, Inc. at 480-820-7001. 11