GOAL LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW A LIFE NIGHT ON RECIEVING JESUS AND THE GRACE HE OFFERS The goal of The Prescription is to inspire teens to receive Jesus and the grace He offers. KEY CONCEPTS When we are seriously sick, we go to the doctor and he or she gives us a prescription so we can get better. We, then, have to get it filled and remember to take it as prescribed. If we need something, it means we don t have it. I need new clothes. I need coffee. But it s different with Jesus. We don t need Him in the same way because that would imply that we don t have Him when we do. The medicine we need to live a fulfilling, healthy, and happy life is already prescribed; we just have to receive it by confessing our sins, receiving forgiveness, and living as new creations in Jesus. KEY TERMS: Grace SCRIPTURE: Luke 15:11-32 2 Corinthians 5:17 CATECHISM: 1996 ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT This Life Night is an Adoration and Confession service and will look and feel a bit different than a typical Life Night. It follows the same format: Gather, Proclaim, Break, and Send. However, it is more evangelical, personal, and prayerful. The host is the master of ceremonies. He or she welcomes the attendees, breaks the ice, introduces the format, and begins in prayer. He or she is responsible for setting a personal and prayerful tone and building openness to the work God wants to accomplish. The speaker gives the main talk. He or she is introduced by the host who has laid the groundwork for an engaging and thought-provoking talk. The worship leader guides the congregation in prayerful reflection in the presence of the Eucharist, while also encouraging the teens to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Gather is a short period of upbeat praise and worship and a light-hearted, uplifting welcome by the host. The Proclaim is a powerful teaching that is strongly influenced by personal testimony and Scripture, and invites teens to receive Jesus and live in the reality of all I have is yours. The Break is an extended period of Adoration and provides the opportunity to go to Reconciliation. The Send summarizes the Adoration and Confession service and offers a hopeful send off. In advance, invite your parish priest(s), priests from neighboring parishes, the vocations director, and any religious priests in the area to come and hear confessions. Give them plenty of notice and inform them that this is the fourth and final Life Night in a series on the wound of sin. 52 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 53
ENVIRONMENT Create a theatre experience in your main meeting space. Set up a stage with lights, a microphone, and a podium. Set up the worship team on the stage. Put out chairs. Have a projector with slides that include the song lyrics used during praise and worship, the Scripture verses referenced in the Proclaim, and the words of the Divine Praises and Benediction, which are prayed to conclude Eucharistic Adoration. Use the slide template found on the Life Teen January 2018 USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January 2018. Dim the lights over the teens. Have a large crucifix as the focal point in the room and create a sacred space around it. Have confessionals to the left and right of the stage with a chair for the priest to sit in, a chair for the penitent to sit in, and three chairs that are the line to go to Reconciliation. Space them far enough away from the teens that confessions can not be overheard but also within eye sight. Have an Examination of Conscience on each chair. The goal is for the teens to be engaging in Adoration and worship, and only getting in line when they see a chair open up. Also, have tissue boxes near the confessionals. Have the following supplies for the altar readily available to be set up after the Proclaim: Altar or table Altar Cloth Corporal 4 to 6 Candles Incense and thurible Monstrance Lighter MEDIA SUGGESTIONS For song suggestions for the period of Adoration and Confession, see the Song Suggestion handout found on the Life Teen January 2018 USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January 2018. Life Teen: I Confess (Life Support: May 2011) LifeTeen: Examination of Conscience (Life Support: May 2012) hillsongunitedtv: Rain / Reign Lyric Video Hillsong UNITED (youtube.com) SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: #LT_ThePrescription AS YOU GET STARTED... For an alternate, high-energy Gather, take the teens to the main meeting space and play Chaos. Break the teens into four equal groups and send each group to a different corner of the room. On the count of three, each group has to make it to the opposite side of the room. The group that makes it there first wins. Next, they have to make it back to their original corner, facing and walking backwards. Then, hopping on one foot. Add as many variations as you would like the game to last: wheelbarrow, bear crawl, crab walk, etc. For a personal and powerful touch in the Proclaim, consider inviting a teen to share a testimony about how he or she has received healing and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. For a Break and Send for a small church, schedule this Life Night during normal confession hours. Instead of having music ministry, play the music over the sound system or with a portable speaker. HISPANIC INCULTURATION By Stephanie Espinoza The idea that whatever is the Father s is also mine is a concept which will resonate with children of immigrants. Second and third generation Hispanic teens have a keen awareness of the enormous sacrifices their parents or 54 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 55
grandparents made to bring and keep their families in the United States. Parents often work multiple jobs during lessthan-ideal hours, which tend to be physically demanding to provide a better life for their children. Connect this sacrificial love demonstrated by Hispanic parents to the love that the father in the parable has for his own sons, and to the love the Father has for us all. During Eucharistic Adoration, consider incorporating some Spanish songs for worship, such as Nada Te Turbe by Hermana Glenda, Sumérgeme by Jesús Adrián Romero, or Vive Jesús (traditional hymn). Notes: GATHER LIFE NIGHT: Opening Worship and Welcome (15 min) The worship leader gathers the teens into the main meeting space with an upbeat song or two. Then, the host welcomes them to the Life Night, tells a funny introductory story, and begins in prayer. After the prayer, the host introduces the speaker and moves into the Proclaim. PROCLAIM The Prescription Teaching (10 min) The Proclaim Outline and Proclaim Details can be found on pages 59 to 65. BREAK Adoration and Reconciliation (45 min) After the Proclaim, the speaker transitions into a time of Eucharistic Adoration and Reconciliation by handing the Life Night over to the worship leader. Have your Core Members who serve as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion discreetly and reverently set up the altar. Have a Core Member running the slides with the song lyrics throughout praise and worship. For song suggestions, see the Song Suggestion handout found on the Life Teen January 2018 USB and online at lifeteen.com under Life Support: January 2018. 56 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 57
The worship leader introduces Adoration and Reconciliation using the following: We are about to enter into a time of Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, is present in the Eucharistic Host. In Adoration, we can adore Him for who He is and sing praises to Him. In Adoration, we can rest in His presence or gaze upon Him. We invite you receive Him the way you feel drawn. Receive and respond to Jesus presence in the Eucharist. Receive and respond, don t just sit there mindless. Be honest with your praise, be honest with your pain, be honest with your prayer requests. Receive and respond. He is here and all He has is yours. Luke 15:11-32 Not only will Jesus be present here in the Eucharistic Host, but also in the priest who will be sitting en persona Christi, in the person of Christ, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Go and receive healing! Go and meet the Divine Physician! Go and receive all the Father has! Luke 15:31 The worship leader then points out the confessionals and explains that there are only three chairs for a reason for teens to be engaging in Adoration and worship and not mindlessly waiting in a long line. The worship leader encourages the teens to sit in a chair whenever one is available and then begins leading worship. SEND Concluding Remarks (5 min) The host returns to the stage, shares highlights from Adoration and Reconciliation, and thanks God for all He has done and will continue to do. He or she then challenges the teens to continue to receive Jesus and live in the reality of all I have is yours. KEY TERMS PROCLAIM OUTLINE Grace: The free and undeserved gift that God gives us to respond to our vocation to be His adopted children. TEACHING POINTS In this series, we have learned that God has done a lot for us. We sinned and created the wound of sin. God sent His Son to heal the wound. His Son, Jesus, came, healed, and offered forgiveness. Ultimately, Jesus took on the consequences of our sin and died so that we all might live. Sin is our wound. Jesus is our doctor. Confession is our appointment. When we go to the Divine Physician with our sin, we will be healed. There is nothing we can do to earn healing and forgiveness. It is freely given. We do have a prescription, though, to receive healing and forgiveness. When we are seriously sick, we go to the doctor and he or she gives us a prescription so we can get better. We, then, have to get it filled and remember to take it as prescribed. THE STORY OF TWO SONS In Luke 15:11-32 we hear the story that is often called the story of the prodigal son. However, Luke 15:11-32 really contains the story of two sons. Prodigal means spending money recklessly and lavishly. The first son does this. 58 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 59
Project and read Luke 15:12-13. At the end of the story, we hear more about the second son, who is often described as the responsible and faithful son. He is the son who remained and worked diligently and dutifully in his father s house. When the father welcomes the prodigal son home, we hear the second son s response. Project and read Luke 15:29. He doesn t sound very faithful. Faithful people have joy, peace, and generosity. He has bitterness and jealousy. The father responds with key words. Project and read Luke 15:31. Whether we relate more to the first or second son, all our Father has is already ours. The medicine both sons need and we need to live a fulfilling, healthy, and happy life is already prescribed. However, we have to receive it by confessing our sins, receiving forgiveness, and living as new creations in Jesus. NEEDING VS. RECEIVING It s great to recognize that Jesus is Lord and we need Him. But often times, we aren t so good about taking the next step. In fact, some of us may not even know what the next step is. It s living in the reality that the Father s words are true, all I have is yours. If we need something, it means we don t have it. I need new clothes. I need new cleats. I need coffee. But it s different with Jesus. We don t need Him in the same way because that would imply that we don t have Him when we do. We don t need Jesus to come. We need to receive Jesus ourselves. We need to take our prescription. Share a testimony about a time when you truly received Jesus and all the Father offers. We are going to go into a time of praise and worship, Eucharistic Adoration, and Reconciliation. Sometimes it s good to wait in a confession line, sit in the knowledge of our sin, and feel our guilt and sorrow. But at this Life Night, we challenge you to rejoice in the reality of all I have is yours. Notes: 60 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 61
TEACHING PROCLAIM DETAILS In this series, we have learned that God has done a lot for us. We sinned and created the wound of sin. God sent His Son to heal the wound. His Son, Jesus, came, healed, and offered forgiveness. Ultimately, Jesus took on the consequences of our sin and died so that we all might live. CCC 602, 615, Genesis 3:6, Romans 6:23, John 1, 3:16 Sin is our wound. Jesus is our doctor. Confession is our appointment. When we go to the Divine Physician with our sin, we will be healed. There is nothing we can do to earn healing and forgiveness. It is freely given. However, we do have a prescription. We have to receive healing and forgiveness. We have to respond and grace helps us do this. CCC 1996 When we are seriously sick, we go to the doctor and he or she gives us a prescription so we can get better. We, then, have to get it filled and remember to take it as prescribed. We don t have to take our prescription. We can choose not to. We can also be lax in taking our prescription. Whether we take it or not, it is available to us. THE STORY OF TWO SONS In Luke 15:11-32 we hear the story that is often called the story of the prodigal son. However, Luke 15:11-32 really contains the story of two sons. Prodigal means spending money recklessly and lavishly. The first son does this. Project and read Luke 15:12-13. At the end of the story, we hear more about the second son, who is often described as the responsible and faithful son. He is the son who remained and worked diligently and dutifully in his father s house. When the father welcomes the prodigal son home, we hear the second son s response. Project and read Luke 15:29. He doesn t sound very faithful. Faithful people have joy, peace, and generosity. He has bitterness and jealousy. The father responds with key words. Project and read Luke 15:31. Whether we relate more to the first or second son, all our Father has is already ours. The medicine both sons need and we need to live a fulfilling, healthy, and happy life is already prescribed. However, we have to receive it by confessing our sins, receiving forgiveness, and living as new creations in Jesus. NEEDING VS. RECEIVING 2 Corinthians 5:17 We are really good about singing, Lord, I need You. And it s great to recognize that He is Lord and we need Him. It is great to say, God, I am wounded, broken, desperate for You. Come, be my God. Heal me. But this is just a step and, like all steps, it leads to the next step. 62 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 63
Often times we aren t so good about taking that next step. In fact, some of us may not even know what the next step is. It s living in the reality that the Father s words are true: All I have is yours. If we need something, it means we don t have it. I need new clothes. I need new cleats. I need coffee. But it s different with Jesus. We don t need Him the same way because that would imply that we don t have Him. He has come. He has given us the gift of His life. He has promised to be with us always and He is faithful to His promise. John 10:10, Matthew 28:20, Psalm 145:13 We don t need Jesus to come. We need to receive Jesus ourselves. We need to take our prescription. Share a testimony about a time when you truly received Jesus and all the Father offers. We are going to go into a time of praise and worship, Eucharistic Adoration, and Reconciliation. Sometimes it s good to wait in a confession line, sit in the knowledge of our sin, and feel our guilt and sorrow. But at this Life Night, we challenge you to rejoice in the reality of all I have is yours. Even when we sin, all the Father has is ours. Even when we deny that we are children of God, the Father says, All I have is yours. Even when our wounds are bleeding and we feel like there is no cure, Jesus offers us healing and forgiveness, and we praise Him for it. Prepare to receive the forgiveness, healing, and grace you so desperately seek with a thorough Examination of Conscience. Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you and convict you of your sin. Have a contrite heart. Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness. Go to confession, take your prescription. Rejoice in the reality that all I have is yours. Notes: 64 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 65
CORE TEAM OVERVIEW : A Life Night on Receiving Jesus and the Grace He Offers GOAL: The goal of The Prescription is to inspire teens to receive Jesus and the grace He offers. GATHER (15 MIN): Opening Worship and Welcome: PROCLAIM (10 MIN): The Prescription Teaching: BREAK (45 MIN): Adoration and Reconciliation: SEND (5 MIN): Concluding Remarks: Notes: 66 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: Rx 67