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Ascension Presents seeks to present the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith through media, and to answer the longings of the human heart with the transformative power of the Gospel. Visit www.ascensionpress.com to learn more. Ascension Presents is owned and operated by Ascension Press.

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The Religion Teacher | Catholic Religious Education

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Forty days.

We have forty days to help young people grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ during Lent. How do we make the most of our time with them?

First, think about some ongoing Lenten projects you can do with the students this year. How can you check in with them each time you see them to track progress of their journey to Jerusalem together with you during Lent? I offer a few project ideas below.

In addition to the ongoing Lenten projects, set aside some time for individual lessons you can plan throughout Lent to help students enter more deeply into the amazing opportunities for spiritual growth that the Church offers during Lent. I offer five lesson ideas below, which are included with dozens of resources including videos, worksheets, quizzes, and prayer ideas in The Religion Teacher's Lenten Activity Pack.

Class Project Ideas for Lent

Lenten Journal

A journal can be a great way to keep track of your progress during Lent. During the week of Ash Wednesday, discuss with the students what they will give up for Lent this year. Either create together a collection of papers to make a journal or encourage them to use a special notebook to write in each day during Lent.

You might suggest that they simply write about the experiencing of giving something up (or adding something during Lent). They could even keep it short to just one sentence or one paragraph. What did they give up? What was hard about giving it up today? What did you do to avoid it?

Instead of focusing on the Lenten commitments, they could also focus on the three pillars of Lent. Have them write one example the ways they practiced prayer, fasting, and almsgiving each day.

Lenten Calendar

Calendars are often more popular during Advent, but why not give students a calendar to track their progress during Lent? There are a lot good Lenten calendars on Catholic blogs. For example, here are some popular Lenten calendars from Catholic Icing and Busted Halo.

Operation Rice Bowl

Catholic Relief Services organizes a program each year called Operation Rice Bowl, which is a great way to practice almsgiving during Lent. The idea is that you keep a cardboard bowl in your class or in the families' homes and put in spare change to help those in need throughout the world. The bowl itself and the many prayer resources at the CRS website are great ways to help encourage solidarity with the poor during Lent.
Learn more about Operation Rice Bowl here.
Other Lenten Activity Ideas

For years this collection of Lenten Activities, which I update annually, has been used by thousands of religious educators to plan fun and creative activity and project ideas for Lent. I hope you check this resource collection out and use some of the ideas you like best.

Lenten Lesson Plan Ideas

When I updated The Religion Teacher's Lenten Activity Pack, I simplified the resources into five effective lesson plans to help students learn to live their faith with passion and purpose during Lent.

Here are the five lessons in the activity pack. The video lessons for each lesson plan are freely available, but the worksheets and printable activities and prayers are only available in the activity pack or to premium members.

Find these and all the videos for Lent in this Lenten Video Series.

Lesson 1: The Forty Days of Lent

Help your students learn the meaning of the word Lent and the name that the rest of the Catholic Church uses to more accurately describe what Lent is all about using this video:

Why is the number forty so significant? Share with your students some of the stories in the Bible that feature the number forty.

Lesson 2: Ash Wednesday

Why do we wear ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday?

You can actually find a full example of this Ash Wednesday lesson plan here.

Lesson 3: The Three Pillars of Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

In the Gospel reading on Ash Wednesday, we hear Jesus teaching about the three pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we focus on in special ways throughout all of Lent. What do these words mean and how do we practice them during Lent? Be sure to share some of the ways you live out these three pillars along with this lesson on Lent.

Particularly focused on fasting, you might get this question from your students:

Why don't we eat meat on Fridays during Lent? Here is the answer:

Lesson 4: The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

If you are teaching in a Catholic school or parish, then your students are likely going to be given the opportunity to go to a penance prayer service. Help prepare them to go to the Sacrmament of Penance and Reconciliation by sharing with them the main parts of process of penance.

In particular, help your students understand the full meaning of the word "Contrition" and the words of the prayer we say by making an Act of Contrition:

Lesson 5: The Stations of the Cross

Your students are also likely to be invited to participate in the Stations of the Cross during Lent. If not, give them that chance to take a pilgrimage through each station of the cross. Help explain the meaning of the prayers we pray during the Stations of the Cross and the history of this devotion itself.

Lenten Lesson Resources

The Religion Teacher's Lenten Activity Pack includes full lesson plans with activities, prayers, and graphic organizers for students to use while watching each one of the videos in this article. Download this resource today or become a premium member of The Religion Teacher to get this resource as well as access to hundreds of other resources exclusively for members.

This article was updated in 2019 and a previous version appeared in 2010 before almost all of the resources featured here were created.

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Forty days. We have forty days to help young people grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ during Lent. How do we make the most of our time with them? First, think about some ongoing Lenten projects you can do with the students this year.

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The Holy Mass, Explained by the Catechism

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As requested, FREE Catholic lesson plans for small group study or classroom covering a variety of issues for today's teens.

usccb.org- Junior High and High School Catholic lesson plans

loveourcatholicfaith.com- Roman Catholic Confirmation Program
This confirmation material is based on reflections on Holy Scripture and the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church. It was developed over three years of preparing teenage candidates to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Through Group Discussion and Class Activities, this program can help Catechists teach from the Catechism of the Catholic Church in a way that reaches our teenagers.

catholicfaitheducation.blogspot.com- Principle of Catholic Social Justice lessons

4catholiceducators.com- Lesson plans for Catholic Faith Education

lifeteen.com- Great resources for use in any youth ministry environment!

catholicreligionteacher.com- Incredible, amazing lesson plans, meaningful projects, engaging review games, etc.

avemariapress.com- Great lesson plans for older students that really get them involved and allows them to learn through activities that reinforce teachings of the Catholic Church.

thereligionteacher.com- Great lesson plans by Jared Dees
The Liturgy of the Eucharist Lesson Plan, The Liturgy of the Word Lesson Plan, Liturgical Year Lesson Plan and Flash Card Activity, Moses Lesson Plans, Habemus Papam! Pope Francis Lesson Plan, Papal Conclave Lesson Plan, Valentine's Day Object Lesson: Making Jesus Our Valentine, @Pontifex Lesson Plan on the Pope, Introduction to the Catechism Lesson Plan, Jesus as a Boy in the Temple, The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, New Testament Lesson Plans, Ash Wednesday, "And With Your Spirit" Lesson Plan (New Roman Missal), Hocus Pocus! A New Roman Missal Lesson Plan, Genesis Creation Stories Lesson Plan, Post Confirmation Lesson Plan, Rite of Confirmation Lesson Plan, Feast of the Epiphany in the Modern Day- Lesson Plan Activities, Catholic Thanksgiving Day Lesson Plans on the Eucharist as "Thanksgiving", Teaching the Mysteries of the Rosary to Elementary Students, etc.

If you know of any other lesson plans online for Catholic teens, please comment so I can add the link to the list!

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As requested, FREE Catholic lesson plans for small group study or classroom covering a variety of issues for today's teens. usccb.org- ...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rM6h4M3rUo

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Theology of the Body Crash Course w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz — Session One: From the Beginning

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Sacraments 101: Eucharist (how we receive)

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Sacraments 101: Eucharist (how we receive)

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Great booklet of prayers

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Pope or nope game (canva.com)

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The Triduum at Home: a Tenebrae Service - Catholic All Year

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The Triduum at Home: a Tenebrae Service - Catholic All Year

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Happy Spy Wednesday! Today we'll be hiding thirty quarters. Here's why: We've done the quarters thing for many years now, and love it. New this year, something I've been meaning to do forever: a family at home Tenebrae Service! Latin for "darkness," Tenebrae is a religious service particular to the Triduum, and featuring a unique [...]

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Download free for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1660909501?mt=8

Download free for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ascension.app

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Download free for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1660909501?mt=8

Download free for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ascension.app

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Teaching Catechism to kids when they dont care

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Teaching Catechism to kids when they dont care

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJvs5LDseyY

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101 fun ideas for working will young people - Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington (vermontcatholic.org)

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101 fun ideas for working will young people - Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington

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Faith/ A short film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-QJYS9Vg7c

Topic: Justice &          Service

Topic: Service & Social Justice

Ted Talk Service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iMQirTyGBw

Ted talk justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSUnHg8ZWPU

Topic: Theology of the Body Human Sexuality

Theology of the Body

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9rmXFG10fc

"We've prayed so long" | High school sweethearts' Christ-centered wedding video will make you cry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVl7XBtq6BA

When God writes your love story/ Nate and Sutton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL17TNcYKWE

Topic: Human Sexuality (Theology of the Body)

Topic: Catholic Beliefs & Practices

Why Catholic not just Christian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJCbCs-y1_k

Why Catholics Use Scripture and Tradition?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTBud-9Vlzo

10 things to know about Catholics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADJy5ZiQdU

Topic: What are the Catholic Church Traditions?

Topic: Confessions

Why Confess my Sins to a priest?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvjmsPmVpw&t=462s

Topic: Our Lady of Guadalupe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OcOoNFMBks

Family Potluck

Parents, Teens & Sponsors

Topic: Who am I?

I am Catholic not just Christian

Why Be Catholic and Not Just Christian? - YouTube

Parent Teen Retreat (**If not attended in Yr 1)

Topic: Theology of the Sacrament Emphasis on Confirmation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v-FLo7bcTE

Topic: Discipleship

How to be a Good Disciple of Christ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fis29rZ2n_4

Topic: Social Service & Social Justice

Ted Talk Social Service

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iMQirTyGBw

Ted talk Social justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSUnHg8ZWPU

Topic: How am I a representative of Jesus in my life today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNwB7Hki7A

Letter to the Bishop.

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(8) Shufflebuns - YouTube

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(8) Human Tic Tac Toe - YouTube

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(8) D-O-W-N - YouTube

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(8) Race to the Middle - YouTube

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(8) 5 Simple YOUTH GROUP GAMES - LAST MINUTE GAMES for Youth Ministry - YouTube

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5 Simple YOUTH GROUP GAMES - LAST MINUTE GAMES for Youth Ministry

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Going Deeper

Try prayer journaling today.

Which of these prayer journal ideas will you try this week?

Write a letter to God

Keep track of prayer requests

Record God's words to you

Pray through a verse

Pray through quotes or notes from a study

Doodle or draw your prayers

Write a gratitude prayer

Write prayers for others

Start with a question

Examine your day

If prayers are our conversations with God, then journaling prayer is like writing God love notes.

A prayer journal is a way to mark the moments in your spiritual journey. Record your struggles, questions, doubts, epiphanies, joys, answered prayers, spiritual growth.

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https://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/2009/06/welcome-to-the-online-retreat-for-catechists-the-spirituality-of-the-catechist/

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Welcome to this "little getaway!" This Online Retreat for Catechists - The Spirituality of the Catechist - is an opportunity for those of us in the catechetical ministry to be renewed in spirit and to deepen our bonds with the Lord and with one another.

There's no need to register. There's no fee. You've arrived at this virtual retreat house, so come on in and find out what it's all about! Start by clicking on and viewing the following brief video clip.

Here's a bit more about the 6 themes we will be looking at over the next 6 weeks:

In 1993, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (an office of the Vatican), issued a document titled Guide for Catechists. In that document, the bishops of the Church spelled out the spirituality of the catechist. In a nutshell, that spirituality, which is grounded in the spirituality of the laity that flows from baptism, is characterized by the following 6 characteristics:

An Openness to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) -This is an openness to a living Word - a Person - to whom we desire deeply to invite others to encounter. Our desire is to be transformed by this relationship and to invite others to this saving transformation.

An Openness to the Church - Our call to serve as catechists comes from the Church. We're not lone rangers...we are sent on a mission that's not our own, and we're equipped with a message that has been entrusted to us.

An Openness to the World -The Holy Spirit was poured forth so that we could proclaim the Gospel to all nations. With that in mind, catechists are called to be uniquely in touch with the needs of the world - especially the "world" of those we teach.

A Coherence and Authenticity of Life - As catechists, we don't teach a subject or a skill set. We invite others into a way of life that defines who we are. Being a catechist is not a "hat" that we put on and take off. The simple fact is, we can't teach what (or who) we don't know. That means that we have to strive to authentically know Jesus, to know his message, and to know the Catholic way of life that leads to him.

A Missionary Zeal - the vocation of the catechist takes the baptismal call to proclaim God's Word and heightens its intensity. For catechists, the desire to share Christ with others is powerful, it's almost overwhelming.We can't help but to preach the Gospel to others! Our hearts burn within us and we're compelled to share faith with others. As a result, our spirituality HAS to keep that flame burning.

A devotion to Mary - Good catechists learn from other catechists. We have the best example to learn from in our Mother, Mary. She was the first teacher of Jesus and the first disciple. Mary is a "living catechism" and a "model of catechists." The spirituality of ALL the baptized is enriched by devotion to Mary, but, as catechists, our ministry is especially enriched by devotion to the Blessed Mother.

These six characteristics of the spirituality of the catechist are going to serve as the focus for this online catechist's retreat. Each week, we're going to delve more deeply into one of these 6 characteristics, reflect on them and apply them to our own lives and our own vocation as catechists.

Take a look at the Guide for Catechists, Section II, 6-10, to see how the document itself talks about the spirituality of the catechist.

Week 1 Exercise

For this first week (June 8-14), let's just get to know one another! Please introduce yourself by clicking on the "Comments" link at the end of this post (and then click on "add one now") and, in 75 words or less, share the following:

a first name/username/or initials

your ministry/position

your general location

years in this role

then, complete the following sentence: "My spiritual life right now can best be described by comparing it to __________________." Then, choose one of the following to complete the sentence and explain how it describes some aspect of your spiritual life.

your patron/confirmation/favorite saint

your favorite Church hymn

your favorite liturgical feast/season

"Hi, I'm Ben. I'm a 5 th grade catechist in Wyoming and I've been doing this for 11 years. My spiritual life right now is best described by comparing it to my Confirmation saint, Saint Peter. I want so badly to be Jesus' "best" disciple, but I continually find ways to screw it up!

"Hi, I'm Kirsten and I'm in my first year as a coordinator of religious education at a parish in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. My spiritual life right now is best described by comparing it to the hymn "Here I Am , Lord." I feel that God is calling me to this ministry and I want to respond with eagerness and enthusiasm. I want to do God's will."

"G'day fellow catechists! My name is Sara and I'm a youth minister in Australia! I've been in youth ministry for 6 years. My spiritual life right now is best described by comparing it to Good Friday. My position is being eliminated and I'm experiencing the "death" of what I love so dearly. I still have hope, though, because I've applied for a position at the diocesan youth ministry office and I've got my fingers crossed!"

P.S. Feel free to comment on one another's introductions! You'll notice that I've added a feature that allows you to reply/comment directly on someone else's comment! I'll be moderating vigilantly to keep our conversation current and flowing!

Recommendation: For a good introduction to the concept of spirituality, I recommend The Inner Compass by Margaret Silf

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Welcome to the Online Retreat for Catechists: The Spirituality of the Catechist - Catechist's Journey

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Welcome to this "little getaway!" This Online Retreat for Catechists - The Spirituality of the Catechist - is an opportunity for those of us in the catechetical ministry to be renewed in spirit and to deepen our bonds with the Lord and with one another. There's no need to register.

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Catechist Chosen Topics (Presentation/outline done by Catechist for that topic)

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Catechist Chosen Topics (Presentation/outline done by Catechist for that topic)

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Confirmation Catechist Themes and Topics

What each topic contains

Confirmation Year 1

SEPTEMBER (Community building)

Journey & Faith Story

To get acquainted with each other, with Jesus, and the parish community.

Listen to each other's story and reflect on Jesus' story found in Scripture.

To understand, as Catholics, we belong to a parish.

Journey & Faith Story

To realize that we need friendship with each other and with Jesus.

This makes community.

To initiate opportunities and experiences to aid youth in the family community with sensitivity to the various components which make "family" today.

OCTOBER

Who Am I? (Personal Giftedness)-

To recognize that before we can know God and serve others, we must learn to accept ourselves.

Looking at self-acceptance and self-worth is done through listening and telling our stories.

Empowering Gods Children
Parent meeting

NOVEMBER

Jesus

To reflect on the Person of Jesus as seen in Scripture.

To reflect on Jesus as a Man of Prayer.

To reflect on Jesus as the Son of God.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Friend.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Forgiveness.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Service.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Moral Behavior.

To reflect on the Death on Resurrection of Jesus as the central event in our Christian life.

The Call to Follow Jesus

To see Scripture and Church call faithful to discipleship a deeper meaning of Confirmation.

To reflect on being called by name.

To help the candidates realize the ongoing responsibility to live by God's Word as their commitment to the Catholic Church (Confirmation is not an ending event, but a new beginning).

DECEMBER

Traditions of the Church

To reflect on Church heroines- saints. This can include people of today and of recent history who exemplify values worth living.

To learn what it means to be Church. This includes study-of past, present, and future.

To introduce various models of the Church.

JANUARY

Morality/ Decision-Making

To define sin by looking at moral issues facing high school youth.

To explore Scripture to understand Jesus' message of sin and forgiveness.

To help youth make informed and reasoned judgments regarding their responses to the influence of media (sex, violence, substance abuse, etc.)

To grow in awareness of Jesus as Model or moral behavior.

To become more aware of personhood and the value and dignity of human life-conception to death.

To help youth learn to make good moral decisions based on Scriptures of Catholic values.

FEBRUARY

Liturgy & Liturgical Seasons, Praise & Worship, and Prayer

To reflect on the various forms of prayer.

To reflect on the Eucharistic Liturgy as the height of prayer.

To reflect on Jesus as Model of Prayer.

To reflect on the meaning of the season of Advent.

To reflect on the importance of Pentecost.

MARCH

Scripture

To introduce the Christian Scripture as a biased account of the faith community. To understand the importance of Jesus' story in living now.

To introduce the infancy narratives.

To teach Mary's role as Mother of Jesus.

APRIL

Scripture

To introduce how the Gospel Portrait of Jesus is a Message of Faith today.

To look at the parables and miracles of Jesus as a recorder in the Scripture.

To explore the relevancy of the parables and miracles in a teen's life.

To reflect on the Acts of the Apostles focusing on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit.

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Just what is a “Catechist?”
The word catechist comes from the Greek word “to echo.” As catechists, we echo the teachings of the Church. We also echo our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ through our words and deeds.

Is God calling YOU in a specific way?

As we look to a new year here, especially for those children (kindergarten through high school!) and families attending our neighboring schools, we are inviting you to listen, to be attentive, to hear God’s call as a catechist! Serving as a catechist is more than simple volunteerism. It is more than filling a slot. It is a vocation: a call from God to serve his Church!

We are looking for those who have:

Qualities
• A desire to grow in and share the Catholic faith
• An awareness of God’s grace and the desire to respond to that grace
• A commitment to the Church’s liturgical and sacramental life and moral teachings
• A strength of character built on patience, responsibility, confidence and creativity
• A generosity of spirit, respect for diversity, and a habit of hospitality and inclusion

Knowledge and Skills
• A basic understanding of Catholic teaching, Scripture and Catholic Tradition
• Honest and caring relationships with the age group being served
• Developing effective teaching techniques and strategies

Serving as a catechist is an opportunity to grow in faith for yourself, as well as for the young people in one’s care. And it does not happen always alone!  Being a catechist is rooted in a community of other persons and families who desire the same thing! And in that community, we also find people who can help us grow and discover the knowledge and skills that are central to our “passing on” the Faith to our young ones!

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Cellphone 101 for our Elderly in our Parish

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Cellphone 101 for our Elderly in our Parish

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IiAekPOPjNRmogmq79pUoExakORkwcFvRVAc2w_M1Ic/edit?usp=sharing

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TwC1URRo-lPCEjnUtPS1hYlQYx2lAgyXejLjJkdh2xk/edit?usp=sharing

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r9RXLxr1N-InvtaD31wkq_5uVcm_xqUSC9b4YdgYNik/edit?usp=sharing

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Lenten Reflection

Confirmation Year 1 & 2 Parents teens and sponsors

The Peace Prayer

Gather all for prayer:  In a circle
Prayer Leader: Let us begin with a sign of the cross
Opening Song: I Can only Imagine - Big Daddy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_lrrq_opng

Prayer Leader:  A reading from Book of Romans 12:18; “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Reader 1: Look around this room.  Who is the person to your left?  Who is the person to your right?
Reader 2: The person next to you is the greatest miracle.
Reader 3: The person next to you is ready to become something marvelous, something spectacular.
Reader 4: To have a story, a song, to be loved, and to love.
Reader 5: The person next to you believes in something precious,
Reader 6: Stands for something, counts for something, lives for something, labors for something.
Reader 7: The person next to you does many things well,
Reader 8: And some things better then anyone else in the world.
Reader9:  The person next to you is unique.
Reader 10: The person next to you will comfort,
Reader 4: Will cherish, will build, will understand.
Reader 6: The person next to you is a shining mystery of God’s beauty
Reader 2: a sacred temple of the Holy Spirit
Reader 3: a wonderful vessel filled with God’s presence
Reader 5: The person next to you was wonderfully and creatively made
Reader 7: The person next to you is a miracle
Reader 9: The person next to you was made in the perfect image of God
Reader 8:  So brothers and sisters look around-look into the eyes of the people in this room.
Reader 10: Remember that everyone you encounter is the perfect presence of God.
Reader 1: Let us share with one another the peace and love of Christ.
Prayer Leader:  WE close our prayer this evening by using the ancient, traditional way of reminding ourselves that we were claimed as God’s children and the promise that God made with us long ago.
Find a partner and take turns making the sign of the cross..
Make a cross over each others ‘ears… “Let us be open to hearing God.”
Make a cross over each others forehead… “Let us keep God in our thoughts and daily decisions.”
Make a cross in each other’s palms… “Let us use our hands to hold and heal others and build the Kingdom  of God here on earth.”

Make a cross over each other’s feet… “Let us always walk in the footsteps of Jesus and on the path of truth and love.

Amen

The Gift of Prakash

Prakash was a holy man, and he was very proud to be a holy man.  All his life, he had wanted nothing more than to see God; so, naturally, he was delighted when God spoke to him in a dream.

"Prakash!" said God.  "Do you really want to see me?  Do you really want to be with me?"

So great was his excitement that Prakash impatiently responded, "Yes!  Yes!  This is what I have always waited for!  I would be happy with even a glimpse of you!"

"Then go to the mountain, and there, hidden from everyone's sight, I will embrace you."

Song:  Your a good good father-Chris Tomlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqybaIesbuA

15 minute discussion.

Have you ever felt so excited about something?  What was it? Describe your feeling.

Put yourself in Prakash’s place, How do you feel?

The next morning, Prakash woke with a smile on his face.  When he looked out his window and saw the mountain, he was filled with so much happiness, that he felt as if he were floating on air.  As he thought more and more about the coming meeting, Prakash began to wonder as to what sort of gift he could offer.  There was no doubt that God would expect a gift, and what better way could there possibly be for Prakash to show how thankful he was for this meeting?  The only problem was figuring out an appropriate present.

10 minutes to share

2.  What would you prepare to present to God?

"I got it!" Prakash smiled to himself.  "I will bring him my new vase.  It is beautiful and valuable.  Surely, he will enjoy it… but, I can't take it to him empty.  I should put something in it."

Prakash thought endlessly about what he could put inside the vase; after all, God deserved a very valuable present.  What about Gold?  Or silver?  How about diamonds, or some other type of gem?

Prakash finally thought to himself,  "I will bring God all of my prayers, my service to others, my donations, sufferings, sacrifices, good deeds, all of it.  It is what he would expect from a holy man like me, so it is what I shall put that in the vase."

Prakash began to work on his gift immediately.  For the next several weeks, he prayed harder, worked harder, and suffered more than he ever had.  With each sacrifice, he would place a single pebble in the vase.

45 minutes:

Take the time to decorate your vase-

Place a symbol that symbolises each part of your life

The important things in your life

What is it?

Each person place something

prayers, your service to others, your  donations, sufferings, sacrifices, good deeds, all of it.

Take something that symbolises pain

Share for 15 minutes

Come as you are- Crowder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2zhf2mqEMI

Finally, when the vase was overflowing, Prakash began to make his way up the mountain to present his gift to God.

As he climbed the steep slope, he practiced what he would say to God once they met.  "Look, Lord!  Do you like my precious vase?  I'm sure that you will be delighted with all of the prayers and good deeds that I have done in order to present this to you.  Please, embrace me now."

Prakash continued his journey up the mountain, practicing his little speech all the way and occasionally making an adjustment here or there.

((walk to chapel) When he finally reached the top, he looked around in anticipation, but God was nowhere in sight.

Tired and desperate, Prakash cried out, "God, where are you?  You told me to come here, but I don't see you.  Please, don't disappoint me, not after all these years of waiting."  Trembling, he fell to the ground and broke out in tears.

Suddenly, a great voice descended from the clouds, saying, "Who is down there?  Is that you, Prakash?  I can't see you.  Why do you hide from me?  What have you put between us?"

Wiping away his tears, Prakash looked up and answered, "Yes, Lord!  It is I, Prakash!  I have brought you this precious vase with my whole life in it.  It is a gift for you!"

Again the voice came from the clouds, "But I do not see you.  Why should you hide behind such an enormous vase?  We will not see each other that way.  I long to hold you.  Throw it far away.  Get rid of it."

Prakash couldn't believe what he was hearing.  He was expected to break his precious vase and throw all his hard-earned pebbles away?  "No, Lord!  Not my precious vase!  No!  I have brought it especially for you!  I have filled it with my-"

"Prakash!  Throw it away, or give it to someone else, if you prefer.  Either way, detach yourself from it.  I want to embrace you Prakash.  I love YOU and YOU alone."

I am redeemed-Big Daddy Weave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzGAYNKDyIU

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Parent Teen Retreat Outline

February 1

3:00 pm – 3:30pm Check in

(Music in the background)

3:30 pm – Opening prayer  (Ivonne)

Lord, thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed on us. Most of all, thank you for these wonderful  parents and teens that have taught me more about you.  I have seen them grow in you since the day you blessed my life with them. I have seen you in their eyes, in their actions, and in the words that they say. I now understand better your love for each of us, that unconditional love that leads you to great joy when we honor you and great heartbreak when we disappoint. I now get the true sacrifice of your Son dying on a cross for our sins. Please bless open our hearts and minds during this amazing experience you have provided us with.

Gathering- Intro

The goal of retreat- is to reconcile and rebuild relationship

Because of our every day life we:

*Disconnect- lack of communication

*Electronic era

*Lack of time-busyness

*Both parents working

*Teens involved sports – jobs

Parents become taxi drivers/maids

*Parents become ATMs

Financial Issues

We get *Lost in family size

*Teens feel they have nothing in common with parents

*Trust  issues

Set The ground rules:

When we are sharing only one person is sharing and the other is attentively listening. No Arguing or putting each other down.

So we can get to know each other we will play a game

3:45-4:10 Icebreaker

Honeymooners

We each will take 5 sheets of paper.

Sit Back to back.

Write the answers to your questions.

1. What is your parents favorite color? +5

2. What is your teens favorite genre of music? +5

3. What is your parents shoe size? +5

4. What is your teens favorite place to hang out?+5

5. What is your parents favorite movie? +5

6. What special memory do you have with each other?+5

7. What is your teens dream vacation? +5

8. If you could describe your parent in one word what would it be?  Please use positive words +5

9. Would you reaveal a deep down secret to your parent? +2

10.           Would you trust your teen with your most precious valuable?  +10

The pair that has 40 or more points wins a prize.

4:10 -4:30pm  First Discussion Obedience

Read (Ivonne)

Ephesians 6:1

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Exodus 20:12

Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14

2 For the Lord honored the father above the children, and he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons. 3 Whoever honors his father atones for sins, 4 and whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure. 5 Whoever honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prays he will be heard. 6 Whoever glorifies his father will have long life, and whoever obeys the Lord will refresh his mother; 12 O son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives; 13 even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance; in all your strength do not despise him. 14 For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, and against your sins it will be credited to you;

(Open for Questions)

What are these scriptures telling us?

4:30 pm Break into 4 groups- 2 teen groups and 2 parent groups

On a sheet of paper:

Parents Discuss the challenges of being a parent of a teen

Teens Discuss the challenges of being a teen with grown ups.

4:50 pm Large group discussion.

5 pm

5:20 pm Parent and teen time

Teens sit next to your parents –Song( God Gave me you) Bryan White

This is a time for positive affirmation. (play music in back ground so that no one hears conversations)

1. What are the qualities that your parents have that have helped you grow?

2. What qualities do you see in your teen that makes you proud?

Each will hold hands with their parents and look in each others eyes and share the following answers.

5:10 pm Large Group interaction:

Sharing-

1. Did you learn something new about your parent  that you did not know before?

2. Did you learn something new about your teen you did not know before?

5:10 pm Restroom Break 7th inning stretch ( stand up  turn to your left then to your right and do a shoulder massage)

5:15pm

Skit:

Parents expectations.

Ivonne walks on stage and the phone rings.

Hi Dad,

How are you and mom?

Awesome your on your way back  from vacation?

Ahhh Dad yes, I already turned in my applications to the Universities and colleges but Im only a Sophmore.

I know I know you gave me the opportunity to stay home with Aunt Lucy this Winter break while you and mom went on vacation.

Yes the house is clean.

Dad Dad .. oh Hi mom.

Yes I did, wash all the dishes

Yes I did, brush my teeth.

Yes I did, shower.

Yes I took out the trash.

Yes I fed the dogs, and I fed your bird Paco

Mom, I know I know.

But.. but .. I am not talking back to you.

Yes mom.. I did study..

But mom No I don’t want to be a Doctor.

Ah no im not talking back to you.  I am simply reminding you that my carreer selection is in Law enforcement. That is why I am in the Explorer Program.

Mom…… mom… MOM!!!!!! Can I talk to you a sec…

MOM….. Mom… MMOMMMMM….

Oh ok bye see you in a couple of hours…

Grrrrrrrrr…….

·    What touched you?

·    Do you ever feel like you are not being heard?

·    Do you ever feel as though you are letting those you love down?

·    How can you be successful?

-Expectations of their children?

-How they feel when they have to discipline?

-What it means when their child has got themselves into trouble?

-How do we deal with it?

-How hard it is when a child is not communicating?

-How a parents love is unconditional.

5:40pm (one on one) What happens when we break trust.

Cylinder

Our trust is like a cylinder…

Our parents let us do small things and we graduate to greater things.

As we do good the cylinder fills, when we are successful and build trust. It continues to fill

When we break that trust. Its like placing a hole in the cylinder.

So the cylinder draines.. its hard for our parents to trust us..

WE ask for forgiveness and their maybe some regain of trust. But it takes a long time for their to gain our trust.

Both parents and teens have the same problem.  When our teens trust us with something so dear to them and we share it with others.  You just broke that trust.  Not only do they find out that you shared it but now that other adult or person you shared it with.  Now feels the right to call their attention.

Or shares it with others.

Confession is very much the same way.  We do something and ask God for forgiveness, we reconcile with him and he forgives us.  What happens if we do it again and again and again.  You have left a scar and reopened the wound.

How can we keep ourselves accountable to eachother, without the continual hurt?

-Open Session –Continual Communication

-Honesty

5:45pm Dinner (get someone out of the group to set up the dinner) –

Have them talk to one another…

6:15pm Gather   The Stool skit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3qh2dJxUy8

Reconciliation- (Parents and teens begin a journey)

Dim the lights (close their eyes)

Music-You are my hiding place 2 minutes

6:20pm  Parents & Teens face each other.

One at a time-  Look at each other in the eyes.

Teens

I am sorry for the pain I have caused you.

I know there are times, I may not understand why you call my attention or say no to me.

I am sorry for the times I have done things with out your permission, even the things you don’t know about.

I will do my best to be better at communicating, and not feeling helpless when I need to talk to you.  I know that their maybe times we may not agree with each other, but I will do my best to be more understanding.

Parent to teens:

I am sorry for the times I have not been present for you.

I am sorry for the times you have needed to talk and I have not been fully present.

I am sorry for the times that I have not talked to you in a manner that was appropriate.  I know their maybe times I may loose my patience but I will try my best to be more understanding.  Putting aside my personal feelings and letting you share what you need to share.

6:25 pm  Stop & Listen skit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndfkgf-gyTQ

6:30 pm Ocean music begins in background

Begin with guided meditation of lent poem

Meditation:

OCEAN MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND FOR 1 MINUTE

and during meditation

Position yourself in a way that will allow you to remain alert, and comfortable and undistracted.

Close your eyes imagine that you are in a beautiful place on an island all by yourself.  Listen to the waves as they splash along the beach and against the rocks.

Inhale breath clean air, exhale fear and all of your day’s worries and inhale courage.

Exhale cold heartedness; inhale compassion allowing it to flow trough your body until it reaches your heart.

Exhale ignorance, inhale wisdom allowing it to flow through your body until it reaches your mind and soaks into your brain cells.

Exhale egoism, inhale humility allowing it to flow trough all the cells in your body until it reaches its destination in your heart.

Exhale nervousness; inhale tranquility so that you may have peace of mind.

Exhale anger; inhale love so that you may love all who come into your life.

Exhale suffering; inhale peace so that you may begin your healing process.

Now keeping your eyes closed look around the island and feel the peace.  Listen to every sound.  Listen to the waves and feel the tranquility and inner peace.  Feel the rays of the sun as they gently touch your skin.  Feel the sand, the grains and how amazing it is to see this beautiful part of nature that God has given us to appreciate.

Now that you have given yourself the opportunity to listen and be still walk around the island and explore it.

As you walk around you realize that you are not alone.  You feel a gentle touch on your shoulder.

You look up, but the glare from the sun makes you squint.  You see Jesus; you look at his garment, and the sand on his white garment.  Look at how the breeze flows trough his hair.

Jesus looks at looks at you and says, “Be not afraid for I am here.”

Jesus looks at you and says: “What makes you hurt?”  And continues to walk with you.

You stop and look at Jesus and Sigh and continue to walk.

Jesus: “ Please tell me, I can help, my child. I can see your sorrow, hurt and unhappiness.  But tell me what makes you hurt?”

You look deep inside your heart, and think for a moment.  You then whisper in his ear and tell him what is weighing you down.

He then continues walking along your side, quietly.

Jesus: “always lift all your problems in prayer and leave them to me.  I will always help you.”

You walk along his side, quietly

Jesus then reaches in his garment, and places a small gift in your hand.

You open it and realize it is a small shell.

Jesus: “keep it close. So that you may remember our conversation always”

Jesus and you give each other a hug and he tells you he must go.

You both wave goodbye

You then return to the place were you were sitting, you sit down listen to the sounds of the ocean and take your gift out of you pocket and stare at it, smiling.  Remembering the beautiful feeling you had when you met Jesus.

You then close your eyes and listen to the waves.

(Give a minute or so.. of silence)

Narrator: Now you will feel a gentle touch on your shoulder, do not open your eyes, allow yourself to be led on a trust walk.   Feel God’s power and the beauty of his presence.  Trust God in his guidance.

(The trust walk should begin)

6:45 PM (Musician CANDICE BROWN)

6:45-7:15 pm Trust Walk: Ask them to keep their eyes  closed and team will lead them ( to station of sand, water and oil) and take them back to their seat ask them to keep their eyes closed.

Meaning of all three symbols

Sand:  This sand is not only a symbol of the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus walked through the desert.  It is also a reminder that we will have rough times in our relationships as family, and tough things we will have to come by.  As the sand we will stay together through it all, even when the times seem hard to deal with. We will be together through it all.

Water:  This water is not only a reminder of the cleansing at the time of baptism.  It is also a reminder of renewal, we place our hands together in this water as a promise that beyond the events of hurt we will continue to find renewal to keep us close.

Olive Oil:  Annointing on each others foreheads.  This oil is a reminder that Jesus anointed us as his family member.  This is a reminder that we will respect one another and always see past all the pain and recognize that we are family first.

Give candle after oil anointing and take back to their seat.

Candle lighting Ceremony

(Once all are seated ask them to open their eyes slowly.)

8:00 pm -8:10pm When all are done-Jesus (  Eddie  ) lights candle

“I am your light, may I always shine in you and you in me.” (lighting each individually)

(music in the background)

8:15 pm Parent  Prayer

Lord, sometimes I don’t know where my job as a parent ends and Your heavenly gift as Savior begins. Grant me understanding, so that I may do all that I can, and nothing more.

Lord, keep my faith burning bright. I believe in you and I believe in your power and love, but sometimes I am tempted to act in your stead. I hurt so much watching my child in pain. Grant me faith, so that I may receive your grace and act as Your instrument of love.

Lord, save me from despair. I get overwhelmed sometimes. My spouse and my children need attention, love and support, and so do I. Grant me clarity so that I may serve my family, even in the dark hour.

Lord, show me the path I must walk. Show me what good works I can do to serve You. I need your guidance, and although sometimes I feel rage, Lord, transform my anger into love, and use me as an instrument of Your purpose.

Lord, let my child feel Your love. I believe that only you can heal our wounds. When my child is troubled, and is in harm, please; bring them home.

Amen

Teen Prayer

O Almighty God, who has given to me my father and mother, and made them to be an image of authority, love, and tender watchfulness; and has commanded me to love, honor, and obey them in all things.

Give me grace cheerfully and with my whole heart to keep your law. Help me to love them fervently, to honor them truly, to be obedient comply with their wishes, to meet with their happiness in everything, and to bear their corrections with patience and humility. Deliver me O God, from pride, rebellion and willfulness, from passion and stubbornness, from sloth and carelessness. Make me diligent in all my duties and studies, and patient in all my trials; so that living, I may deserve to be your child.

Amen.

8:00pm -8:30 pm Enter Adoration for 30 minutes

8:30 -8:25 pm 5- 10 minutes      Sharing their experience and how they will work together

8:25 pm – 8:35 pm Share with the group

8:35 pm Praise and Worship music

8:50 pm Closing  Father/facilitator  (where does God fit into this picture and how do we invite him to be part of it?)

(5 minutes)

Duties

Setup of the room at 2pm for Environment and set up the registration table with envelopes

Ice breaker

Skirts

Food set up

Pick up Lasagna

Items needed:

Bowls, Water, oil, sand

Kleenex

Shells

# data[].attributes.body
Parent Teen Retreat Outline

February

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Check in

(Music in the background)

welcome

3:30  pm – Opening prayer  (Ivonne)

Gathering- Intro

The goal of retreat- is to reconcile and rebuild relationship

*Disconnect- lack of communication

*Electronic era

*Lack of time-busyness

*Both parents working

*Teens involved sports – jobs

Parents become taxi drivers/maids

*Parents become ATMs

Financial Issues

*Lost in family size

*Teens feel they have nothing in common with parents

*Trust  issues

Set The ground rules:

When we are sharing only one person is sharing and the other is attentively listening. No Arguing or putting each other down.

So we can get to know each other we will play a game

3:30 Icebreaker

Winner prizes-

First place -

Big Kiss-

Break into individual  family nucleus  parent teen

3:50 pm        Read (Ivonne)

As parents we don’t have a specific manual that comes with each of our children, and much less are we ever prepared to be parents.  Even planned parenting, we are not prepared with the attitudes and lovely characters they grow up to be.  Many times the second child is not the same as the first, and reactions are definitely not the same.  Let’s see what the Bible tells us.

(Open for Questions)

3:45 pm  This is a time for positive affirmation.

1.     What are the qualities that your parents have that have helped you grow?

2.     What qualities do you see in your teen that makes you proud?

4:00-4:10 pm Large Group interaction:

Sharing-

1.     Did you learn something new about your parent  that you did not know before?

2.     Did you learn something new about your teen you did not know before?

4:10 pm  Teen Video (What teens feel)

What teens say that makes it hard to talk to parents.

As a parents it is hard to be vulnerable

4:15pm   Video 2 Conflict Resolution

Lets talk as a group-

-Expectations of their children?

-How they feel when they have to discipline?

-What it means when their child has got themselves into trouble?

-How do we deal with it?

-How hard it is when a child is not communicating?

-How a parents love is unconditional.

4:45 pm Statistics 1 of 7 teens will run away from home. Due to conflict.  This retreat is to help our parents and teens with Conflicts and perspective.

I am now going to give a visual of trust.

Example of what trust is, and how it is broken.

5:00 pm Have parents and teens face each other:

This is a healing process.

Look in eachothers eyes and

Say the following:

Parents to teens: I love you with all my heart, you mean so much to me and I want to make sure you are always going to be in my life.  My mission as a parent is to keep you safe, and to give you the necessary tools to be the best version of yourself as an adult.  One of honesty, one of honor, one who is loving and caring. So that you too one day can be successful in reaching your goals you set for yourself.  I am sorry for the times I have hurt you, or not made the best decision in making you understand that I want the best for you.  I am sorry for the times, I have not made the best choices with my words. I love you.

Teens:  Mom/Dad I love you with all my heart, you mean so much to me.  Without you I cannot make the best decisions alone.  I know that their are times I may fail, but as long as I can trust you and follow your guidance to the best of my ability.  I will be the best version of myself.  I am sorry for the time I have hurt you, or have been angry because you call my attention for things I have done wrong by my choice.  I love you.

5:15pm  At this time We will ask our parents to close their eyes, and allow their teens to guide them on a trust walk.

5:30 pm Dinner -

Also please take pictures at the photobooth. With your parent.

6:15pm Close our eyes.

Listen to the music

Gather                      Reconciliation- (Parents and teens begin a journey)

Dim the lights (close their eyes)

Music-

6:20pm  Ocean music begins in background

Begin with guided meditation of lent poem

Meditation:

OCEAN MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND FOR 1 MINUTE

and during meditation

Position yourself in a way that will allow you to remain alert, and comfortable and undistracted.

Close your eyes imagine that you are in a beautiful place on an island all by yourself.  Listen to the waves as they splash along the beach and against the rocks.

Inhale breath clean air, exhale fear and all of your day’s worries and inhale courage.

Exhale cold heartedness; inhale compassion allowing it to flow trough your body until it reaches your heart.

Exhale ignorance, inhale wisdom allowing it to flow through your body until it reaches your mind and soaks into your brain cells.

Exhale egoism, inhale humility allowing it to flow trough all the cells in your body until it reaches its destination in your heart.

Exhale nervousness; inhale tranquility so that you may have peace of mind.

Exhale hate; inhale love so that you may love all who come into your life.

Exhale suffering; inhale peace so that you may begin your healing process.

Read Meditation printed

7:00-8:00 pm Bring them quietly in groups of 4 ( to station of oil, the promise to resolve conflicts, and the bowl with water) Have them return to their seat

Meaning of all three symbols

Station 1:

oil:  In the name of the Father, son and the Holy spirit.  I promise to honor you as my (parent) (my child)

I will always see Jesus in you, and will see that the decisions I make will always affect us both.

Station 2:

Piece of paper: On this piece of paper together write how you will resolve your conflicts in the future. (give one another a hug)  I love you.

Station 3:

Bowl of water:  Wash one anothers hands while telling one another just how important you are to eachother.

Please walk quietly back to your seat.

8:00 pm -8:10pm    Sing along with our musician  ( Candice)

8:15 pm Parent  Prayer

Lord, sometimes I don’t know where my job as a parent ends and Your heavenly gift as Savior begins. Grant me understanding, so that I may do all that I can, and nothing more.

Lord, keep my faith burning bright. I believe in you and I believe in your power and love, but sometimes I am tempted to act in your stead. I hurt so much watching my child in pain. Grant me faith, so that I may receive your grace and act as Your instrument of love.

Lord, save me from despair. I get overwhelmed sometimes. My spouse and my children need attention, love and support, and so do I. Grant me clarity so that I may serve my family, even in the dark hour.

Lord, show me the path I must walk. Show me what good works I can do to serve You. I need your guidance, and although sometimes I feel rage, Lord, transform my anger into love, and use me as an instrument of Your purpose.

Lord, let my child feel Your love. I believe that only You can heal our wounds. When my child is troubled, and is in harm, please; bring them home.

Amen

Teen Prayer

Teen Prayer

O Almighty God, who has given to me my father and mother, and made them to be an image of authority, love, and tender watchfulness; and has commanded me to love, honor, and obey them in all things.

Give me grace cheerfully and with my whole heart to keep your law. Help me to love them fervently, to honor them truly, to be obedient comply with their wishes, to meet with their happiness in everything, and to bear their corrections with patience and humility. Deliver me O God, from pride, rebellion and willfulness, from passion and stubbornness, from sloth and carelessness. Make me diligent in all my duties and studies, and patient in all my trials; so that living, I may deserve to be your child.

Amen.

8:20 -8:25 pm 5- 10 minutes   Sharing their experience and how they will work together

8:30 pm Closing

Duties

Setup of the room at 2pm for Environment and set up the registration table with envelopes

Ice breaker

Skirts

Food set up

Items needed:

Bowls, Water, oil, sand

Kleenex

Station 1:

Sand:  Accept this sand as a reminder of the times you have lonely and weighed down by your problems.  Those times that you have been sad and felt there was no one around.  This sand is to remind you that Jesus has walked along your side all along and has carried you in your hardest trials.

Station 2:

Water:  Accept this water is a symbol and reminder of the Baptismal seal, this is to remind you of the invisible mark that shows God that we have been united with Jesus by Baptism and have become his adopted children. Baptism has washed away all signs of the original sin.  Remember always that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Station 3:

Oil:  Accept this oil as a symbol and reminder that Jesus is always there, especially when you are sick.  You are anointed with oil to cleanse and heal your soul. We are normally anointed with Chrism oils 3 times in our lives, at Baptism, Confirmation and when we are sick.

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From Passover

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HVA ER

The central liturgical ritual among Christians, especially among Catholics, is the celebration of the Eucharist. Among Jews, that title probably belongs to the celebration of Passover. Since Jesus was a Jew, we should not be surprised to find that there are connections between these two liturgical rituals. Sorting out just what those connections are, however, is not as easy as it might seem. In this Update we'll try to tackle the task.

At first glance, it seems quite simple. Christians see the first Eucharist as taking place at the Last Supper, the night before Jesus was crucified. The New Testament presents this meal as a Passover meal. So the first Eucharist was a Passover celebration, and the Eucharist is the Christian Passover. There are a variety of problems with that picture, however, as we will see.

to Eucharist

Gospel of M atthew

A Passover meal?

ne problem is that scholars are not sure whether the Last Supper was a Passover

meal or not. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) indicate that it was, but John's Gospel places the Last Supper on the night before Passover. In John's Gospel, Jesus is crucified at the same time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered at the temple for the meal that would follow that evening.

For many years, scholars assumed that the Synoptic version was more accurate historically, but recently a consensus seems to be developing that sees John as very concerned about dates and times. This view suggests

God's Liberating Love

by Rev. Lawrence E. Mick

©2006, ST. ANTHONY MESSENGER PRESS, 28 W. LIBERTY ST., CINCINNATI, OH 45202-6498. PHOTOCOPYING PROHIBITED. EDITOR: JACK WINTZ, O.F.M. MANAGING EDITOR: JOHN FEISTER ART DIRECTOR/ILLUSTRATIONS: CONSTANCE WOLFER

that John's dating is correct and that the other writers recast the meal as a Passover meal to make a point about the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection.

The issue cannot be definitively settled at this point, but it should make us careful about assuming that the Last

Supper was a Passover meal. Moreover, the descriptions of the meal that come to us from the Gospels do not sound much like the Passover. There is no mention of lamb, or bitter herbs or any of the other elements that were unique to the Passover. (Actually, we're not too sure how the Passover

Celebrating the Passover Seder

ritual was observed in the time of Jesus, since the first ddetailed descriptionswe have of the Passover ritual are from a later date.)

To further complicate matters, Luke's Gospel indicates a different pattern for the meal than Mark and Matthew. Luke relates the sharing of a cup first, then the bread and then another cup, a pattern that matches a common Jewish festive meal, but not necessarily the Passover.

Another key point is that Passover is celebrated only once a year, not weekly as the Christian Eucharist was celebrated from the beginning. It is also instructive to note that the Passover required unleavened bread, while Christians used leavened bread for the Eucharist for a millennium in the West and to this day in the East. Scholars suggest that the Eucharist stems more from the common meals Jesus shared with his disciples, especially after the Resurrection, than from the Passover ritual. Not as simple as it seems, is it!

The Meaning of the meal

s we have learned to value our Jewish roots, some parishes have celebrated a seder meal as part of Lent or Holy Week.

This has raised concern among our Jewish brothers

and sisters, especially when the seder was adapted to become a Christian seder meal. (Imagine how Catholics would feel if

Jews celebrated an adapted Eucharist.) In response to these concerns, the Secretariat of the Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy made this statement in its March 1980 newsletter:

"For many years it has been the custom for some Christians to celebrate the Passover Seder during Holy Week. The celebration of Passover is a sacred memorial, enjoined upon all Jews by the Scriptures and by post-biblical tradition. The Passover forms an integral part of Jewish family piety as well. (See "Passover," Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 13, 163-173).

"Thus, when Christians celebrate this sacred feast among themselves the rites of the Haggadah for the Seder should be respected in all their integrity. The Seder, whether celebrated in the home or as part of a parish observance of the paschal mysteries, should be celebrated in a dignified manner and with sensitivity to those to whom the Seder truly belongs. The primary reason why Christians may celebrate the festival of Passover should be to acknowledge common roots in the history of salvation. Any sense of "re-staging" the Last Supper of the Lord Jesus should be avoided, not only because biblical scholarship is not in accord as to the nature of that supper, but especially because it is the character of both Jewish and Christian liturgy to celebrate the events of salvation as an anamnesis memorial. The rites of the Triduum are the annual memorial of the events of Jesus' dying and rising.

"The Secretariat would recommend to groups and parishes only those editions of the Haggadah which are true to the tradition of Israel and the authentic meaning of the festival of Passover.

“One such edition is The Passover Celebration, prepared by Rabbi Leon Kalanick and Myra Cohen Kalanick. Copies of the booklet may be ordered from Liturgy Training Publications (www.itp.org)."

whetherr the Last Supper was or was not a Passover meal, the early

Christians saw it as the fulfillment of the Passover. As we noted above, the Synoptic Gospels cast the meal itself as a Passover supper, while

John sees Jesus as the paschal lamb sacrificed on the cross. St. Paul also links Christ's death and resurrection with the Passover in First Corinthians: "Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor 5:7-8).

To understand the Eucharist, then, it is important for us to understand the

meaning of the Passover celebration.

The roots of this festival are very ancient, even preceding the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The later Passover is really a combination of two celebrations: a nomadic tribal sacrifice of a lamb whose blood is sprinkled on the tent pegs to ward off evil spirits and an agrarian ritual marking spring and the harvest of new grain with the use of unleavened bread. As nomads settled among local farmers, these two celebrations were combined.

The Hebrew Bible, however, gives a new meaning to these combined rituals by linking them to the events of the Exodus. As part of that event, God sent a series of plagues to afflict the Egyptians. When the final plague was announced, the death of the firstborn by the destroying angel, the Israelites slaughtered lambs and marked their homes with the blood, thus warding off this evil. Then they fled Egypt in haste, without time for bread to rise, so they ate unleavened bread (see Ex 12:21-36.)

present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence or of taking part in the Revolutionary War that achieved our freedom.

For the Jews, on the other hand, remembering the Exodus is more than just a mental recall. The Book of Exodus commands the Jewish father to explain the meaning of the feast this way: "On this day you shall explain to your son, 'This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt” (13:8).

All Jews are to celebrate the feast as though they had been alive at the time of the Exodus. They see the feast as somehow bringing them into contact with that ancient event. This is the concept we try to express with the term "memorial” (anamnesis in Greek). Through the ritual observance, the contemporary Jew not only remembers the past but also relives it.

At the same time, the memorial celebration of the Passover also proclaims God's continuing liberating action on behalf of God's people in the present day and looks forward to the fulfillment of God's promises for complete salvation when the Messiah comes. Just as God acted in the past, God continues to act in the present and will act in the future to save us.

A feast of identity

Christ's exodus

or the Jews, then, the Passover is a celebration of the Exodus. It is a feast of liberation,

rejoicing in God's wondrous acts on their behalf that set them free from slavery. The Exodus was also the event that established Israel as a people, as God's chosen people. In the United States, our Fourth of July rituals celebrate our independence and our identity as a nation. Passover had a similar significance for the Jewish people.

In at least one significant respect, though, the Jewish understanding of the celebration was quite different from the way we Americans think of the Fourth of July. We celebrate an event that hap pened over 200 years ago. We celebrate our continuing freedom, but we think of that past event as long gone and out of reach. Even though some of us may dress up in colonial garb, we don't really think of ourselves as being

esus drew on this concept of memorial when he told his disciples, during the Last Supper, to “do this in memory of me" (Lk 22:19).

The Church has long understood that the celebration of the Eucharist brings us into contact with the saving actions of Christ. That is the way we are able to share in his sacrifice, his exodus through death to resurrected life.

His sacrifice is not repeated; he died once for all and death has no more power over him. But his sacrifice is also eternal and enacting the ritual of the Eucharist enables us to enter into that eternal act.

Though the Church has long held this basic view that the Eucharist brings

us into contact with Christ's sacrifice, it has not endorsed any theological explanation of how this happens.

One way to understand what happens is to recognize that the core of Christ's sacrifice was his commitment to the Father's will, clearly expressed in the agony in the garden: "Not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42).

This commitment led him to the cross and resurrection at one point in history, but Christ's will is eternally united with the Father's will.

Christ is forever victim, forever priest. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we are invited to enter into that eternal act, aligning our wills with the Father's will as Jesus did. Thus we become one with Christ and share in his sacrificial act. This can help us to realize the breadth of the commitment we make when we "do this in memory" of Jesus.

What did Jesus mean by this”? What are we to do in memory of him? Pope Benedict XVI addressed this question in a homily at World Youth Day in Germany in August 2005. "Jesus did not instruct us," Benedict said, "to repeat the Passover meal, which in any event, given that it is an anniversary, is not repeatable at will. He instructed us to enter into his 'hour."" The pope goes on to suggest

This is the closest Christian parallel to Passover.

Of course, we also celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord every Sunday when we gather for Eucharist, which is why Sunday is sometimes called "a little Easter."

We don't celebrate the Passover ritual, but the meaning of the Passover meal and the meaning of the eucharistic meal are related. Our God is a God of freedom and life. Both Christians and Jews celebrate God's saving love and thus commit themselves to imitating that love. That's the deepest meaning of both Passover and Eucharist.

Pope John Paul II, in announcing the 2004-2005 Year of the Eucharist—the year that he himself died-reminded us that the Eucharist requires this kind of commitment for its authentic celebration.

There is one other point which I would like to emphasize, since it significantly affects the authenticity of our communal sharing in the Eucharist. It is the impulse which the Eucharist gives to the community for a practical commitment to building a more just and fraternal society.

In the Eucharist our God has shown love in the extreme, overturning all those criteria of power which too often govern human relations and radically affirming the criterion of service: "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (Mk 9:35).

It is not by chance that the Gospel of John contains no account of the institution of the Eucharist, but instead relates the "washing of feet" (see In 13:1-20). By bending down to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus explains the meaning of the Eucharist unequivocally. St. Paul vigorously reaffirms the impropriety of a eucharistic celebration lacking charity expressed by practical sharing with the poor (see 1 Cor 11:17-22, 27-34).

We cannot delude ourselves: By our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ (see Jn 13:35; Mt 25:31-46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our eucharistic celebrations is judged (Mane Nobiscum Domine, #28).

Lawren ce E. Mick is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He holds a master's degree in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of over 500 articles in various publications. His latest book is I Like Being in Parish Ministry: Presider (Twenty-Third Publications).

that Jesus' hour is the "hour in which love triumphs" and that we share his hour if we "allow ourselves, through the celebration of the Eucharist, to be drawn into that process of transformation that the Lord intends to bring about."

In memory of Jesus, then, we are to be transformed by adopting his attitude of love and his commitment to the Father's will. We share his sacrifice not only by carrying out the ritual of the Mass but also by living our lives in accord with God's will.

The Amen that we sing at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer at every Mass commits us to a whole way of life. Our Eucharist is only authentic if it expresses the meaning of our whole lives. What we are to do in memory of Jesus is to live and love as he did.

NEXT: God Is Love, the Pope's first encyclical

in condensed form

UPDATE

Question Box

1) What's the connection

between Passover and

Eucharist? 2) How is the Eucharist a feast

of identity?

3) Why does John's Gospel

emphasize foot-washing?

True liberation

Then Jesus described his ministry in Luke's Gospel, he quoted

Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord” (4:18-19). Those words echo the Passover's celebration of God as a liberator of the oppressed, and they stand as a challenge to us to embrace Christ's mission as our own.

From Passover to Easter-to Sunday

News celebrates God's saving action in the Exodus every year at Passover. Christians celebrate Jesus' passing through death to the

new life every year in the great three days we call Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15VXUFSTpxu5EXqBSkxmKTcqT6ZYSWnjqZ3Lpm6aRDnU/edit?usp=sharing

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Confirmation Year 1

Time line

3pm Roll call

3:10 pm Welcome (Ivonne)

Rules

3:20 pm Ice breaker

Human Bingo

3:45 pm

Video God Tube

Mean girls

What would you do?

https://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=YGGGZGNX

It is very important for us to realize just how different and unique we each are.  In our class we need to accept one another just as we are, with no criticism.  We are all made in God’s image.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 5:1-2 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

1 Corinthians 11:7For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man

Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

Small groups

Question: How can we be more like Jesus here and outside of our class?

Use your journal to write your answer and share in your answer in your groups.

Each Faith leader will share their faith journey, and why they serve in ministry.

Why they chose to assist in Confirmation.

4:00 pm Break

4:15 pm Return Appointment game (Ivonne)

At this time find your sheets, find one person and put them in your appointment slot 9:00 am

4:20 pm Find your appointment

Question: 1 Name, and where you are from?

Question: 2 If you could go anywhere in the world with no care of money where would you go?

Appointment 2

Name and where are you from?

Question: You are the sibling of how many?

Question: What is your favorite family activity?

Appointment 3

Name and where are you from?

Question: What is your favorite subject?

Question: What is your favorite food?

Appointment 4

Name and where are you from?

Question:What was your most embarrassing moment?

Question: What would you like to learn here in Confirmation?

Jimmy: Closing Prayer

Discussion about prayer, before we close.

5:00 pm

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Confirmation Year 2 Retreat

How He Loves - David Crowder Band

January 16, 2017    Wed. Luggage Check in – In (401) 6:00-6:30 pm

January 17, 2017        Thursday night 6:30 pm -Team adoration?

Friday January 27, 2017

4:00 pm

First Team will depart

~Will take banners, posters and supplies. They will check in and turn in all paperwork, get keys to the meeting room and set up the room. They will also set up the dorm arrangements lists on dorm walls.

Once participants arrive they will welcome and guide teens to where they need to be.

Check list

For Friday

-Participant forms, and staffing leaders forms (notebook to turn into the camp)

-glow sticks

-Poster of theme

(Eddie will bring up –our personal projector and appropriate cords)

-sound system items –small portable one

Skit items

Nail

Word tiles

-Participants folders

Saturday Experience

3 posters

Markers

- Monstrance

-papers for fire

Friday

4:30-5:00 pm-Youth Check in (Ivonne)

Dinner Sandwiches and chips

5:15 pm-Depart NO LATER

6:00 pm-Bus Drop off Arrival (TAKE LUGGAGE TO MEETING ROOM)

7:30 pm-Go to the meeting room Welcome and rules (Ivonne- go over Rules)

7:30-8:30 pm-Dinner?

8:30 pm–

9:00 pm-Team-work activities-

If OUTDOOR ACTIVITY –We can use the field but must be very quiet.  We need to ask the teens to be quiet during the activity as there are residences along the outer gates. (TURF AREA-LOCATED to the right of the meeting room if facing the door from the outside)

Banana Surgery

Split your group up into smaller groups, and give each group a banana, cutting board and plastic knife.  Each group should cut the banana into 4 or 5 equal sized pieces.  (don't tell them what the next steps are at this point).

Then hand out banana surgery kits - pins, string, sticky tape, tooth picks, rubber bands etc.  The goal is for each group to reassemble the banana.

The lesson from this game is that some things (relationships, trust, reputation, bananas!) are easy to break but more difficult to put back together.

Bannanas – Plates-plastic knives

In a ziplock Rubber band, tape, pins, toothpicks.

9:15 pm-Introduce Theme song: (When the fight calls – Hillsong)

Gabe

9:30 pm-Small group intro

-How was the experience of the ice breaker?

-Was there any team work?

-How did you decide on who was the main leader?

9:50 pm-

10:00 pm-Introductions Talk-

It is important for each of us to be open this weekend, and to one another.  No matter what we are going through we need to respect each other.  Don't judge, or compare your circumstances to others experience.  Do not try to fix someone else's problem, if you are asked for advice give it.  If you want advice, ask for it.  Allow yourself to see the other person's point of view. Please no sarcasm, or putting others down.

Be open to the experience

<Talk about how you being open to the experience at retreat helped you see how important it is to be a part of the greater church. Or changed your life or not being open did not allow you to be a part of the great experience.>

We are all here for the same purpose; we all have a different mission.  Be open to what God has for you; don't short change yourself or anyone else.  Have fun, be respectful.  Enjoy and allow others to enjoy.

To help us with this weekend, I have some word tiles.  Take some tiles and put together one word you would like to pray for this weekend.  Example: I want to let go of Anger.  I want to let go of confusion. I want to let go of sadness.

The word that will begin this crossword will be God. We will place it on the floor under the cross. (Place them before you go to the dorms)

10:10 pm–Group name & chant-

Get to know each other  & group name or chant

1.    If you had to use a famous person to describe yourself, what are the characteristics you have in common and who would it be?

2.    What is your favorite holiday?

3.    What are the things you enjoy doing on your own time?

4.    Do you have a special thinking spot? That brings you peace.

5.    What are the things you and your family do together?

6. or some presentation of their group name

10:30 pm-Group presentation

10:45 pm-Closing prayer

Ivonne -final rules, morning instructions

11:00 pm-Dismissal to rooms–Mrs. Bernacki Girls Room assignments Michael Boys Room assignments

11:30 pm LIGHTS OUT

Team debrief and set up for next day (10 Minutes)

January 28, 2017

Saturday Morning

Team meeting at 7:15 am in the Conference Room (Morning Prayer)

7:45 am-All should be in the Dining Hall

Michael & Mrs. Bernacki do the final sweep and send them off to the Breakfast hall at 7:45 am

8:00 am-8:45 am-Breakfast?

9:00 am-Praise & Worship-Theme song and 2 more songs

9:15 am-Meet in conference room – (for 10 min)

Ice breaker:

9:25 am-Jesus Trust Fall Skit

Gabriel Reyes: Play song: How he loves –David Crowder

9:25 am-First Topic (Trusting God)-

Discuss the importance of trusting God

Allowing him to guide you, even in the times of darkness.  Many times we may want to hear a voice, but he sends others to steer us in the right direction.  We need to be open in our minds, heart and soul. To be able to see the blessings he has in store for us.

9:40 pm-Break into small groups

Q: Why is it hard for you to trust God?

Is there anything you are dealing with that you need prayer, to be able to trust in him whole heartedly?

10:15-10:35 am- Luke 17:5–10-

5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Trust Activity (Trust falls) OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CAN WE USE THE BENCHES IN THE FIELD AREA

Each candidate will take turns falling.  They will need to say out Loud "Lord, I will trust in you and I will trust in my group"

10:40 am -Large Group discussion-

Was it hard for you to trust your group?  Why?

When have you had a hard time trusting in God?

If you feel you trusted God, what if anything has broken that trust?

10:50 am-Images of God-

What is my Image of God? Why?  The sand Jesus.

What is my Image of God? Draw it in your journal.

10:55 pm Small group question

What is your image of God and why?

Who has shaped you to be who you are today? How do I see God in them?

11:10 am Self Reflection of Self & Life w/journaling- (can we use outdoors for quiet self-reflection?)

How do I see myself?

How do others see me?

Why?

What are my goals in life?

What have I accomplished so far?

What am I proud of?

What am I not so proud of?

How does God see me?

Do my goals include God?

(Go outside to do journal-away from others)

[LG4]

11:25 am-Return to room

Video or story (Dove people sketch) Ivonne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

11:30 am-Large group discussion

1.    Genesis 1:27

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Jenny-Many times we do not realize how others see us, many times we see ourselves poorly.

Get into Small groups

How do you feel knowing that God created you in his image?

What did you discover about yourself?

Look around the room and see just how beautiful you are.

Before we leave for lunch, we need to give every person in our group a positive complement[LG6]

Ivonne – give the group challenge for the Saturday and Sunday

Split into groups of 4-5 (make sure there's one leader in each group), and give each group a camera (or they can use their phones if they want).

Draw up a list of things / objects / situations they need to try to capture on film.  Be creative with the list - make sure you include some simple tasks, but also some trickier things to find (or do).

Allocate points to each item depending on the difficulty.

For example:

Points | Photo of...
10 | A red four wheel drive
20 | Members of your group squashed into a public phonebox (if you can find one!)
20 | A members of your group on a swing
30 | A member of your group shaking hands with an old man
5 | A McDonalds sign
30 | A member of your group behind the counter at McDonalds
10 | A cat
30 | A member of your group holding a cat
5 | A stop sign
10 | A personalized numberplate
5 | Members of your group at a bus stop
5 | Members of your group on a pedestrian crossing
30 | A member of your group in a swimming pool
10 | Your whole group 'planking' in a park

Be sure to set a time limit when people need to meet back.  Tally up the points and whomever has the most is the winner!  If you have time, share the photos on a big screen.

12:00 pm-Lunch

1:00-3:00 pm-Zip line and other activities (tubing, bb guns, High ropes, Rock wall, snow ball fights, basketball)-free time, no dorms.

3:00-3:15 pm-Go change and go to the Meeting room

3:20pm-Gather and Praise and worship-Gabe Reyes

3:40pm-Music Activity-Ellen

4:45 pm-Ice breaker Captain on Deck-Luke

5:00 pm[LG7] -Dinner

6:15 pm-Praise & Worship-Gabe Reyes

6:30 pm-Our Father Skit- Ivonne & Luke

Operation Skit?: 7 deadly sins (pride, envy, greed, sloth, lust, gluttony, anger)

6:45 pm-Talk-Letting Go and Letting God-Jenny

Discuss how it is important to let go, of pain, hurt and letting God in.

[LG8]

7:00 pm-Explanation of Adoration–Ivonne

What is Adoration? By Kat Martinez

In front of you, is Letter From God  (Will be already in place, placed by Gabriel)

Beginning of Adoration with music–Gabe Reyes

Ivonne  will say-God Awaits you (Adoration)

God Shows you love through others

Question: When was the last time you felt alone?

7:30 pm-Adoration ends

(Eddie, Luke, Jenny) please help group leaders pass out envelopes

- Love Letters

7:35 pm-Letter from Parents and family members

On a piece of paper write what is hurting, and ask God to take it. Maybe it's a hurt you have caused, or someone hurt you. Something you are angry about, or something you want to say to someone but can’t.

(Paper, in an envelope w/ picture of Jesus and Reflection)

8:00 pm- Ivonne ask them to quietly walk outside and place their piece of flash paper on the cross -

(outside – Cross mini ceremony)

8:45 pm-Small groups

Questions: How do you feel?

What is on your mind?

9:00pm-Snack break–Cafeteria

9:30-10:00 pm-Head back to the Meeting room

Ivonne–Explain that our time with God is always a celebration, he calls us to come back to him as his children and to continue our journey as a community. He reminds us that we are never alone on our journey (Celebrate & Dance)

10:30 Ivonne-Closing-final instructions for next morning

We will be departing immediately after breakfast.

We need to sweep the floors in the dorms and make sure all our trash is picked up. All luggage should be taken to the meeting room as we will be taking it all to the bus and departing at 9 am

Send teens, Mrs. Bernaki- Natalie, Michael-Gabriel Benitez  back to the dorms with the teens.

11:30 pm-LIGHTS OUT

Team debrief (let’s put away as much as we can)

Luke- Ivonne- Eddie-Jenny

January 29, 2017-Sunday Back to Parish

7:00 am-clean up and all bags down

We need teens to help take out trash from dorms, and sweep. All areas need to be clean.

7:50 am-breakfast at Pine summit

return keys to rooms and depart at 9 am

9:00 am-11 am[LG9] -bus ride Movie

If we arrive early- teens will place their bags in 401 and we will go to youth room, ask the following questions.

Small groups-

Ice breaker

Build a bridge

The idea of this game is simple - split your group into teams of 3 or 4, and give each team a "Building Kit" (explained below) and a bowl of water.  Each group has 30 minutes to build a bridge to span across a bowl of water.

At the end of 30 minutes, each group has to demonstrate their bridge.  You then test it for strength by adding pebbles one at a time, until the bridge collapses.  The team with the strongest bridge wins!

Building Kit

The Building Kit is a shoebox with a variety of building materials.  For example:

Ice cream sticks

Putty / Bluetack / Elmer's Tack

Paper clips

String

Glue

etc

Make sure each group has the same amount of materials, just to keep things fair.

12:30 pm-lunch at the Parish

1:15 pm-Luke & Eddie

(If teens are not here yet)

Please ask Sponsors to Answer questionnaire

Hand out questionnaire to sponsors

We will review stations for hall with Ellen

Important: Retreat is not over until after 5:30 pm mass

The whole team is needed for stations to finish retreat with sponsors at the parish.  It is important to please stay tuned with other activities.

1:30 pm praise and worship–with Team

Eddie-Talk (How do I hold on to the feeling on the mountain?

Show Jim Carry's video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ZrkBCnfxw

Question: Sponsors How can you help your candidate hold on to that feeling? How can you continue to Nurture your Candidate?

1:50 pm-Actvity with sponsor 3 Stations

There are 3 of us on the team that are sponsors.

2:50-pm small group break out

2:50[LG10] -5:00pm Ivonne

Banner making with sponsor

[LG1]I’m not sure we will need any of our sound equipment

[LG2]Add? Come up with a chant or some sort of presentation of their group name

[LG3]Need to change, I believe they have already seen this skit, and some people are not helping this year

[LG4]Weather permitting, where would we go if we are not able to go outside to journal?

[LG5]?

[LG6]Why only two, do what about the affirmations before we go on the bus at the end of the stay?

[LG7]Timing from 3:45-5:00 I think could be adjusted. We could spend more time in the music activity. I think 35 minutes is too much time for the ice breaker.

[LG8]Doing this again? We do a similar activity on Friday night

[LG9]Why are we leaving so early? What is happening between 10:45 am and 12:30 pm?

[LG10]Same time here

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Confirmation Year 1

Time line

3pm Roll call

3:10 pm Welcome (Ivonne)

Rules

3:20 pm Ice breaker (Stephanie)

Blind fold- Be guided through the Kaos

3:45 pm (Steve)

Share about distractions you have had..

Small groups

Questions:  How many times have you been distracted during mass?

Break off into small groups and jot down examples.

4:00 pm Break

4:15 pm

Suggestions: you can start with an icebreaker

How To Play I Am Going To And I'm Bringing

This is a guessing game. If there are fewer than ten people in the group, one person thinks of a word - if there are 10 people or more, two people think of a word together, without the rest of the group knowing what the word is. They should sit at opposite ends of the circle, so that clues are only given once every few turns. One of them gives the first clue by saying, "I am going to" ... "and I am bringing" - something that starts with the first letter of the word. Participants then try to guess the next letter of the word by saying, "I'm going to" ... " and I'm bringing" - something that starts with what they think is the next letter of the word. If they guess correctly, the leader(s) says, "Yes, you can come," but if they guess incorrectly, the leader says, "No, you can't come."

You can adapt this game to the seasons of the year by changing the location of where you are going to - for example, during Lent, you can say, "I am going through the desert," or "I am going to Jerusalem," or in Advent you can say, "I am going to Bethlehem," or during the season before Pentecost, you can say, "I am going to the Upper Room to pray with the Apostles," etc.

SAMPLE: The word is "Christmas"

Start: I am going to Bethlehem and I'm bringing a cat."

1st Guess: I am going to Bethlehem and I'm bringing an apple."

Response: NO, you can't come.

2nd Guess: I am going to Bethlehem and I'm bringing a hat.

Response: Yes, you can come.

This signifies to the whole group that the second letter has been guessed correctly, and now they use the same process to guess the third letter.

Once they have it, they then continue around the circle until they get the fourth letter, and so on, until someone guesses the word. That person becomes the next leader.

VARIATIONS - it might not be a word - it might be an action. For example, the leader might put his finger on his chin, and only let people come who put their finger on their chin. To make the game more interesting, you can mix it up between words and actions - the kids now have to figure out whether they are guessing a word, or an action. They might also decide to have the clues end with the letter that needs to be guessed, instead of starting with that letter. Let the kids get creative with this.

Materials Needed

Something for kids to sit on - they should be roughly in a circle, and close enough together to be able to hear each other. Develops language skills, listening skills, and deductive reasoning.

-or the new variation of hot potato with an action every time they get the potato

(Jimmy)  Tell your story-

Tell about when you go on a trip, how long in advanced you have to prepare.  How does each family member contribute to the preparation.

How would you prepare for your journey.

Give each group a scenerio and they have to come up with what they will bring.

They will be given poster paper to jot down in 10 minutes what they will bring

4:30 pm What will you pack?- share in large group.

4:45 pm In scripture: How Jesus prepares himself for the journey, and how he is tempted

Mk 1:12-13 Soon afterwards, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into the Judaean Desert where his resolve to follow God’s will is severely tested by the ‘satan’ (a Hebrew word meaning the ‘accuser’). The ‘satan’ (or the ‘devil’) is the one who accuses people at the final judgement, and who tempts people to follow man’s ways instead of God’s ways (see Job 1:1-12, Zechariah 3:1-2, 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 on Map 5).

The Judaean Desert near Masada (Mark 1:12)

The Temptations

After forty days and nights fasting without food (like Moses on Mount Sinai – see Exodus 24:18), the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread (see Matthew 4:2-4). The Judaean Desert is a barren, rocky desert (see Map 5). Some stones are coated in soft lime and curiously resemble loaves of bread – making the temptation doubly painful. Although Jesus had the power to turn stones into bread, he resisted the satan’s suggestion by quoting from the Jewish scriptures: “A person does not live by eating only bread, but by everything God says” (Matthew 4:4) (see Deuteronomy 8:3).

The devil then transported Jesus to Jerusalem and tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the Pinnacle – the highest point of the Temple. He also quoted from the scriptures: “If you are the Son of God”, he said, the angels “will catch you in their hands so that you will not hit your foot on a rock” (Matthew 4:6) (see Psalm 91:11-12). Jesus again resisted the temptation to glorify himself and responded again from scripture, “It also says in the Scriptures, ‘Do not test the Lord your God’” (Matthew 4:7) (see Deuteronomy 6:16). Following the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, the Pinnacle of the Temple (its highest point) was incorrectly identified by medieval Christian pilgrims as the south east corner of the Temple Mount (the highest point of the ruins of Jerusalem at that time).

5:00 pm (Stephanie) Closing Prayer

5:05 pm  (Ivonne) announcements, pick ushers and greeters

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Confirmation Year 1

Time line

3pm Roll call

3:10 pm Welcome (Ivonne)

Rules

3:20 pm Ice breaker

Human Bingo

3:45 pm

Video God Tube

Mean girls

What would you do?

https://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=YGGGZGNX

It is very important for us to realize just how different and unique we each are.  In our class we need to accept one another just as we are, with no criticism.  We are all made in God’s image.

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 5:1-2 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created.

1 Corinthians 11:7For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man

Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

Small groups

Question: How can we be more like Jesus here and outside of our class?

Use your journal to write your answer and share in your answer in your groups.

Each Faith leader will share their faith journey, and why they serve in ministry.

Why they chose to assist in Confirmation.

4:00 pm Break

4:15 pm Return Appointment game (Ivonne)

At this time find your sheets, find one person and put them in your appointment slot 9:00 am

4:20 pm Find your appointment

Question: 1 Name, and where you are from?

Question: 2 If you could go anywhere in the world with no care of money where would you go?

Appointment 2

Name and where are you from?

Question: You are the sibling of how many?

Question: What is your favorite family activity?

Appointment 3

Name and where are you from?

Question: What is your favorite subject?

Question: What is your favorite food?

Appointment 4

Name and where are you from?

Question:What was your most embarrassing moment?

Question: What would you like to learn here in Confirmation?

Jimmy: Closing Prayer

Discussion about prayer, before we close.

5:00 pm

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Confirmation Year 1

Theme: Awaken me

Song: Your Love Awakens me – Phil Wickham.

St. Joseph Youth Renewal Center, Rosemead

7:30 am Team arrives for setup of room

8:00-8:30 am Participants arrive  (Hospitality)

Check in & Welcome - place stickers on their name tag as they come in

9:00 am Opening Prayer

9:05 am Rules (Instructions) intro to Theme -Ivonne

9:10 am to 9:30 am Ice breaker -

My Other Half

Make a list of famous couples and write the name of one half of the couple on a 3x5 index card, and the name of the other half of the couple on another index card. Then give to each of your guests one of the index cards, but instruct them to keep their identity a secret. They must try to find their other half by asking one another questions that can only be answered with a "yes" or "no" until he or she finds their other half. whoever finds their partner first, wins. Couple examples are:

Adam and Eve

Barbie and Ken

Barney and Betty Rubble

Beauty and The Beast

Bert and Ernie

Bonnie and Clyde

Cleopatra and Marc Anthony

Donald and Daisy Duck

Fred and Wilma Flintstone

George and Martha Washington

Herman and Lily Munster

Kermit and Miss Piggy

Lady and The Tramp

Lucy and Ricky Ricardo

Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Pebbles and Bam Bam

Popeye and Olive

Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara

Romeo and Juliette

Shrek and Fiona

Siegfried and Roy

Simba and Nala

Sonny and Cher

Superman and Lois Lane

Tarzan and Jane

Once they find their partner-

These are the questions:

1)    What is your favorite activity?

2)    What is your favorite food?

3)    What is your favorite vacation spot?

9:30-9:45 am Praise and Worship (Marissa Rodriguez)

9:45-10:00am  give instructions - Group name, poster and song/rap

Small groups (come up with a song/rap for your group) (peer leader pass out the posters and colors to the groups to write on back of group poster  15 minutes to come up with group name and sign

10:00-10:15 am- call up the groups to share

10:15-10:20 am Restroom break

10:20-10:25 am Chizel skit    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QCkBL2DfVg

give 1 minute of silence

First question: What in the skit resonated with you?

Write in your journals

Instructions: Have each group member state his or her name.  Where he or she is from, and his or her favorite thing to do.  Have each group member answer the following question in their journal.

1.        Why am I here?

2.        If you had to be someone else (anyone in history) who would it be?

3.        Why are you here on this retreat? (be honest) What do you hope to gain by being here?

4.        What do you want to have happen in your relationship with God? What do you need to do to make it happen?

10:25-10:35 pm  (faith sharing)

When God Awakened me, I…… understood his Plans were much bigger than mine.

Large group question

Have you asked God to take control, but gave him parameters?

What made you realize that you were wrong?

10:35-10:45 am call into Small group

Discuss in your questions in your small groups.

Have you asked God to take control, but gave him parameters?

What made you realize that you were wrong?

10:45-11am Praise and Worship

11:00 -12:45 am to Lead the group to Obstacle course

12:45-1:30 Lunch

1:30-1:45 pm  Return.

1:45 -2:00 pm Ice breaker –

Each group will be on the floor in a circle.- Get into your small groups. Finish that song

2:00 -2:10  pm Ivonne (Testimony)-God unconditional Love

Scripture :

Gods unconditional Love.  Real Love.  How do you feel knowing that he loves you just the way you are?

Do you love others unconditionally, even if they are different from your expectations?

Are you the person who encourages others to feel special?, or are you the one who makes fun of others, because they are different?

Journal (on questions for 5 minutes)

2:10-2:40 pm Adoration

Closing- Discussion : 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11

2:45 pm Head to Grotto

2:45-3:00 pm Ivonne – Sign book Rite of Welcome and Mass to follow

4:00-4:20 pm Room clean up

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Confirmation Year 1

Time  line

3pm

Roll call

3:10 pm Welcome (Ivonne)

Rules

3:20 pm Ice breaker (Stephanie)

Blind

fold- Be guided through the Kaos

3:45 pm (Steve)

Share

about distractions you have had..

Small groups

Questions:

How many times have you been distracted during mass?

Break off into small groups and jot down examples.

4:00 pm Break

4:15 pm

Sister Lisa presentation

5:00 pm (Stephanie) Closing Prayer

5:05 pm  (Ivonne) announcements, pick ushers and greeters

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Welcome

Opening Prayer

Ice breaker: Gina and Steve

Father Mike Schmits Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5zL2U4p5SY

What do you and your family do traditionally during lent?

Choose one traditional event you enjoy as a family.  Share with us why this event has a big impact in your life?

What are you taking up during lent?

Ivonne, I for one am taking up, giving a homeless person a meal in place of my morning starbucks.  When a friend asks for prayer giving them a moment at that time to pray with them.

There are many ways we can participate in lent.  We dont necessarily need to give money.  We can help someone in need. An elderly person sometimes just needs someone to sit with them, play a game.

Help at the nearest food bank.  Reach out to someone you haven't talked to in years.

Maybe take 15 to pray in the morning.

Did you know?  when you do things 7 times in a row it becomes a habit.

Closing: prayer

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Jan 16-19, 2020

Confirmation Year 2

Theme: Here I am Lord!

Yucaipa- Pilgrim Pines

Fri-

12 noon Eddie depart to retreat sight.

-Set up the room

See the set up.

Diagram

4:30-5pm Teen Arrival and Dinner

5:15 pm Load bus with teens and depart

7:30 pm Arrival to site

Unload items into the meeting room.

8 pm Welcome (Ivonne)

Rules

-Stay within the site of the chaperones from our group

-No scavenger hunts in the wilderness or Discovering new adventures on your own.

-No Girls in boys cabins or boys in girls

-No making purple

-No Gossiping

-No Clicks

- NO DRAMA! Or Drama Queens!

-No food in dorms and we are serious, because animals will go into cabins

-Be respectful

- Do not Disrespect one another

-Do not disrespect the adults

-Respect the property

-Pick up after yourself

-Please be helpful

-absolutely no foul language

-No hitting others

-Do not touch anyone elses personal items without permission

-No Public Display of Affection

If you become hurt, please let us know and we will give you first aid. Any of the adults can be of assistance.

Theme Introduction

Team Introduction

Camp Hostess and rules

8:30 pm Ice breaker

I love everyone but

Everyone is in a large group and chairs are in a circle. A person is in the center and they will say “ I love everyone except those wearing blue shoes”

“I love everyone except those sitting”

The person standing will find a chair.

You cannot sit in the same or 2-3 chairs down from you.

9 pm Skit

NAil Skit

Eddie and Ivonne

What is needed:  Head band and a nail.

Ivonne Summarize:

Many times we dont listen to others who are dealing with a problem.  Rather we interrupt them and try to fix it. When someone is seeking to talk its not for advice or for you to fix the problem, but to talk their problem out so they can 1 sort their thoughts or 2 to let their feelings manifest.  Many times we dont realize that others are dealing with the same situation.  Other times we dont sympathize, with others because we cant relate. We even judge them or even believe they are strange.

It is important that this weekend we are sensitive to others situations.  This weekend we be open to one another, be a listening ear.  Also this weekend give yourself the opportunity to be accepting of others, and understand that you are not alone.  We are family and we dont tear each other down.  We lift each other up.  Please respect one another and be gentil with each other.

This weekend, we are here to get away from a lot of things. Specially from every day life.  The routine, maybe even away from shores.. “Right”   or watching our younger siblings.  This is your weekend, make the best of it.  To free ourselves of all that ties us down, and doesnt allow us to be ourselves.

This weekend we ask you to be brave, and give yourself and opportunity to open up.  Dont distract others from their own opportunity.  We often put up walls, because we dont want others to see who we really are.  We sometimes need to be vulnerable and allow ourself to feel. We also need to allow others to experience their own reality.  So please allow yourself to open up.  Trust in God this weekend, for he has so much for you.

See emotions dont have an on and off switch as many want us to believe, emotions are real.  We can hide it and it can eat us inside in ways we would not want them to.  They eventually manifest in ways that make us ugly on the outside.  By ugly I mean a bully, a very mean person who is never happy, always negative.  Why because this is a way we deflect and dont allow ourselves to find peace and healing.  God did not make us humans to not feel, but to be amazing people who are caring and loving.  Loving of one another.  God is Love and he loves you, in turn he left his example to love one another.

9:15 pm Small groups

Discuss when was the last time you felt you were the only one with a problem.

Each team has a piece of paper (Team -Pass out the small pieces of papers)

What would hold you back from a being present and fully involved in this retreat?

What would you like God to help you with this weekend?

Do not put your name on the paper

Song: Play song (CAsting Crown)

At this time take your time and place your piece of paper in the bowl.

9:30 pm

Create your group Name and chant

15 minutes

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Room Assignments

See information:

Put Paper on the doors

Take pieces of butcher paper with you.

Cabin Rules:

Lights out at 11:30 pm.

Showers can be taken only if an adult can go and supervise.

Do not leave the dorms at night and do not wonder off.

Be respectful of the use of the restrooms and time.  You are not the only one and dont leave a mess.

Adults need to take showers before the teens.

So no teens in the showers. Before 6:30 am.

All teens must be fully dressed and ready to go for breakfast.  No returning to Cabins after Breakfast.  Bring your bible and journal

Everyone should be in the Mess hall for breakfast at 7:50 am

Closing Prayer:  Heavenly Father we pray that you give us a great night, keep us safe and sound.  That this weekend we are able to discover ourselves, and leave here knowing you more deeply.  Amen.

8 am Breakfast

9:15 am Opening prayer

Music- Candice

Starting Song:

3 songs- last song Theme song

Who am I.

10 am First Talk (Pep)

Falling deep into our Lord.

Your story

When did you fall in Love with our Lord?

What led you to him?

Have you ever lost something so valuable that you questioned God? And How did you return to him.  If you did not question him, how did you continue to trust him?

10:30 am Small Group questions

When in your life have you found that you needed God?

Has there been a time in your life that you know he had been present?  How do you know he was present?

Share how this has changed your life?

11 am Trust fall (Led by Gina)

These are the rules:

Everyone must go.

We need to trust one another

Before the person does their trust fall the signal for the group to be ready when you fall is the following:

Say your name:

Cross your arms across your chest.  Say Team I am ready to trust you, as you catch me.

After the whole group is done.

Have a small group discussion.

How did you feel?

Was it easy to trust? Or why not?

When done Write in your journals:

What you need to trust God this weekend or in your life.

11:45 pm Gather for 3 songs

Candice will lead us in 3 songs and then we will go to lunch.

12 pm Lunch

Break until

2:30 pm

*If weather permits- 2 adults will lead a hike

2 adults will watch for out door games

No one in cabins

1 adult in the meeting room.

Indoor games available.

2:45 pm Ice Breaker

Ivonne will explain:

Tubing game / Karaoke.

3 pm Music - Candice

3:15 pm Many times songs will either put us in a cheery mood, or change our mood.

Sometimes songs will remind us situations, or a certain person.

Small group activity

What are these songs saying?  (Eddie)

3:45 pm Video:  Just for you

Many times God speaks to us through other people.

Many times we see ourselves through the negative, but others see the beauty in us.  Sometimes it will take a stranger to help us focus, and remind us that searching for true happiness is important.  There are times that we settle for the minimum and we believe that we dont deserve more.  We do, but we must work hard for what we want.  Many times we pass major opportunities, because we believe we are not good enough.  But we are.

We sometimes think that what is happening or  has happend in our lives and surroundings also makes us who we are.

You are enough, you are beautiful and you are worth it.

God created us for Good, to love and be loved.

In front of you are a mirror and a pen.

Along with the following quotes:

“Not one drop of myself worth depends on your acceptance of me.”

“If you find yourself constantly trying to prove your worth to someone, you have already forgotten your value.”

“Your value doesn’t decrease based on someones inability to see your worth.”

“Make sure you dont start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you.  Know your worth even if they don’t.”

“No one can make you feel inferior without your concent.”

Printed Bible Verses-write a verse on your mirror to remind you that He is with you always

Song:

4:30 pm Write in your journal

How do I see myself?

What has occured in my life that I feel this way?

How do People see me?

Am I a people pleaser or am I a person who does things to like me?

4:45 pm Musician- Candice

2 songs -Theme song

5pm Dinner

6pm

Musician - Candice

3 songs

2 songs and

Theme song

6:15 pm Talk about the Images of God, and his endless Love (Ivonne)

Images of God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE52LFSTyTI

Have teens sit on the floor.

Our Lord wants us to come to him as we are.

In your journal write or draw your images of God.

What were they as a child?

What are they now?

6:45 pm Group discussion

What are the images that came to mind?

How did they change over time?

Resume:  We all have different images of God in our head and have different relationships with him.  There is know one that can tell you, your image is the wrong image.  You cant talk to him, because he speaks to us all in different manners.

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7:15 pm

On the screen place the image of God

Holding his hand out.

https://images.app.goo.gl/ogex7SEBGr2sZm5T6

Are you ready to take my hand?

In your journal, write a letter to God, of how you are feeling.  Talk to him, open up to him.

Let him know what you have struggled with and how that has affected you.

7:45 pm

Restroom break

8 pm  Introduction to Adoration (Ivonne)

At this time God is inviting you to have a one on one conversation with him.  This is his true presence.  It is when we are gathered around his table that we are able to have a Heart to Heart conversation with him.  During this time we ask you to be silent, dont distract others.  Seperate yourself from others and specially those you will distract or they will distract you.

When we begin adoration make sure you kneel, if at anytime you feel tired sit back and do not distract others.

Father Tommy will lead us into adoration, and he will also be available for confessions.  If you at anytime would like to go to confession, just pay attention and patiently wait your turn until you see the person that went to confession return.

8:30-8:45 pm Adoration will resume

Ivonne - Will introduce the letters

At this time, our Lord has a special gift for each and everyone of you.  You are loved, you are his and you are enough. You are special, and you are unique.

At this time we will ask you to not share your items with anyone, find a spot and sit to read.  Do not distract or take away anyone else from their own personal time.

I NEED EACH ADULT LEADER TO ASSIST WITH THE SEATING,

STEVE DIM THE LIGHTING

CANDLES WILL BE LIT

AFTER ADORATION WE WILL TRANSITION INTO FOOT WASHING

At this time I ask each one of you to write on the little peace of paper infront of you, any hurt or pain you need to give to God.  put it in your pocket.

9:15 pm (Ivonne)

At this time please sit in the chairs we have set up.

Please quietly remove your shoes, please remain silent.  Listen to the music in the background

All adults will take a seat

Agape CEREMONY WILL BEGIN

Ivonne- Agape is selfless, sacrificial and unconditional love.  Our Lord left us this practice to remind us of his selfless and unconditional love for us.

Agape perfectly describes the kind of love Jesus Christ has for his father and all his followers.

Eddie will already be robed, and Ivonne will robe

Washing of the feet will begin Eddie will take one side and Ivonne the other.

Jose- please read

John 13:1-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

5 Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and [b]you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

The following adults will

Read these words during Washing of the feet.

Alex- Love- Love one another

Pause wait a minute

Gina- Bring peace to one another

Wait a minute

Steve- Selfless love- To give your love with all of your heart

Wait a minute

Mark Delgado- Unconditional - to love with no boundaries.

When done- we will do the breaking of the bread and grape juice

Steve and Jose

Place the grape juice on the table.

Gina - will Break the bread.

Eddie: Read

The Lord’s Supper

13 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them [a]to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 *got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

The Lord’s Supper Instituted

26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and [a]after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

27 Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is My blood of the covenant, e which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

Ivonne -  Please maintain in silence.

Quietly - take your piece of paper and pin it on the cross.

After you are done, quietly take a seat.

Let the cross sit as you

Play the song:  Lay it down by Sanctus Real

Once the song is over- Light the flash paper

As you see your paper is no longer there, what you have placed on that paper is his and only his.  You have freed yourself from it.  Let him have it.  Dont ask for it in return.

At this time I invite you to return to the room and we will get into small groups

9:45 pm Small group sharing

Question:

What are your feelings?

What did you experience?

Where did you experience Gods presence and what did he tell you?

10:15 -10:30/ 10;45pm Smore’s and music.  Games

T-shirt distribution.

Rules for the night and full instructions for the morning.

-Cabin clean up and Conference room clean up before we go to bed.

We need to be packed and ready to go.  Bring all items from Cabin before Breakfast and clean the cabins before you go to breakfast.

Breakfast be there no later then 7:50 am

Bus arrives at 10 am

We need our Group picture.

Sunday

8 am Breakfast

9 am Group picture

10 am bus departs

All luggage goes into 401

12 noon - arrive at St. Luke

Eat lunch with sponsors

1:15 pm

Ice breaker ( Eddie)

FArkle

Hunter kills Bear

Bear kills Ninja

Ninja kills Hunter

1:45 PM  Where do we go from here, as a sponsor and candidate? - Gina

Give examples: of How they can continue?

Have sponsor and candidate share their own desire of how to nurture their relationship.

Have the candidate share why they chose their sponsor.

Have the sponsor share how their journey began, and how they experience God in their life.  What they felt to be asked to be a sponsor.

2 :30 pm

Visiting station - at each station they will share with one another

Room 402

Sacramental symbols (Gina) 5 minute reflection

Questions for Reflection: What do they mean to you?

Sponsor: What age where you when you began your journey?

Chapel (Eddie) 5 minutes reflection

Water and Dissolving paper

Teen and sponsor Commitment to each other

Write on this piece of paper

As your commitment disolves into the water it symbolizes how it flows into your sacramental life through Christ.  The water may have dissolved the paper but it still remains in Christ.

Church (Jose)

Please say the following reflection:

AS you walked through the sidewalk to the church, you encountered uneven ground, even seeds from the tree.  A slope.

Life is like that we have trials and we have ups and downs.  It is for that reason this journey is not to be taken alone.  We have a companion, our sponsor and you as a candidate also need to realize you are your sponsors companion.  Just as they are commiting to you, you are also commiting to them.  The phone line and communication is both ways.  Never give that up. Continue the journey even after Confirmation Ceremony.

Now lets Center ourselves as we continue our Journey of commitment.

Rite of Commitment

See copy.

Once each item has been read and responses where made,

Each candidate and sponsor are invited to sign the book

( a table infront of the center isle will have the book.)

4 pm- return to the Hall

Where we will ask for sponsors and teens place all chairs in a U shaped form

Jose READ THE AGAPE.

From the day before.

We will now ask for the sponsors to remove their shoes.  We will ask the teens to now wash their sponsors feet.

We will break bread as a family and share drink just as the last disciples did with our Lord.

4:45 pm  Share your experience with one another.

Ivonne -will conclude the retreat

5:15 pm We will invite a teen and a sponsor to bring up the gifts

We need ushers for mass

Father will conclude the Rite of commitment in mass

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/0B-4C2sQRhLdNUjUwVEFtT1gwa0RJQ0IxWmpkTVJfNkRfLUFv/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103207941135188494658&resourcekey=0-PFedOCez8jkInvw-g5Rw5Q&rtpof=true&sd=true

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kJdla2kF6BI68fbQydz5wAFXHiQZ0kUF/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103207941135188494658&rtpof=true&sd=true

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Confirmation Year 1

Scripture

O God, please protect your children and people as we continue to journey in these trying times. May we continue to be fed through your scripture, both spiritually and in our soul be satisfied as your children. Amen

Ice Breaker

See Fr, Mike Schmitz Video on Scripture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hb7nSL1gKU

Today we will learn how our Lord our father  has revealed himself and his plan through his spoken human words.  (Scripture)

What is Gods plan?

Trinity:  In scripture, the Father in Heaven comes to meet His children and lovingly speaks to them. Christ is the one Word spoken in all of Scripture, which is the breath of God put down under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Church: The Church guards Scripture and lays down principles for interpretation.

Paschal Mystery: The Paschal Mystery fulfills all the promises of God made in Sacred Scripture.  It stands at the heart of Gods plan, hidden through the ages, yet now revealed.

Dignity Of The Human Person:  God descends to speak to man in human words.  The authors of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are co-authors with God, and serve as His Instruments.

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

Seeing with Faith

God’s written Word strengthens our believing because it is always new and alive.  It never comes empty.  It is always full of new insights and blessings.

Abiding with Hope

The promises in Sacred Scripture are a balm for us and anoint us, arousing a strong confidence in God.

Burning Charity

By hearing and reading Sacred Scripture, we can know God.  Knowing God we will surely love Him and His ways.

_______

At this time listen to Stephanies, video about what Scripture has done for her.

How has scripture helped her?

What does she tell you about God?

Listen to Steves video.

What did Steve tell you about Scripture?

Listen to my Video.

What did you learn about scripture?

Scripture and Essentials:

One and the same word of God extends throughout scripture.

Read

Hebrews 1:1-3

What did you read?

Ephesians 1:3-10

What did God tell you?

Sacred Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit.  His Breath makes it a living word, speaking to us today.

Read and explain what he is telling you through each scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Hebrews 4:12

John 20:30-31

Psalm 119:105

2 Peter 1:19

CCC 105-107 ; DEI VERBUM 11

__________________________

Remember that God is truth and cannot deceive.  As Gods Word, Scripture does not contradict scientific or historical truth.

Human Authors wrote it under the Holy Spirits guidance, so that it is truly the word of God.

He makes use of human authors’ words.

The inspired authors used different genres as would be best suited to expression of this truth.

In Scripture, the Father in Heaven meets lovingly with His children to speak with them.

COMMISIONED BY CHRIST, THE CHURCH GUARDS AND INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE.

Please describe under each of the scriptures what each passage underlines.

Matthew 28:16-20

1 Corinthians 2:10-13

Titus 1:1-3

2 Peter 1:20-21

Listen to my final Video.

One last item I would like to share is that, we cannot live our Catholic Life without reading Scripture.  It is through Scripture that  Our Father in Heaven meets lovingly to speak with His children.  God has given us scripture to be a light in our path and an instrument that has the power to “Cut to the Heart” and transform us.  God has chosen Scripture as the means by which  He speaks to us; He can speak in through other means, but when we approach him in Scripture with faith, we can be certain that He will speak to us.

Listen to the Sunday readings he speaks to us at mass.  The parable of the Sower gives a good example of what happens when the Word is proclaimed.  Only the Word is received by the generous heart, pondered over and treasured grows to bear fruit.

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Human trafficking.pptx

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Confirmation Keeping your family safe.pptx

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Confirmation Keeping your family safe.pptx

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Lenten Reflection 2019.pptx

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ADVENT & FAMILY TRADITIONS.pptx

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This Icebreaker
this is a group activity  you set 5 rows of 3 pictures in each row
its almost like hopscotch but they have to land the feet in the direction you set them with a set of hands see sample

row 1-left foot, right hand, right foot
row2- right foot, left foot, right hand
row 3-right hand, left hand, left foot
row 4-left foot, right foot, right hand
row 5-left hand, left foot, right foot

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Confirmation Year 2

What each topic contains

SEPTMEBER

Justice and Service

To teach the principles of social Justice as reflected in Catholic tradition.

To build awareness of the need to respect the environment as God's gift to humankind.

Justice and Service

To explore the role of service in the Catholic Christian.

To realize Jesus is the model of service.

OCTOBER

Empowering Gods Children -

Human Sexuality (Theology of the Body)-

To teach sexuality and dating from a mature perspective, reflecting Catholic values.

To show how media affects our sexual attitudes.

See Human Sexuality Guidelines.

NOVEMBER

Catholic Beliefs & Practices

To learn the meaning of symbols in the Catholic tradition.

To review discipleship, service, and worship as part of the life of a mature Confirmed Catholic way of life.

Catholic Beliefs & Practices

To define commitment to the Church.

To discuss the Creed as basis of beliefs

DECEMBER

Traditions of the Church

To reflect on Church heroines- saints. This can include people of today and of recent history who exemplify values worth living.

To learn what it means to be Church. This includes study-of past, present, and future.

To introduce various models of Church.

JANUARY

Theme to be.     (19-22)

-RETREAT

FEBRUARY

Theology of Sacraments with Emphasis on Confirmation

To teach the meaning of Baptism, the sacrament of belonging, and its relationship to being Church today.

To introduce Confirmation and its relationship to Baptism.

To introduce the meaning of sponsorship.

To teach the meaning and rites of celebrating the sacrament of Confirmation.

To review the history of Confirmation and recall the meaning and connection to of witnessing to Jesus.

To teach the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as they relate to high school youth and their life experiences.

To introduce the symbols of Confirmation.

To examine Eucharist as the central sacrament in our Catholic traditions. (A Scripture Study of Last Supper reading is appropriate).

To illustrate to youth how we celebrate God's loving forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation as Church.

To teach the meaning of the sacrament of Matrimony.

To teach the meaning of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

To teach the meaning of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

MARCH

Discipleship, Service & Social Justice

A time of entering more deeply into the Christian Community.

The living out of the sacramental life calls for involvement in the parish community and especially in the parish youth ministry program.

The faith commitment is evidenced in an attitude of generosity in service to others.

APRIL

How do I share my gifts and talents?

MAY

Where do I go from here?

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Confirmation Catechist Themes and Topics

What each topic contains

Confirmation Year 1

SEPTEMBER (Community building)

Journey & Faith Story

To get acquainted with each other, with Jesus, and the parish community.

Listen to each other's story and reflect on Jesus' story found in Scripture.

To understand, as Catholics, we belong to a parish.

Journey & Faith Story

To realize that we need friendship with each other and with Jesus.

This makes community.

To initiate opportunities and experiences to aid youth in the family community with sensitivity to the various components which make "family" today.

OCTOBER

Who Am I? (Personal Giftedness)-

To recognize that before we can know God and serve others, we must learn to accept ourselves.

Looking at self-acceptance and self-worth is done through listening and telling our stories.

Empowering Gods Children

NOVEMBER

Jesus

To reflect on the Person of Jesus as seen in Scripture.

To reflect on Jesus as a Man of Prayer.

To reflect on Jesus as the Son of God.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Friend.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Forgiveness.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Service.

To reflect on Jesus as the Model of Moral Behavior.

To reflect on the Death on Resurrection of Jesus as the central event in our Christian life.

The Call to Follow Jesus

To see Scripture and Church call faithful to discipleship a deeper meaning of Confirmation.

To reflect on being called by name.

To help the candidates realize the ongoing responsibility to live by God's Word as their commitment to the Catholic Church (Confirmation is not an ending event, but a new beginning).

DECEMBER

Traditions of the Church

To reflect on Church heroines- saints. This can include people of today and of recent history who exemplify values worth living.

To learn what it means to be Church. This includes study-of past, present, and future.

To introduce various models of the Church.

JANUARY

Morality/ Decision-Making

To define sin by looking at moral issues facing high school youth.

To explore Scripture to understand Jesus' message of sin and forgiveness.

To help youth make informed and reasoned judgments regarding their responses to the influence of media (sex, violence, substance abuse, etc.)

To grow in awareness of Jesus as Model or moral behavior.

To become more aware of personhood and the value and dignity of human life-conception to death.

To help youth learn to make good moral decisions based on Scriptures of Catholic values.

FEBRUARY

Liturgy & Liturgical Seasons, Praise & Worship, and Prayer

To reflect on the various forms of prayer.

To reflect on the Eucharistic Liturgy as the height of prayer.

To reflect on Jesus as Model of Prayer.

To reflect on the meaning of the season of Advent.

To reflect on the importance of Pentecost.

MARCH

Scripture

To introduce the Christian Scripture as a biased account of the faith community. To understand the importance of Jesus' story in living now.

To introduce the infancy narratives.

To teach Mary's role as Mother of Jesus.

APRIL

Scripture

To introduce how the Gospel Portrait of Jesus is a Message of Faith today.

To look at the parables and miracles of Jesus as a recorder in the Scripture.

To explore the relevancy of the parables and miracles in a teen's life.

To reflect on the Acts of the Apostles focusing on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit.

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22- St. Francis of Rome - Julia Zentmyer

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21 - St. Thomas Aquinas - Aidan Wischhoff

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18 - St. Gianna Beretta Molla - Charlotte Thomas

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17 - St. Joseph Calasanz - Benny St. John

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11 - St. Mother Teresa - Chloe Pulvermacher

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09 - St. Gertrude of Nivelles - Sarah Nakada

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07 - St. Catherine of Sienna - Naomi Held

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05 - St. Mary Magdalene - Madeleine Ehlenbach

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02 - St. Elizabeth of Hungary - Molly Aton

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01 - St Martin de Porres - Eden Anderson

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Icebreakers:
Zoom-Friendly Warmups and Icebreakers | by Eugene Korsunskiy | Future of Design in Higher Education | Medium

Busted Halo
Busted Halo - Faith Shared Joyfully

Wing clips
Free Inspirational Movie Clips for Teaching and Sermon Video Illustrations at WingClips.com

https://churchleaders.com/youth/406795-opening-prayers-for-youth-groups.html#:~:text=Use%20opening%20prayers%20before%20youth%20groups%20to%20remind,comfort.%20Remind%20them%20of%20God%E2%80%99s%20open%2C%20loving%20arms.

https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/help-others-grow/leading-small-groups/small-group-icebreakers.html

https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/team-building-activities/

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2070/2016/08/TEAMBUILDING0231.pdf

https://www.catholic365.com/article/792/lenten-ideas-for-teens-and-tweens.html

https://churchleaders.com/youth/324071-icebreaker-game-would-you-rather-questions-bible-edition.html

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When working on your topic, please send your outline to all catechist including myself.

The goal is to work on topics, once a month for the following month.

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http://www.ewtn.com/saintsholy

Saints & Angels - Catholic Online