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Catholic Youth Ministry

Resources

Just Keep Smiling

Dealing With Stress

About this Life Night

The Gather helps teens decompress through an extended breathing exercise. The Proclaim encourages teens to rely on Jesus during times of immense stress. The Break allows teens to identify how they are stressed and engages them in a small group discussion. The Send invites teens into a guided time of prayer in Adoration, focusing on Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Goal of This Night

The goal of Just Keep Smiling is to help teens acknowledge how they avoid dealing with stress and empower them to grow through stressful situations by acting out of their security in Christ.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

• Everyone faces potentially awkward or difficult situations that can cause stress in life; this is normal and can be an opportunity for growth.
• Stress can be both positive and negative. The virtue of fortitude helps us respond to positive stress by facing it, rather than avoiding it out of fear.
• Our identity is, first and foremost, found in God; it is not the sum of our moments of success or failure in our relationships, academic pursuits, or hobbies.

You’re Overreacting

Drama and Toxic Relationship

About this Life Night

The Gather is a charades style game that builds on the performances of others. The Proclaim focuses on how we can handle drama in our lives healthily. The Break allows the teens to assess their relationships and discuss their findings in a small group setting. The Send is a short reflection asking for healing in complicated and unhealthy relationships.

Goal of This Night

The goal of You’re Overreacting is to challenge teens to reflect on how they handle conflict in their relationships and inspire them to set healthy and respectful boundaries with their peers, close friends, and family.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

Our emotions are an important part of who we are. We are all responsible for acknowledging how we feel and determining the appropriate way to express ourselves.

We cannot always change our environment, and we cannot control the actions of others, but we can establish boundaries that set a standard of respect for ourselves and those around us.

Jesus brings compassion and peace to the drama of our lives and draws us into more fulfilling and lifegiving relationships.

Don’t Worry About It

Vaping and Substance Abuse

About this Life Night

The Gather is a variation of the classic game dodgeball, wherein teens are tasked with protecting more than themselves. The Proclaim informs teens about the physical and spiritual dangers of substance abuse. The Break is a Scripture study on how we are meant to be fruitful. The Send is a session of healing praise and worship that concludes with an intercessory prayer to St. Jude.

Goal of This Night

The goal of Don’t Worry About It is to present teens with thought-provoking points informed by science and the Catholic faith to reveal the physical and spiritual dangers of substance abuse, especially vaping.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

We are created body and soul, and it is our responsibility to take care of our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.

There are many different substances that can be used in a way that is contrary to the goodness of our bodies; vaping is one of the more popular, addictive, and most accessible of these substances.

Jesus came to restore our lives to their fullness through grace, virtue, and hope in the Resurrection; we cannot lean into life and experience its fullness by numbing or ignoring our reality

Whatever It Takes

Academic Honesty

About this Life Night

The Gather is a game about lying, using a deck of cards. The Proclaim emphasizes how cheating in school can be detrimental to continued academic and spiritual formation. The Break is a small group discussion focusing on the benefits and drawbacks of cheating in school. The Send is a short reflection on integrity followed by an opportunity for the Sacrament of Confession.

Goal of This Night

The goal of Whatever It Takes is to help teens understand why cheating is detrimental to their academic formation and invite them to live in the spirit of truth.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

The increased competition for college scholarships and the fear of repercussions for doing poorly in school may drive some to be academically dishonest.

The act of cheating harms the individual’s self-respect and deteriorates one’s confidence, making them more susceptible to be tempted to continue cheating in other areas.

By living with integrity, we forgo the easy path and strive to live as a disciple of Jesus rooted in living justice and truth.

When It’s Dark

A Life Night Addressing Crisis

About This Life Night

The Life Night begins by welcoming the teens to a comfortable environment and saying an opening prayer under candlelight. The Proclaim discusses the crisis and how to process crisis situations in a healthy way, as well as the existence of evil and living victoriously with Jesus in the midst of darkness. The Break is a small group discussion and prayer about how the crisis is affecting the community and each person individually. During the Send, the youth minister, parish priest, or deacon leads the group in praying the Order for the Blessing of a Victim of Crime or Oppression.

Goal of This Night

The goal of this Life Night is to discuss the emotions teens may experience when a crisis happens, and the existence of evil, as well as inspire them to have hope in Jesus when it’s dark. The Life Night is designed to be general so it can be adapted to meet the needs of various crisis situations.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

– God does not create evil; He creates only what is good. Evil is the absence of good.

– Crisis affects every person differently. There is a wide spectrum of emotions that can be experienced, and it’s important to honor and pay attention to those emotions.

– Through Jesus, divine life and grace are dispensed to all who believe in Him. With Jesus, we can overcome darkness.

Broken

In this powerful video resource, a work of art that appears trashed and tarnished is stripped away, layer by layer, while a stark and honest narration outlines the brokenness all around us, but the saving grace that remains at the core.

Choices

In this Life Teen video resource, we follow a teenaged girl throughout her day and see the drastic differences that can occur based off what moral choices are made.

The Older Brother

In this video, we see the well-known story of the prodigal son visualized, but with a focus on the lesser-known older brother from the parable, and how we can avoid falling into the trap of not knowing the Father’s heart, as the older brother did.

The Witness Stand

Mission and Culture

About This Session

This session begins with an interactive, large group game on pop culture. The Proclaim discusses what it means to be a missionary, how we are called to interact with culture, and how we can engage teens in their specific temperaments. The Break is a handout that helps the Core Members identify unique ways they can reach out to specific teens. The Send encourages Core Members to choose a saint to be an intercessor for their ministry and then closes with a period of Praise and Worship.

Goal of This Night

To equip and empower the Core Members to be missionaries to the teens.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

– As Core Members, we are called to enter into a different culture (music, social media, celebrity personalities, TV shows), become acquainted with a different language (text shorthand, urban dictionary colloquialisms), and learn about and reach out to each temperament differently.
– There are specific ways we can minister to teens of different temperaments.
– The mission is urgent. So many souls do not yet know the love of Christ. Jesus is calling each of us, as He did the first apostles, to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).

Accepting The Evidence

The Temperaments and the Spiritual Life

About This Session

This session begins with a comedic, improvisational game that ties in the four temperaments. The Proclaim provides insight on how the four temperaments engage in the spiritual life and specific ways people of each temperament can grow in holiness. The Break is a personal reflection that applies the principles of the Proclaim. The Send is a period of Eucharistic Adoration acknowledging it is ultimately Christ who makes us holy.

Goal of This Night

To provide insight on how each of the four temperaments can help us grow in holiness while still acknowledging it is ultimately Christ who makes us holy.

Catechism

Scripture

Key Concepts

– Just like our natural tendencies to be talkative, reflective, driven, or a peacemaker we have natural tendencies that apply to our prayer lives and apostolic endeavors.
– We are each called to a deep, meaningful, and personal relationship with Christ, no matter our temperament.
– Growing in holiness is not solely up to us. It is Christ who makes us holy.

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