Listed below is a short demonstration to help teens understand more about how they can encounter or meet God in their lives. It is taken from the new edition of Send Out Your Spirit, Preparing Teens for Confirmation.
Sensory Presentation (about 10 minutes)
How do we encounter God? Try this demonstration with teens:
Bring in a freshly warmed whole pizza (or slice of pizza) in a box. Set the box before the group.
Explain that one way we encounter something is through the sense of smell. Pass the box under the noses of the teens.
Then open the box. Say: "Another way we encounter something is through these sense of sight." Again, pass the open box around the room.
The best way to "encounter" pizza is to put all the senses together and really taste it. (If you have enough pizza, share it now.)
Then make the point that really encountering God involves all of the physical senses as well as our intellect, emotions, and imagination.
Discuss with the teens ways they can involve their entire beings in more fully encountering God.
John the Baptist played a pivotal role in the coming of the Kingdom of God. He is connected with the prophets of the Old Testament while at the same time he acts as a model for the new Kingdom of God. The story of John the Baptist’s birth (Luke 1:5-38, 57-75) can be related to many other stories of births in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis. Direct the students to some examples of how the Patriarchs were born: Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac (Gn 15:3; 16:1); Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob (Gn 25:21); Jacob, Rachel, and Joseph (Gn 29:31, 30:1-2, 22-24). In each case, the pregnancy was made possible by God. Two other births have close similarities to the infancy narrative of John the Baptist including the birth of Samson (Jgs 13:2-3), who like John took ascetic vows (Lk 1:15) and whose parents received a visit from an angel of the Lord. It is probably most likely that the birth of Samuel (1 Sm 1:9-2:11, 18-21) is the prototype of Luke’s infancy narrative: both had barren mothers (1 Sm 1:2; Lk 1:7); both had parents who prayed in the temple (1 Sm 2:9; Lk 1:9); both make ascetic vows (Lk 1:15; 1 Sm 1:11, 22); both are dedicated to the Lord (1 Sm 1:22) The birth of John the Baptist is also closely related to the birth of Jesus Christ:
Announcement from an Angel (1:10; 1:26)
Mary has faith (1:45) in contrast to Zechariah who has doubt (1:20)
The Canticle of Zechariah (2:68-80) and the Magnificat (1:46-55) as responses to God’s gift.
Divide these various stories among groups of students. Have them read together both the infancy narrative of John and their passages. Have them find and cite each of the similarities. Then have them propose the reasons why Luke would make these connections to the Old Testament. Discuss their results as a class. Notes on the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist: According to the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus. The feast of his birth, therefore, is on June 24th. In some countries, St. John’s Eve—like Christmas Eve—is celebrated the day before the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. This custom is particularly popular in rural Ireland.
The miracles of Jesus were meant to bring about reaction. Think about Jesus' raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44). Some people were truly amazed by what happened and began to believe in Jesus. Others reported his actions to the authorities who wanted to sentence him to death. Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus, were almost ho-hum about what Jesus did, maybe because their faith was so great in him they expected this great miracle.
Play this fun mental math game with your students to solicit the same kinds of responses that Jesus often received whenever he performed a miracle. Present the following problem. Do not read the example. Rather, memorize and say:
"Do each step silently. Do not call out any responses. Don't say anything if you have done the problem before.
Think of a number between 1 and 10 (for example, 7).
Multiply your number by 9. YOu now have a two-digit number (for example, 63).
Add the two digits of your new number together (for example, 6 + 3). You how have a one digit number (9).
Subtract 5 from your one-digit number. You now have a new one-digit number (4).
Now pretend each letter of the alphabet corresponds to a number. For example A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, etc. Think of the letter that corresponds to your number (D).
Think of a country that starts with your letter (most people will think of Denmark).
Now think of an animal that starts with the second letter of your country (most people will think of elephant)."
Next, put your hand over our forehead as if some great inspiration is coming to you. Then say, "You are thinking of Denmark and an elephant." There should be varied reactions, for example:
"ho-hum" from students who have done the problem before
confusion from students who were lost somewhere in the math
amazement from participants who were thinking of Denmark and elephant
Compare the three reactions to those that occur when Jesus performs a miracle.
Assignment
Have the students read the following miracles of Jesus and write as many adjectives as they can think of to describe how people reacted to the miracles. Pause between each miracle to allow sharing of the adjectives. Write them on the board so all can see. Also ask the students to write or share how they would respond to each miracles if they were either a witness or the benefactor.
The cure of Simon's mother-in-law Mark 1:29-31)
The cleansing of a leper (Mark 1:40-45)
The healing of a boy with a demon Luke 9:37-43)
The following lesson is an adaptation of an activity that appears in Our Catholic Faith, a textbook for Introduction to Catholicism courses.
Open by praying together the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father).
Have the students form groups of five. Each group is to develop a letter petitioning the principal of the school to make changes that the group thinks would be beneficial for the school. Allow the students ten minutes to come up with a draft of their letter. Explain that the letter should have four parts: 1) salutation, 2) positive things the students want to say about the school and the principal, 3) concerns the students want to bring to the principal’s attention, and 4) a closing sentence.
After the letters are drafted, bring the students back into a large group. Have representatives from the groups describe what they wrote in each section. If time allows, hear from each group on all four parts. If not, hear from one to three groups and see if any of the other groups have anything else to add. Write the key findings for each of these four parts on the board leaving plenty of room under each part. Leave this on the board throughout the session.
Review with them the key parts of the Lord’s Prayer. Discuss with them the meaning of each part of the prayer. Ask students to share what they think each part means.
Ask the students to think back to the letters they wrote to the principal. What do those letters and the Lord’s Prayer have in common? They both have greetings, statements of praise, and petitions/requests. Have the students divide the Lord’s Prayer into each of the four suggested parts: greeting, praise, petitions/requests, and a closing. Make it clear to the students that when they pray the Lord’s Prayer they are bringing a letter of petition to God: they greet God, give him praise, request what they think they need, and close with an “amen”!
John Muir, the great U.S. naturalist and original advocate for our national park system, spent a lifetime delighting in and protecting creation and concluded that “knowledge alone will not protect nature, nor will ethics, for by themselves they do not arouse motivation strong enough to transform the exploitative patterns to which we have become accustomed. The protection of nature must be rooted in love and delight, in religious experience.”
The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a crisis that highlights the urgency of caring for the fragile relationship between humans and our needs and the earth. There is a great amount at stake in the issue as Thomas Berry described in The Dream of the Earth.
Of all the issues we are concerned with at present, the most basic issue, in my estimation, is that of human-earth relations. . . . Our ultimate failure as humans is to become not a crowning glory of the earth, but the instrument of its degradation. We have contaminated the air, the water, the soil; we have dammed the rivers, cut down the rain forests, destroyed animal habitat on an extensive scale. We have driven the great blue whale and a multitude of animals almost to extinction. We have caused the land to be eroded, the rain to be acid. We have killed ten thousand lakes as habitat for fish.
We are playing for high stakes, the beauty and grandeur and even the survival of the earth in its life-giving powers. From being admired and even worshipped as a mode of divine presence, the earth has become despoiled by the human presence in great urban population centers and in centers of industrial exploitation. . . .
Once a creature of earthly providence, we are now extensively in control of this providence. We now have extensive power over the ultimate destinies of the planet, the power of life and death over many of its life systems. . . .
No adequate scale of action can be expected until the human community is able to act in some unified way to establish a functional relation with the earth process, which itself does not recognize national boundaries. . . . Our challenge is to create a new sense of what it is to be human. It is to transcend not only national limitations, but even our species isolation, to enter into the larger community of living species (The Dream of the Earth, pp. 42-43, 50-51).
Share with your students these "12 Ways to Become Friends with the Earth." This material is taken from Activities for Catholic Social Teaching by James McGinnis.
1. See the faces of the earth. What are some of the earth’s “faces” (views—e.g., sunrise and sunset) that you enjoy? When, where, and how do you or could you see these and other faces of the earth more fully? Do you like photography? We tend to see more when we have a camera with us. And the pictures we take provide us with the faces of the earth we personally love and can be shared with others.
2. Learn her names and stories. What are some of your favorite species of animals, trees, flowers, etc., and how could find out more about them? How are you learning about the story of the earth and/or the universe as a whole?
3. “Commune-icate” with the earth. Do you have some special places you like to visit where you feel close to nature? What makes them special for you? How are you present to the earth in those places? What are you learning from the different species there? Could you visit them more regularly?
4. Touch the earth. What are some ways you can touch the earth more carefully with your hands and/or feet? Do you have or help with a garden? What opportunity do you have for hiking or nature walks?
5. Make amends with the earth. What are some of the ways you have hurt the earth and how can you more sincerely and effectively apologize and make amends for those hurts?
6. Eat with the earth. Have you ever thought of having a picnic with the earth, perhaps just you and the earth or you and another special friend? This would be a time when you would just enjoy and communicate with the earth. Where would be some good places for you to have these picnics? What would be appropriate foods to bring for such picnics? Some people like to bring fruit from the earth and some bread that they bake themselves, so that both are each contributing something to the meal.
7. Sing and dance with the earth. What songs and/or dances do you know that you can sing with the earth and/or teach others? What songs does the earth sing that you could listen to more carefully?
8. Praise the earth and her Creator. What Psalms, other biblical passages, and/or other hymns of praise do you or could you say regularly? You might even consider writing your own psalm, song, or love letter.
9. Exchange gifts with the earth. What gifts do you receive from the earth? What gifts are you giving or could you give to the earth? Lots of people plant trees as a way of giving something back to the earth. Can you do this or contribute money to help others do this? For suggestions check the website of Global Releaf: www.americanforests.org
10. Protect the earth; stand in defense of creation. What are you doing individually and as a school or faith community to protect the earth? Be sure to consider both lifestyle decisions and social change activities addressing political and economic institutions/policies that harm the earth. Check the web sites of groups like the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Wildlife Federation.
11. Make your friendship/commitment explicit. Write a letter of friendship to the earth in which you celebrate her, tell her what you like best about her, thank her for her gifts, apologize for hurting her, name how you will protect her more, and anything else you want to say. Create an “I Love the Earth” book of your photographs, postcards, and reflections.
12. Share your friend/concern with others. How and with whom could you share these items, become a public witness (“prophet”) on behalf of the earth? What about raising some of these issues at school and/or with your faith community, or perhaps an article for a school/church newsletter and/or a letter to the editor of your local newspaper? Share your “I Love the Earth” book with friends.
