As a Lenten project, provide twelve-to fourteen-inch wooden crosses from a craft story to each student. Have the students design their crosses in the following way (share directions with students):
At the bottom of the vertical beam, engrave a passage from the Passion narrative in Mark 14—16.
At the top of the vertical beam, draw an image or affix an image you have collected of Jesus, the Suffering Servant.
On the horizontal beam, depict with an image or quotation that extends across the beam some of the sufferings of the contemporary world that Christ has redeemed.
Here is a simple Lenten prayer service.
Have three Bibles (mark one at Matthew 91:27-30, the second at Mark 8:22-25, and the third at Luke 18:35:43). Choose three readers and hand each one of the Bibles.
Gather in a chapel if possible. The classroom will also work as a prayer setting.
Turn off the lights and darken the windows. Tell the students to close their eyes and sit quietly for a few minutes. Say:
Imagine that you are blind. Try to put yourself back into the time of Jesus and think what it would have been like to have him cure you of your blindness. Keep your eyes closed while you listen to three Gospel accounts of Jesus curing the blind man.
Call on the readers to read their passage one at a time. Allow some quiet time between each reading.
After all the readings are finished say:
Keep your eyes closed. Hear Jesus saying now in your heart, “What do you want me to do for you?” Answer him. What do you need from Jesus? Maybe you have a blindness that needs healing, a blindness that keeps you from believing and trusting in him, or from seeing your own goodness. Or from finding a way out of a problem you are entangled with. (Pause.)
In the reading from Mark’s Gospel, the blind man was brought to Jesus by his friends. Maybe you, too, have friends or family members who need Jesus to touch them. Maybe people you love are being blinded by anger, jealousy, selfishness, drugs, or some other problem. Bring them to Jesus. Ask him to touch the blind spot in their lives and heal them. (Pause.)
I will now walk around among you touch each of you with a healing touch of Jesus. When you have been touched, open your eyes while remaining quiet. (Walk among the group, prayerfully touching each person on the shoulder. As you do this play some meditative instrumental music.)
After the song, say:
In each of the Gospel stories, those who had been healed praised God for the new gift of sight.
Project the words from Psalm 100 so that the class can see them or duplicate them on handout and pray them together:
Sing to the Lord, all the world!
Worship the Lord with joy;
come before him with happy songs!
Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us and we belong to him;
we are his people, we are his flock
Enter the Temple gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise him.
`` The Lord is good;
his love is eternal
and his faithfulness lasts forever.
Virtues are God-given powers, abilities to do moral good. They are good habits that enable us to preserver in doing the right thing joyfully. Virtues are skills in Christian living that enable us to face both internal and external obstacles as we continue our life journeys.
Lent is a time to work on virtuous living Print or project a list of virtues and then have your students do one of the assignments listed below to help them to learn and practice the virtues.
Faithful
Hopeful
Loving
Prudent
Just
Courageous
Temperate
Joyful
Peaceful
Patient
Trusting
Gentle
Kind
Chaste
Humble
Grateful
Assignments
Write a definition of each virtue.
Put a plus by each virtue that you incorporate well into your life. Put a minus by each virtue you need to improve on.
Write a sentence that begins with “I am…” for each virtue. For example, I am patient when I help my younger brother with his homework.”
Select one virtue you would like to work on. Outline five concrete steps you can take to develop this virtue.
Author and Catholic high school theology teacher Justin McClain has a new book coming out in the fall: Called to Prayer: Daily Prayers for Catholic Schools. It includes over 200 prayers to pray in a classroom. Here is a sample of one of the prayers, appropriate for use during Lent.
Prayer to Remain Steadfast During Lent
Lord, Lent is a challenging time, and we will not pretend that it is not. However, you did not expect anything of us that you were unwilling to subject yourself to. Your own time of trial in the desert set the standard for how to resist temptation and remain steadfast as we form our hearts to God’s will. Help us to grow steadily closer to you as we embrace the virtues of faith, hope, and love during Lent. Encourage us along as we walk with you, reminding us that Lent is far from a time to simply “give something up;” rather, to take on little sacrifices, which compare in no way to the supreme sacrifice that you offered by giving your life on the Cross in atonement for our sins. Strengthen us to persevere in holiness, virtue, and sanctity, seeking to do your will not only during Lent, but likewise throughout the year, as we look forward to celebrating your joyous Resurrection at Easter. We ask this in your redemptive name. Amen.
This site has several has several other prayers, guided meditations, activities, discussions, and others lessons for Lent. You can discover them here.
Lead this guided meditation with your students at the beginning of Lent. It is based on the temptation of Jesus in the desert from Matthew 4:1-11 from Time with Jesus by Thomas F. Catucci. Quiet the students. Choose some instrumental background music as needed. Begin the reading. Pause briefly at every ellipse. Pause a bit longer at each line break. Pause a bit longer than that at each paragraph break.
And we pray:
Loving God …
We come to you with open heart as we meditate.
We want to be confident of your love, but sometimes our doubt undermines our total trust.
We pray today that you will deepen our faith so that we may rely on you more completely.
We pray that your kingdom will unfold in our lives.
That your kingdom may become real
And that we too may be real.
With your eyes still closed.
Take a slow journey.
Travel to a place where you can be all alone.
Where no one else would venture to intrude.
A place where there are no distractions…nothing fancy…a place where you can think…and be still…
With your eyes closed…see the emptiness around you…like a void.
Feel the loneliness.
Know how vulnerable you are…how unprotected…you are alone with nothing else around you
And now with your eyes closed…look inside yourself and search for some kind of trust.
In your solitude…can you find any kind of trust within you?
Is there someone you trust in?
What kind of trust is it?
Who or what have you placed your trust in?
What will protect you?
Be aware suddenly that there is someone else nearby and that are not alone.
You look around…but you see no one…you are sure that someone is near…someone that you can’t see…yet you feel safe.
So just rest and relax a moment and trust your feelings.
Feel the presence of the other person.
Feel their goodness and gentleness.
Feel the presence of this person’s incredible understanding and forgiveness.
Feel the gentle softness of this love.
This feeling is like drawing near to God.
Know that God is with you…that Jesus is with you…even though you don’t see him.
Know that God is with you in a special way right now.
And rest in this loving presence of God.
Rest and be at peace.
Peace.
And still…even though you can’t see the Lord…know that he is near.
Very near.
Bur in a strange way you are still alone.
Quietly reflect by yourself what your real needs are.
Think about what you really desire for yourself…not for anyone else….but something that you really crave and have decided that you want more than anything else.
In this quiet and lonely place…with your imagination…build a scene…like a movie…build a scene that represents how or when you are tempted to satisfy your own inner cravings and desires.
Know that the needs of others will become unimportant…because your desires are stronger than theirs.
Know that deep down…you want to have those cravings satisfied.
Imagine what you must do for yourself to satisfy those longings…to get whatever you are aching for…knowing that no one will ever know what you are fully feeling.
Perhaps it is as if you are controlled by your craving.
But what you ache for.
And now you can feel the Lord…Jesus puts his gentle hand on your shoulder.
The Lord whispers into your ear.
And he tells you that he understands…he knows…because he is just as human as you.
And be at peace.
Is there anything you want to say to Jesus?
Anything you would like to?
And now Jesus tells you that he can offer you something better…he can offer you something more important.
Be still and watch the picture that Jesus draws in your imagination…of something better that he can give…something better than what you crave.
If you can depend upon the Lord…if you can trust…
Jesus hands you a gift of hope…hope that will keep you strong.
And healthy.
Hope…it is now yours…part of you…forever.
Is there anything you want to say to Jesus/
Anything you want to do?
And suddenly you are alone again…in that place of plainness.
And with your eyes closed…look inside yourself and find a time when you were unsure.
A time when you were fearful that things wouldn’t work out.
That something wouldn’t be right.
And with your eyes closed…paint that scene like in a movie…so that you stand in that situation again.
Frozen in time so you can see it again…and feel it again.
A time when you wanted to be sure that God would make everything perfect, but you had doubts.
You weren’t sure.
The doubts were too strong…you were tempted to give up…to despair.
Feel how strong those fears and doubts can be…pressuring you.
But they won’t crush you.
Because again you can feel the hand of Jesus on your shoulder.
A quiet and gently whisper in your ear.
And he asks you to trust…because if you let him…he can do wondrous things.
And he stands in the mist of your scene…to show you…to give you just a brief glimpse of what could happen…how he would let it develop if he were given the chance.
Then he whispers in your hear how much he loves you and promises that in the end…he can have something wonderful happen.
If you can trust….if you can let him be God…if you have faith.
And then Jesus hands you another gift.
This is a gift of faith to keep you strong.
And to keep you close to God.
Close.
Even in times when you have doubts…or are unsure.
Faith to keep you strong….even when things are beyond your control.
Faith.
Is there anything you would like to say to the Lord?
Anything you would like to do?
Be at peace.
Once more…return to that place of plainness where you are alone…with no distractions.
Alone.
And with your eyes closed look inside yourself and find a feeling of weakness.
That sense of being inadequate and not capable.
That feeling you would never want anyone else to see.
And if you could mask…or hide it...you would cover it with power.
Just feel the need for power so that no one can ever see the weakness in you.
Feel how secure you would be with that incredible power.
But what kinds of power would you need?
Power over others? Power to do without the support and approval of others?
Power to get others’ attention?
Power to control?
Feel that power and what you could do with it.
Paint a scene like in a movie where you can watch yourself with all that power.
How does it feel?
Once again…you can feel the Lord’s hand on your sho9ulder….that familiar whisper in our ear…the quiet and gentle voice of God that can bring your scene to its later stages.
And the Lord show you how power can ultimately hurt and control others so they are no longer fee and able to love.
And the possible darkness of power.
Power.
But Jesus wipes it away and whispers.
Listen to the Lord tell you how the Father glories in your weakness…how admitting your weakness is good and makes you more human.
How you can be more gentle.
How weakness is not threatening to others but invites them to be closer.
And how weakness and love work together to help each other to make our love strong.
To make God strong…and it becomes your strength...love can be your strength.
Loving strength.
And the Lord hands you another gift…a gift of love.
Squeeze that gift of love deeply to yourself so that it becomes part of you.
And you can feel the strength of that divine love from God.
And be at peace.
Know that you are filled with the gifts of God.
His gift of hope…his gift of faith…and his incredible gift of love…and feel the divine strength radiating from within you.
Giving you courage and giving you hope.
Is there anything you would like to say to the Lord?
Anything you would like to do?
Jesus promises you that he will always be with you…he will never leave you…even if you can’t see him…even if you can’t feel him.
Always with you.
And be at peace.
Peace.
Filled with faith, hope, and love from God…slowly return here…still filled with the gifts from God.
When you are ready you may open your eyes and reflect on all that you saw and felt…all that you have just experienced.
And know the gifts God has given to you.
And be at peace.
Peace.
Here are directions for a class prayer service for the poor. You will need a shoebox and slips of paper with the following Scripture reference, one per slip. Make enough slips so that each student has his or her own. It’s okay to repeat the Scripture references. Students should also have copies of their own bibles and a pencil. If possible, meet in a chapel for prayer. If not possible, dim the lights in your classroom to create a more suitable atmosphere for prayer.
Scripture Passages
Proverbs 13:7
Proverbs 14:21
Proverbs 19:1
Proverbs 22:2
Proverbs 28:27
Sirach 7:32
Sirach 13:21
Sirach 29:8
Sirach 31:8
Amos 2:7
1 Samuel 2:7
Matthew 5:3
Matthew 19:21
Luke 12:15
Directions
Label the shoe box with the words “For the Poor” and place it in the center of the prayer space.
When all are assembled, say:
Secular society focuses on the “beautiful people” and selling an idyllic lifestyle where women are elegant and sensual and men are ruggedly handsome. Billions of dollars are spent each year to promote this persona which includes the sale or products.
Meanwhile, a poor box in a neighborhood parish takes in only a couple of hundred dollars or less on average. (Continue telling about a parish poor box: how the money is used and at least one personal story of a poor person or family who was aided by the parish.)
We all know people who are poor in one way or another: financially, emotionally, spiritually. Some of these people may be your peers.
I am going to pass out to you a prayer slip with a Scripture passage on it. Look up the passage in your bible and see how the words speak about people who are poor. When you get your slip, read the passage quietly and reflect on its meaning. Write the name of a person you would like to pray for on the back of the slip. Pray for someone who, unlike those targeted by the advertising industry and popular media, might never attract any attention.
Pass out a prayer slip to each student. Allow about five minutes for reflection. Then call for everyone’s attention in a common area. Call on a good reader to read aloud Luke 21:1-4 (The Poor Widow’s Contribution).
Next say:
I’m going to pass the poor box (shoe box) around the room. When it reaches you share a short prayer for the person whom you named on your slip. You can pray for the person by name (“For James and his troubles at home, we pray…”) or without naming him or her (“For my friend who is not getting along with her parents, we pray…”). Your response will be “Lord, hear us.” Or, when it is your turn, you can share an insight you gained from your Scripture passage.
Choose one person to begin the prayer by passing him or her the poor box.
After everyone has shared, collect the poor box and offer a final, closing prayer for all the poor of the world or play a song with lyrics that speak of paying special attention to the needs of the poor.
We struggle to remain “awake” and alert at the time of Jesus’ agony. In that agony we discover our ability, because of God’s gift, to minister to the disciples and to Jesus. We then become empowered to minister to others in our lives. This meditation comes from Luke 22:39-46. Have your students find a comfortable place and close their eyes. Read the meditation. Pause slightly on each ellipse. Pause slightly longer on paragraph breaks. Total time: 11 minutes.
And we pray:
Almighty God in heaven …
There are times when our path seems confusing …
When the direction we take is uncertain … when the course we should choose is unclear …
We get confused because we’re not sure how things will work out …
Or what the future holds …
Or what we can do now to make things better later …
We try to trust in you …
We want to put our faith in you …
But what can be scary …. when we’re not certain of your will for us …
when we’re unsure of what is best …
As we meditate … send us your Holy Spirit to guide us … to teach us …
That we might learn deeper trust …
Deeper faith …
That we might act with greater love …
Greater hope …
With your eyes still closed …
Take a slow deep breath …
Let it fill you …
And again …another breath …
Slowly and deeply …
A breath which makes you lighter and lighter …
When you feel weightless …
Exhale the air slowly … silently …
Letting the air propel you … back in time …
Far away in the distance …
To ancient Israel … to the time of Jesus Christ …
It’s early evening …
You find yourself on a high knoll …
Overlooking a valley that leads to the walled city of Jerusalem …
ahead of you …
And in the bright moonlight you can make our the city’s silhouette …
With its towers … and angled stone buildings …
Squeezed together and protected by an enormous wall …
The night air is refreshing … a cool breeze gently twists and turns …
The sky is crowded with stars …while the moon casts long shadows …
But the city seems strangely quiet … eerie …
As if something important were about to happen …
Something that no one is prepared for …
From where you are on the knoll …
You can just make out a group of travelers …
Walking from Jerusalem …
In your direction on a dirt road …
You can see that they will soon come to a fork …
When they reach it they pause …
And one of the group motions the rest to follow him into a garden …
They move through the opening of the protective stone wall … through the
gate and into the garden … lush and peaceful … private … secluded …
And you join them there … walking with them through the old cluster of
Olive trees … trunks thick and twisted … rugged braches hanging low …
Most of the group sit under the outside edge of trees … huddled together …
their cloaks pulled close to their chins … staying warm … getting comfortable …
The oldest of the group … Peter … points out a solitary figure over to
one side … near a well …
Peter tells you how that man had been welcomed into Jerusalem with
cheering … earlier in the week …
He had talked about the end being near … about how everything would
change now … since he was coming into his kingdom …
Everyone thought he meant that he would lead a fight to get rid of the
Romans … but he didn’t …and the mood of the people began to change …
They aren’t cheering anymore …and the man has many powerful enemies
here in Jerusalem …
It’s getting confusing …
Then he talked about betrayal … the man said someone would
betray him … one of his best friends …how could a friend betray
another friend? …
Now we don’t know who to trust …
We got into an argument …we accused each other …
He tried to bring us together for the Passover meal … but now we suspect
each other …. we are angry …
Do you understand Peter? … Do you know what he is trying to say about
being betrayed by friends?
Sometimes our friends are really against us … when we think they are
supporting us…
They can turn against us … as if all they really cared about was themselves …
And we become disappointed with their selfishness … their greed …
And become so very angry at how they ruined everything …. And we feel like
we’ve lost all control …. And that we are at their mercy …
Has anything like that happened to you? …
Is there anything you would say to Peter? …
Anything you could do to comfort him, soothe his hurt feelings? …
Bring him peace …
Peace …
Another of the group … the one with reddish hair … Thomas tries to
explain to you how that man had said that everything would change …
now that he was leaving …
But he won’t take us with him … he is leaving us alone … with no way to
find him …
Thomas tells you about how he has come to depend on this man …
How he learned to trust him …
How he made plans … knowing that he would be part of those plans …
And now he says that is leaving … soon he’ll be gone … and all our plans
will be destroyed … all my dreams will vanish …
Do you understand Thomas? … Do you know what he is trying to say about
the fear of having our friends leave? …
Our hopes fade like the morning mist … and vanish …
And we are left alone … empty … with dry tears and deep sadness … we
want to sob … but we hurt too much … and are drained of all our
strength …
And we become fearful about how we will continue without them …
when nothing will ever be the same … and we know we will suffer terrible
loneliness when they’re gone …
Has that ever happened to you? ….
Is there anything you would like to say to Thomas? …
Is there any way you could comfort him? …
Bring him peace …
Peace …
And then the youngest calls out for your attention … a very young
teenager … John waves you over to him …
And he begins to tell you how he wanted to help the situation …
because he had insights …and he knew what to do …
But nobody would listen …
Nobody would pay attention to him … they just ignored him … because he
was the youngest … they thought he didn’t know anything … they took
him for granted … even though he was the only one that
really understood …
Nobody would give him credit or acknowledge him …
And John … with great frustration … suddenly crosses his arms over
his chest …
As if closing himself off … as if protecting himself from more hurt …
from being ignored …
Can you understand John? … Do you know what he is trying to say about
being ignored or not having your opinions respected? …
Think about how you feel when people won’t accept your knowledge or
experience … and you become very frustrated …
And they treat you as if you are insignificant …
Saying that you’ll know better when you get older …
And until then … they continue to treat you as if you were invisible …
Or maybe they pretend that they are listening or agreeing … but all they
time … they’re just trying to pacify you … because they think they have
the right answer in spite of you …
And you want to tell them how ignorant they are … but it wouldn’t matter …
because they surely wouldn’t listen to that either …
Has anything like that ever happened to you? …
Is there anything you could say to John? …
Is there any way you could comfort him? …
And be at peace …
Peace …
As the group becomes drowsy … yawning … falling asleep … snoring …
You slowly walk over to the solitary man … who is at a distance …
near the well …
As you quietly approach him from behind …
You notice that the heavy robe he wars is soaked with sweat …
his hair is dripping … stringy and matted …
He rubs his hands together … twisting and turning them in his anxiety …
His breathing is erratic … alternately deep and shallow …
breathing in gulps or sips …
You stand next to him …
He looks up with his bloodshot eyes … skin shining in the moonlight …
his lip trembling … and he begins to shiver …
Tears have streaked his face …
And he tells you that he is scared …
Scared ….
Nothing has seemed to work out the way he wanted it …
His friends seem to have forgotten everything he said to them about
the kingdom …
They fight and quarrel … argue over who is the greatest …
Money and possessions are more important than anything …
He had hoped to change people’s hearts … end fighting and cruelty …
establish God’s justice … usher in God’s return to his world … this world …
And now … at the end … hoping to find healing love in the hearts of those
around him … he instead finds overwhelming sin …
And he wonders if he has done something wrong … he fears he has
failed miserably …
He’s afraid he is a disappointment to his heavenly Father …
And there is no time left to change things …
And he would rather have another chance … or more time …
But his only choice seems to be to pay the price for all the sin that remains …
to suffer for those who still sin … to take that sin upon himself and
destroy it by letting his own life be destroyed …
He has to die …
“If only there were another way,” he says …
“Some way other than suffering because of others …
Bearing all the pain that they have caused …
Suffering the refection even of those who claim to love me …
My friends abandon me when I need them most …
I don’t think that I am strong enough to endure all that” …
And Jesus begins to sob … his hands shaking, hiding his face …
as if he were humiliated to have you see him at this
difficult hour of his life …
You can hear him murmur that there is no other way … and that somehow
he will just have to trust … to surrender to the Father … to trust that
God the Father can make sense of whatever seems confusing …
Then he looks up … exhausted … bone weary … hand trembling …
He extends his hand to you … silently … waiting … hoping …
Is there anything you would like to say to the Lord? …
Is there anything you can do for him? …
Can you bring him peace? …
Peace …
Know that you’ll have to let go …
You’ll have to let Jesus continue on his own …
To fulfill the mystery of his earthly life as the Father has led him … alone …
But know that he continues on with the gift of your spirit …
your caring and concern …
Know that you have an incredible ability to comfort others …
to give people strength … because of what you have endured yourself …
Bring that gift of caring for others with you … and with stillness in your
heart … return back here …
Leave the garden at the Mount of Olives …
And return here …
Knowing that you are not alone …
Knowing that you are with others …
Others with the same ability
Able to offer you the kind of caring and support that you need from them …
And be at peace …
When you are ready you may open your eyes …
But please don’t speak to anyone …
Or distract anyone from reflecting on the power they have to comfort
people in their time of need …
In their time of need …
Their need for you.
Originally published in Time With Jesus: Twenty Guided Meditations for Youth by Thomas F. Catucci.
As Holy Week approaches for 2015, the Passion of Christ is more present in our midst than ever. Around the world, Christians have been martyred in recent months, weeks, and days. Share several articles that detail news coverage of the events, prayers offered on the martyrs' behalf, and prayers for all persecuted Christians. After your students read each article, ask them to offer comment. If possible, have them write comments or prayers online directly below the article. If not possible, have them label their comments according to each article they have read and turn them in to you. Finally, have the students write their own prayers for these contemporary Christian martyrs and for peace in the world.
Here are a few recent articles to help you begin. Search other Catholic, Christian, and general news sites for other articles to further this activity.
1. A Testimony Which Cries Out
2. Two church bombings in Pakistan; Pope, bishops lament persecution of Christians
3. Names of 21 Christian Martyrs
4. Pope Francis Offers Mass for 21 Christian Martyrs
5. Palm Sunday Prayer to Remember Christian Martyrs
6. United States Catholic Bishops Call for Prayer Amidst Persecution and Violence Against Christians
7. Address by Bishop James D. Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.
