Session 02: Chapter 02 pages 19-29

Reminders:

►We had to cancel the retreat this year for 10^th graders only! Not 11^th! I am currently working on an having our 10^th graders participate in an ‘immersion’ experience with the youth and families of St. Michaels in Milwaukee. More on this later.

►Let me know if you need a map or reminders sent to kids, we can do that for you!

►Remember you don’t have to do all this material, simply emphasize the Main Objective below

Preparation Materials Needed:

► Read this lesson all the way through before teaching.

► [OPTIONAL!!:] Prepare Pan de Muerto on page 22. It takes about 2 to 3 hours of ‘rising time.’ The kids can make skulls and cross bones, it takes 40 minutes to bake. The natural tie in for Americans is Halloween-All Souls day. Honoring the dead.

Background-Main Objective:

The focus in this chapter is on indigenization, the process of allowing individual cultures to express their Catholic faith with local customs, music, art etc. We want the kids to understand that our faith (and tribe) has the same core beliefs through out the world (catholic=universal), but our practice of it varies from culture to culture.

Starter:

Ask the kids if they have grown up with an obnoxious little brother or sister, you know, the one’s who keep asking ‘why’ to every? The facilitator should play the part of the obnoxious sibling in the following discussion. The rest of the class acts as parents to the child. Pretend they are going to mass. You, the obnoxious child can begin with questions like, ‘Why is the priest walking down the aisle?” (The kids must answer each question – or try anyway) Why do we have music? Why can’t I go on the altar? Why do we stand? Why do we use smelly stuff (incense)? Etc. Be creative. The goal of this starter is to help kids to understand that going to mass has often become rote. There are reasons for the things we do at Mass. Does every Catholic in the world participate the same way? No every culture does it differently.

Lesson:

I. Divide the group into pairs or threes. Assign a set to read to themselves one of the following sections: An Irish Catholic Wake ; or A Mexican Cemetery ; or An African American Mass; or a Rural Catholic Parish ; or The Taos pueblo Catholic Church. Have the kids spread out. They are to take their section and report back to the group, in their own words, descriptions facts or details they found interesting about their section. They may also use materials in the “Call outs” like S’ster says, Your Guardian Angel etc. [During the time they report back or right after, amplify any item they bring up. Many of these practices are foreign to us white American Catholics, yet they are just as authentic as any thing we do-(Remember the obnoxious kid!)-These practices have a why behind them. These practices come from the individual culture. 70% of the worlds Catholics live in the southern hemisphere. 80% of the church’s wealth is in the northern hemisphere!]

II. [This chapter has a lot of death references in it. While we grew up with the concept of purgatory, many of these kids did not. The official teaching of the church is that purgatory, once thought of as a place, is not a place, but a ‘mental state,’ in which a person has not completely repented of their sins. {S’ster Says, page 20}. This is not to be confused with ‘limbo’ which also is not a part of our teaching any more.]

Have the kids discuss the: ”Your Guardian Angel” on page 20. This can be confusing with what I just said above. We pray that all, living and the dead, will be responsible, own up to their sins. Failure to do so prevents both the living and the dead from fully being in communion with God. Go ahead ask questions that you may not have the answers to, like: ‘Where are the dead?’ Can they hear us? Does God really listen to us when we pray for people who have already died?’ [Don’t worry questions about death and saints will be answered in a later chapter].

Pair this discussion with “For Heaven’s Sake” on page 21. “I see dead people!” Do they believe in ghosts? (natural tie in with Halloween!) Is there a difference between a ghost and an angel? How would we know.

This is also a good time to ask any kids if they have traveled to different countries and seen other catholic practices.

III. If there is time have the kids peruse the bullet points(►) on page 28 and the statistics on page 28-29. Does anything jump out at them. Do they understand that their Northern Hemisphere, white educated and wealthy view of the world, much less Catholicism is in the minority for the world’s Catholics?

Peace – Let me know how its going - Matt