OK, here’s the scoop for this coming Monday’s Confirmation intensive.
Now, before I share this, I want to make a disclaimer that I may have made before but bears repeating. The activity I’m about to describe to you took many hours – several days, actually - to plan. I want to make it clear that the average catechist is NOT expected to spend this much time planning sessions. Please remember that, for all intents and purposes, I am a full-time professional catechist (if there is such a thing) and I have the luxury of sitting at my desk all day brainstorming and then planning these types of experiences. That’s why I am eager to share them with you because most catechists are lucky to be able to spend an hour or so preparing for lessons due to something called “life!” 
Having said that, here’s what I’d like to offer. The focus of this session will be on “the SEVENS”: the deadly sins (the “poison”); the virtues (the “antidote”); and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (the “ingredients” for the “antidote”). By the way, this session draws from chapter 5 of Confirmed in the Spirit. I have found contemporary songs that speak to EACH of these items (yes, 21 songs) and the gist of the evening will be the catechists playing segments of these songs and inviting the young people to match them to the appropriate deadly sin, virtue, or Gift of the Holy Spirit that are being focused on in that mini-session. This will occur over 5 separate mini-sessions, each 10 minutes long. I’ll spare the remaining details and offer you the good stuff. Here’s my list of songs that I think speak to the 7 deadly sins, the 7 virtues, and the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, suggestions.
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Deadly Sins |
Virtues |
Gifts of the Spirit |
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Pride – excessive focus on self
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Faith – focus on God
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Courage – the strength to focus on God in the face of challenges
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Envy – resentment of others
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Charity – love of God and others
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Right Judgment – seeking the advice of others, giving advice to others
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Anger – uncontrolled hatred, acting without thinking
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Prudence – the ability to think before acting
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Knowledge – learning to think as God thinks
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Avarice – excessive desire for wealth and abundance
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Justice – a desire to make sure all can share in God’s abundance
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Wonder and Awe – marveling at the abundance of God’s love
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Gluttony – excessive desire for food and drink
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Temperance – balancing what you want with what you need
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Wisdom – recognizing what God wants for us and others
The Byrds: Turn, Turn, Turn |
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Lust – sexual desires that disrespect the dignity of others
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Fortitude – the strength to resist excessive desires
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Reverence – respect for God and others
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Sloth – lack of hope in God’s goodness
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Hope – confidence in God’s goodness
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Understanding – recognizing God’s goodness
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Note: you’ll see that I have these arranged in such a way so that the virtue is offered as an “antidote” to the deadly sin, and the Gift of the Spirit can be seen as an ingredient in that “antidote.”
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Janet 01.08.09 at 10:30 am
Wow, Joe! Thank you! I’m just working on virtues with my freshmen right now – this is perfect! One of my goals this year has been to present a variety of prayer types and tools to the kids, and I’ve definitely “found what I’m looking for!” These song selections are right on target for teens. I wonder how many have videos on Youtube. Even the chart alone is a great resource to pass along to the kids – “If you’re ever feeling ____, try listening to _____.”
Thanks for sharing your hours of work with those of us just barely getting by!
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Joe 01.08.09 at 1:40 pm
Janet, so good to hear from you. I’m sure you’re doing a bang-up job with those freshmen! That’ll be cool if you can use these tunes with them for your virtues lesson. Let me know how it goes!
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Amy 01.13.09 at 6:45 am
Wow!! I am so thankful to have “happened across” your site!! I am an 8th grade catechist and have a really tough group this year! Your site has been such an inspiration for me!! And next month we have a night class on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit – this will be perfect!! Thank you for so graciously sharing your hard work and dedication!
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Joe 01.13.09 at 9:07 am
Hi Amy and thanks for the kind words. Welcome to catechistsjourney.com!
We 8th grade catechists often feel like Rodney Dangerfield, eh? “Tough crowd! Tough crowd! I get no respect!”
I hope some of the ideas you’re finding here go a long way in assisting you in taming that group of yours! Let me know how the night class on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit goes!
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Kendall 01.19.09 at 11:01 am
Joe/Amy,
Amy, I can relate. I’m in my 8th yr teaching RE and my 5th w/ 8th grade Confirmation class. I’ve got the most unruly group ever.
Joe, this exercise may be just what I need to reach them. Thanks so much.
God Bless.
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Joe 01.19.09 at 12:02 pm
Kendall,
It just goes to show that it’s not just the new catechists who encounter unruly behavior. Here you are with 8 years experience and still finding it a challenge. I hope this activity works for you although I must warn you that it may serve to further incite unruly behavior (if you are actually going to play the songs). Keep the focus on the kids and challenge them to explain how the songs connect with the sins/virtues/gifts. Let us know how it goes!
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Stacey 01.19.09 at 6:51 pm
I love that i came across this site. A group i am involved with are curently organising a show based around being rescued from our sins. I was wondering do you have other songs expressing the sins that i could add to the ones you already have up to lengthen our performance?
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Joe 01.19.09 at 10:47 pm
Stacey, I don’t really have a “B” list of songs to offer you. Best thing to do would be to Google “songs about…” and insert the various sins and variations thereof. Then, Google the lyrics of those songs to see if they work for you. It’s a bit time consuming. Good luck!
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Karen 01.21.09 at 12:24 pm
Joe,
In my 7th/8th grade RE class, I do a religious version of the game/show “Are You Smarter Than 7/8th Grader?” I am running out of sources for the questions, and the children really enjoy this game. Any reccomendations?
Thanks, Karen
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Joe 01.21.09 at 1:51 pm
Hi Karen, I’m sure there are a number of Catholic trivia sites on the Web. In addition, I personally write the “What’s Your Catholic IQ?” feature for Catechist magazine each month – 20 multiple choice questions on various aspects of the Catholic faith. Maybe that can be of help to you.
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Debbie 02.19.09 at 9:40 am
My Religion Teacher is looking for the song that one of our teachers learned that helped them when they were preparing for confirmation to remember the the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Have you every heard the song?
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Joe Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Hi Debbie. I’m sorry but I’m not aware of a song that specficially teaches the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Anyone out there know of such a song?
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Mary Ann 08.26.09 at 7:28 pm
Thank you so much for all the music research! What a wonderful way to reach the middle- school gang – and grab their attention. We are always looking for ways to engage the students and music will reach many of them! I can’t wait to share this with my catechists.
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Joe Reply:
August 26th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Mary Ann, you’re very welcome!
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