So far, I’ve summarized the first 45-50 minutes of my first session with my 8th graders this past Monday evening, detailing the Engage and Explore steps of my lesson. Today, I’ll detail the REFLECT step which is designed to lead the young people to pray from within the truths they are learning. Here are the details:

• Before class began, I had set up on my prayer center, a circle of battery operated tea light candles (I purchased at CVS…very cheap).
• I had the young people put their textbooks on the floor underneath their chairs and told them that it was time to move into another segment of the class that they are going to really like.
• I introduced the concept of sacred space telling them that, as much as possible, we will spend about 15 minutes of each class in quiet prayerful time. I explained that, one by one, I will call them forward to pick up their candle, turn it on, and proceed to a location anywhere in the room (under a table, on top of a table, behind a desk, in a chair, on the floor, etc.) that they will then claim as their own personal sacred space.
• One by one, they came forward to do just that as I made sure that each location chosen was about 10-15 feet away from the nearest classmate.
• Once they were all in position, I turned the lights out and put on some quiet instrumental background music.
• I invited them to get comfortable, to put their candle down and just stare at it, and led them in some breathing exercises for about a minute and a half.
• Surprisingly they were very quiet and cooperative – usually I get a few wise guys who make wheezing sounds when I invite them to breathe deeply!
• I then led them on a guided reflection, inviting them to imagine that they were aboard the Space Shuttle, orbiting the earth. I invited them to imagine looking down at the earth below and taking in all of the beauty of God’s creation and to look at the moon and stars, thinkin about how good God’s creation is. I did this for about 2-3 minutes.
• I spoke about how we can trust God because of the goodness of his creation that he shares with us. I invited them to talk to God, thanking him for creation. I then invited them to thank God for this quiet time, for the beautiful weather we’ve been enjoying, for the peaceful sounds of the night outside our room, and so on. I did this for 2-3 minutes.
• I then allowed them to just rest in the quiet presence of God for a couple of minutes – complete silence. I finished by telling them that they most likely feel very peaceful right now and to remember that the next time they are in Church and extend a Sign of Peace to someone, that they are wishing that this person will experience the same peace you are feeling right now.
• I slowly called them back to the room, turned a few lights on slowly, and made sure we had not lost any of them to sleep! I’m happy to report that they all stayed awake! They then returned to their seats, placing their candles back on the prayer table.
• When we gathered back, I asked if this was the quietest moment of their day and all but one raised their hand. I said that this is how we are going to pray each week whenever possible – that this is a little different from how they may have prayed before but that it is a grownup way to pray. I asked if they liked it and they responded positively (no gushing or anything, just a few nods, a few “yeahs” and a couple of “uh-huhs”)

All told, we took between 15-20 minutes total for the Reflect step. I never once used the word meditation…kids can often act goofy when they hear that word. I’ll tell them in a few weeks that this is what they’re doing.

Only once during the guided reflection did I need to stop and correct some behavior. One of the boys was trying to hold back laughter and finally let loose with some giggles and guffaws. Over what, I have no idea. I just stopped and said to the whole group, “you need to resist the urge to laugh and giggle when we do this because that’s what children do and you’re not little children anymore. You need to act like young adults.” That seemed to work.

When we were all done, I complimented them on their behavior, telling them that they acted very maturely. We were now ready to move into the final step of the class, the RESPOND step, where I send them out through “my door” (remember, St. Ignatius’ advice? “Enter through THEIR door but be sure to leave through YOUR door!”) I’ll describe that experience tomorrow.

As promised, we’ll keep the conversation going from our Catechist Training Webinar by addressing the many questions that we did not get to address while live. I’m going to do so by using the COMMENTS feature below. Click on the word COMMENTS just below and to the left and you’ll see comments from Joe, each representing a different question. You can then click on REPLY to add your thoughts. Let’s talk!

When we gather with our young people for religious education classes, it’s not always easy for them to make the transition from their day into “the sacred.” One strategy is to emply some discussion starters to break the ice: questions that are non-threatening, fun, and substantive. I recommend a product created by my friends Tom McGrath and Bret Nicholaus called The Meal Box. The Meal Box is a set of 52 cards featuring questions designed to “spice up conversations and get parents and kids talking” around the dinner table. I think these would work very well in a catechetical setting as well.

Here are some samples:

If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect to?

*   *   *

If you could transport yourself back in time and experience first-hand any story in the Bible, which one would it be?

*   *   *

If you asked five people who know you to write down the one word that they think best describes you, what do you think would be the most common answer? (consider the answer carefully from their viewpoint, not yours)

*   *   *

If you could literally jump into the pages of any book you’ve ever read and experience the action along with the characters, which book would you choose?

*   *   *

If you were in charge of planning for and building a brand-new museum, what specific theme would be the focus of the museum and where do you think would be the best place to build it?

These questions could be especially helpful at the start of the year as you attempt to break the ice and get to know your students and help them to get to know one another if they don’t already.

Check it out: The Meal Box

I wish you a very Blessed Easter season!!! May the grace of the Risen Lord be with you always!

Experiencing the Triduum was a blessing as always. Holy Thursday and Good Friday were at St. Julie Billiart parish in Tinley Park and the Easter Vigil was at St. Clement in Chicago. All were celebrated with great reverence, style, and grace, and the the richness of the sacramentality of these days filled all of my senses.

I wish I could say that my class last Monday put the kids into the right frame of mind for Holy Week but it was less than successful. First, we went to church for the Living Stations of the Cross, “performed” by 8th graders. The kids involved did a nice job and, for the most part, were reverent. Keeping the others quiet and attentive was a task. They have trouble getting over the giddyness of seeing classmates in costume and resisting the temptation to make them smirk, smile, or laugh. Keeping them attentive and well-behaved for the remainder of the Stations required a great deal of vigilance.

When we got back to class, we had about 20 minutes remaining so I did a lenten activity that I had posted earlier – Looking for Clues. I placed pictures of all of the “objects” mentioned in Mark’s Passion reading inside of plastic Easter Eggs and “hid” them all around the room ahead of time and I began by sending them on an Easter egg hunt. The problem was, they were already hyped up from coming and going to church for the Living Stations, it was getting late, and they were also hyped up about beginning Easter vacation later that week. Needless to say, their behavior was not good and I had my hands full quieting them down for the last 15 minutes

Inviting 8th graders to do an Easter Egg hunt runs the risk of bringing out their "inner 4-year-old!"

while we opened the eggs one at at time and talked about the objects and how they fit into the Passion story. It was frustrating to say the least. I realized that if I were to do this activity over again, I would do it at the start of class and allow for much more time (we were too rushed) and I would have them use their Bibles to locate the objects pictured in the eggs and to summarize that part of the story for the group. As it was, the focus was on me to explain the objects. This allowed the students to assume a passive role…never a good idea! We live and learn, don’t we?

This week, we are off for Easter vacation and then the following week is the last opportunity I have to actually teach them. The following week will be a Mass and awards ceremony followed by a pizza party. So, over the next few days, I’ll be brainstorming ideas for making next Monday’s class a fitting conclusion to the year! My goal will be to build a session that expects much of THEM and requires THEM to show that they are leaving with more than they came with. I’ll keep you informed.

Hmmm…the Easter season is 50 days. Maybe I should post 50 Easter activities in 50 days? Not gonna happen! However, if you have any Easter activities to share, by all means, send them along!