First Week of Advent

Last night we talked about Advent and waiting...and began the night with these two (awesome) videos:

Prayer Time with Fr. Ron

Last week Fr. Ron led our group in praise and worship and introduced us to a new song:




After quiet prayer time, Fr. Ron then talked to us about a line in St. Paul's writings:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Fr. Ron went on to say that God can make good out of the bad things in our life, such as mistakes we've made, the hurt we've felt by friends, other circumstances we can't control. We wouldn't be who we are today if we didn't have those tough moments in our lives, but we also have to let God work with them and He will show us the light from these situations. If we truly love God, then He will work good in our lives. That's a pretty awesome reassurance!

Conversion

In the first four chapters that we have read of Acts we have seen multiple instances where thousands were converted to Christianity (often at one time!). What does conversion look like in our own lives? We talked about conversion in general; sometimes it's from one religion to another (such as those in RCIA who are converting from a different faith/denomination to Catholicism), but other times it's small things that change our hearts and our minds. We can look to the Saints for great conversion stories, how God touched their hearts and lives.

We then spend time reflecting on our own conversion stories and faith journeys. Everyone was given writing tools, a set of questions, and some prayer cards to reflect on if they finished the questions early. They spread out over the youth center. After about 20 minutes we gathered back together again and discussed some of the questions they were given. Below are some responses that were recorded:

How can you open yourself up to conversion moments?

• Listen
• Take it to heart
• Spend time by yourself/alone
• Be around people who are proud of their faith
• (and also those who aren't, because then you're forced to take a stance for your faith)

What can you do to strengthen conversion moments?

• Keep your heart open
• Surrender yourself to God
• Listen and not question everything
• Praise and Worship
• Trust God

What are you seeking in your faith journey?

• To be dependent on God
• Be anchored by God, to know where they are in this world
• Challenges (helps them grow in faith)
• To listen
• For God to be the complete center, to feel His presence everywhere, to have their faith rub off on others
• Strength for tough moments
• To know that they're not the only one, that God is there

Bible Study on Acts 3-4

Intro to Chapter 3:
The Christian leaders continued to participate in Jewish worship. The members of the Christian movement saw what God was doing among them simply as the fulfillment of his purposes for Israel. Jesus is the Messiah, the one whom God designated to save Israel. To an outside observer, Jesus’ followers would have looked like a renewal movement within Judaism. So Peter and John feel perfectly natural about praying with their fellow Jews in the temple.
Read Acts 3:1-10

• What would you do if you saw a miracle like this happen?


Read Acts 3:11-26
• What sticks out to you in his speech?

• What parts would you use to defend your faith?


Read Acts 4: 1:22

Peter is “filled with the Holy Spirit.” This does not refer to a sudden burst of holiness or a spiritual experience but to the help that God is giving him to give testimony to Jesus. In Catholic tradition this sort of divine assistance is called “actual grace” – grace to take on the action or task at hand. In his address, Peter wants to make it absolutely clear that Jesus alone is God’s agent for dealing with the human race.

• Where do you most need “actual grace?”
• How could you cooperate more with the Spirit in this part of your life?


Read Acts 4:23-37


Discussion on Courage:
Who/what is an image of courage to you?
How can you be more courageous in sharing the faith?
What sticks out to you in the lyrics of the song "Courageous?" (video below)


Closing Prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful; enkindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of your Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of your faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Community Life: Carry Hope

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need. Acts 2: 44-45

After reading the first two chapters from the Book of Acts, we extended the last few verses by first celebrating the "Eucharist" together and then we focused on community life. A while back the middle school youth group, Ignite, did a service project of bringing in items for our parish Social Ministries and for Catholic Charities. The latter has a project called Carry Hope: they give out purple reusable bags with a list of items they are to be filled with, and when they are returned, they give them to individuals and families in need of basic necessities (hygiene products and food). We didn't complete all the bags, so the WND group each brought in 5 items that were needed to finish the bags. We worked on that and also putting together simple hygiene kits for the first part of the night - after we had praise and worship with Br. Ron!

During the second part we watched the Josh Hamilton I Am Second video (it came up in discussion while filling the bags). We talked about I Am Second and a few other things, such as the artwork in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (it was kind of a random night!). We closed out the night by reading the gospel for the upcoming Sunday and briefly reflecting on it. 

Check out the video below, Josh has a powerful story:

Eucharist in the Early Church

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Acts: 2:42

While our celebration of Mass and the Eucharist has its roots in Scripture, it is very different today from what the Apostles and early Christians would have done 2,000 years ago. We tried our best to recreate what would have happened soon after Christ ascended into Heaven and at the beginning of the early Church.

I explained that they would have celebrated the "breaking of the bread" or the "Lord's Supper" during a meal. Bread and fish were very common to eat (but instead of fish I set out green grapes). We also substituted wine for sparkling apple juice. We also had goat cheese and a garlic balsamic dipping sauce for the bread (also common to have).

At their meals, they would have shared stories about Jesus, especially his death and resurrection. We read about the death of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and then what happened at the Last Supper, where we get the words used at Mass, from 1 Corinthians. 

There is a very early Christian writing called The Didache; they believed this was passed down from the Apostles. It is very short, but in it can be found the words of blessing they would have used before breaking bread and sharing the wine.

Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way. First, concerning the cup: 

We thank You, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your Servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever... 

And concerning the broken bread: 

We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever... 

But after you are filled, give thanks this way: 

We thank You, holy Father, for Your holy name which You did cause to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory forever. You, Master almighty, did create all things for Your name's sake; You gave good and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to You; but to us You did freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Your Servant. Before all things we thank You that You are mighty; to You be the glory forever. Remember, Lord, Your Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Your love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Your kingdom which You have prepared for it; for Yours is the power and the glory forever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the Son of David! If anyone is holy, let him come; if anyone is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.

After we said the blessings, shared the "wine" and broke the bread and ate, we all shared something we were thankful for; and then we wrote down as many things as we could think of that we were thankful for (since Eucharist means to "give thanks"). 

It was a blessed night as we came together as a community, just how the early disciples would have for the Lord's Supper.

Bible Study on Acts 1-2

We began the night with a quick introduction to Acts of the Apostles:

 

 

Overview of Acts

• Written by same author as the Gospel of Luke (two books flow together)
• Written around AD63 for a Gentile/Greek Christian audience
• Chapters 1-12 narrate the leadership role of Peter in establishing the Church
• Chapters 13-28 narrate the missionary efforts of Paul in expanding the Church

 

The Book of Acts traces the first 30 years of Christian history from the Ascension of Jesus in Jerusalem to the imprisonment of Paul in Rome. It is Luke’s intention to continue the story of Jesus through the life and mission of his first disciples. Though it is also the work of a careful historian, whose accuracy and reliability are increasingly confirmed in modern research, acts is far from being a lifeless chronicle of facts and figures. Luke has given us an artful narrative filled with inspiring heroes, moving speeches, and daring adventures. Many scholars content that Luke is mainly interested in the activity of the Holy Spirit. We see this from the beginning, where the Spirit descends mightily upon the apostles and sends them out to evangelize Israel and the Gentiles with the good news that Jesus is risen. Thanks to the Spirit, who controls the pace and direction of these missions throughout the book, the gospel meets with staggering success, and the Church is quickly built up. Luke shows us that, even in the face of opposition, neither prisons nor persecutions nor plots could thwart the spread of the gospel through the power of the Spirit.

 

 

We then read chapters 1 and 2 from Acts (which you can find here).

 

After reading, we discussed some of the following questions:

 

• Peter calls his listeners to change how they think about Jesus. How has your picture of Jesus changed over the years? What has contributed to the change? What implications has your changing picture of Jesus had for your life? What might you do to give Jesus an opportunity to reveal more of himself to you at this point in your life?
• What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Who do you know that seems filled with the Spirit? How do you experience the presence of the Spirit in your life? How can Christians make themselves open to the Spirit?
• Where in your life do you see signs of God’s activity? How might God be calling you to cooperate with what He is doing?

At the end of our time, we brought out birthday cake to celebrate the birthday of the Church, but also summer birthdays of two girls in our group. And everyone got two bookmarks with two prayers to the Holy Spirit:

 

 

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen.

 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

 

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.