Overview: In the bible, Matthew tells us:

When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you (6:6).

For many people, especially middle schoolers, piety, or religious reverence, might seem like a lost art. With the busyness of our lives, taking time to be quiet and listen to God can seem like a nice idea, but not realistic. However, everyone’s faith needs a personal, devotional expression that brings that person in God’s presence.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
In addition to the liturgy, Christian life is nourished by various forms of popular piety, rooted in the different cultures. While carefully clarifying them in the light of faith, the Church fosters the forms of popular piety that express an evangelical instinct and a human wisdom and that enrich Christian life (1679).

The gift of piety helps to bring us into a deeper intimacy with God. When we spend time in solitude, in devotion to God, it will begin to promote a child-like trust in God through the emotions and sentiments, and we find ourselves more able to help others. We must remember that our faith is made up of both Scripture and Tradition. In order to grow in our faith and deepen our relationship in both of these areas, we must spend time in community, but also alone in the quiet of our hearts.

Scripture: Matthew 6:5-8

Songs:

Questions:

• How would you explain the gift of piety?
• Why do you think that God asks us to be pious?
• Why is spending time alone with God important to your relationship with him?How do you think that spending more time alone with Jesus will help you to be a better Christian to other people?
• Some people might say that being pious is boring. How would you respond to that?

Handouts: Meditation

Overview: The knowledge we are given by the Holy Spirit is quite different than the worldly definition of the word knowledge. The Holy Spirit does not bless us with a plethora of information that no one else has. However, it does give us a new perspective, that comes from the experience of faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!”’ This knowledge of faith is possible only in the Holy Spirit: to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit. He comes to meet us and kindles faith in us. By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally, the life that originates in the Father and is offered to us in the Son (683).

Knowledge gives us the ability to admit the overwhelming greatness of God, which sometimes means accepting that there are divine truths that are not able to be completely grasped. It admits that there is a far greater reality than we will ever be able to explain. However, through this gift of the Holy Spirit, we can come to know of God’s truth and through his creations, come to understand him more.

Knowledge sees how things really are, from a God’s eye perspective. Knowledge can admit that bad things can happen to good people. Knowledge can admit in a reality much bigger than us. The world might say that “seeing is believing”, but knowledge would say that “believing is seeing.” As the bible tells us, it is God’s desire that we come know and understand his truth the gift of knowledge that comes from his Holy Spirit:

First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-4, 2 Corinthians 4:8-18

Songs:

Questions:

• Explain another situation in your life when you’ve had to look at something in a new way before you could see the good in the situation.
• Are there any things in your life that you need to see the way God sees them, rather than the way you see them?
• Why does God give us the gift of knowledge?  Why does he want us to step back and try to see things from his perspective?
• If you had to explain to a middle schooler who didn’t go to church what the gift of knowledge is, what would you say?

Overview: As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. “The Lord is my strength and my song.” “In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (1808).

The gift of fortitude that is given to us from the Holy Spirit, is basically a gift of courage. Receiving the gift of fortitude does not mean that we will never experience fear. However, it does mean that we will have the strength to remain firm in hope against all pressures, even death. Fortitude also gives us the strength to refuse to believe anything but the truth that comes from Jesus Christ. Fortitude allows us to live lives of authentic faith.

In the life of a middle schooler, the gift of fortitude will allow them to truly stand up for their beliefs, even in the face of adversity. They are faced with a series of pressures from their peers, from our culture, and from the media on a daily basis. As Catholics, with the fortitude of the Holy Spirit, we can stand up against these pressures, staying faithful to the truth of our Lord.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-24

Songs:

Questions:

• How do you feel when someone is pressuring you to do something that you know isn’t right?
• Do you think that most middle scholars give into peer pressure or stand up against it?
• What are some of the pressures that are put on us by the media or by our culture?
• Think about a lie that we are told in the media. How do you know it’s a lie?
• What is the truth that God tells us about that lie? How can you use the gift of fortitude to stand up for the Christ’s truth when you are at school?

Overview: One of the greatest signs of God’s love for us is in our free will. As it says in Sirach, “When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice” (15:14). With that freedom comes the responsibility to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to God. Sirach continues:

If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man’s every deed. No man does he command to sin, to none does he give strength for lies (15:16-20).

The gift of counsel allows us to be open to the inspiration and guidance of God and the Holy Spirit. It helps us to discern how to apply or live out our relationship with Christ in specific situations. Often times it is there simply to remind us what we already know, and that is that God is with us and he wants to help us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains how we use the gift of counsel in union with our free will:

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. “God willed that man should be ‘left in the hand of his own counsel,’ so that he might of his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (1730).

Through a healthy, balanced faith life that is rooted in prayerful solitude we can begin to place all things in the context of God’s divine love. The gift of counsel allows us to think clearly and simply when we need to figure out where the spirit is leading us.

[…] In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” We ask insistently for this loving plan to be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven (CCC: 2823).

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11

Songs:

Questions:

• Did anything interesting come out of your silent time with God?
• What is one area in your life that you need guidance from God?
• Where do you think the majority of middle schoolers go for guidance in their lives?
• If you had to explain the gift of counsel to someone who wasn’t here tonight, how would you do that?

Handouts: Looking for Guidance

Overview: According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“Faith seeks understanding”: it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of faith opens “the eyes of your hearts” to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the center of the revealed mystery.  “The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.” In the words of St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.” (158).

There are many things in this world, and mysteries within our faith, that are often beyond our human comprehension. The gift of understanding that is given to us by the Holy Spirit allows us to see things in the light of faith, on every level of existence. The gift of understanding helps us to accept certain mysteries based on the revelation that God is God and we are not.

As Catholics, using the gift of understanding challenges us to see things with the eyes of our hearts, rather than with our intellect or rationale. When we use the gift of understanding, we can see the hand of God at work everywhere in our world, even in those places it can be hard to see.

Scripture: 1 Kings 3:5-12

Songs:

Questions:

• How would you explain what it means to “see with the eyes of your heart”?
• Do you think it’s possible to see God in everything that happens in this world?
• What are the things or places or situations in which it is easy to see God?
• What are the things or places or situations in which it is harder to see God’s presence?
• How can the gift of understanding help us to deal with parts of our faith that we don’t quite understand?
• Who is one person that you need to be more understanding with?
• What are some practical things you can do in order to be more understanding?

During the Edge Night, we watched a clip from the movie Jesus of Nazareth.  To view the clip, click here.

Overview: in the New Testament, we learn that wisdom becomes God’s own word incarnate in Christ, so it becomes a gift of the Spirit.  Through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, Christ is alive and active in all of us:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.  What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race (John 1:1-4).

The gift of wisdom is one that should be sought eagerly, however it is not easy to attain. Wisdom is a light that helps guide us through the darkness of this world. When we use wisdom we learn to make choices based on God’s perspective and the needs of other people, rather than our own wants and desires. Wisdom helps us to think and act in ways that allow us to live a life that is pleasing to the one who created us.

Scripture: Wisdom 6:12-15

Songs:

Questions:

• How is being wise different than intelligence?
• What do you believe are the reasons you think the Holy Spirit blesses us with the gift of wisdom?
• How do you know if God wants you do something or not do something?
• How would the world be different if people made all their decisions based on what God wants, rather than what they want?
• Based on a certain gift or talent you’ve been blessed with, what is something that you think God might want you to do with your life to serve other people?

Overview: In order to truly be Christian, one must recognize the reality that the devil is present in the world. The temptations we face in life are a tactic used by the devil to pull us away from God. The devil desires for us to reject God and seeks to destroy our relationship with Christ. Life is a constant battle between good and evil.

A life rooted in prayer is one way to stand up to the temptations of the devil. God promises us: “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Prayer is the
way out that allows us to bear the trials of temptation. God also provides for us protection from above:  From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.” Already her on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God (CCC 336).

One such angel is Michael, the archangel. Michael has battled the devil and won.  When we call on the intercession of St. Michael, we ask that we too may be blessed with this desire to stand up to the temptations of the devil.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13, Psalm 91

Songs:

Questions:

• What are some temptations that middle school youth face on a daily basis?
• Why do you think people give into temptations?
• What do you think will happen to you the more you stand up against temptation?
• How do you think prayer can help you deal with temptation?
• How does it make you feel that God tells you that you have a guardian angel watching over you?  Does that change the way you act or think?

Handouts: Prayer of St. Michael

Overview: The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:
The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all “thanksgiving” (CCC 1360).

As Catholics, we are blessed to be able to receive the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist each time we go to Mass. The sacrifice of the Mass is one of true thanksgiving. We also have the opportunity to offer our homage and thanksgiving to the real presence of Christ in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

Adoration is a distinct form of prayer separate from prayers of petition, confession or intercession. It is a form of prayer that allows us to take time in reverent silence before our Lord. The word is derived from the Greek word “adorare,” which means, “to do homage” or “to worship.” It is perhaps the highest type of worship we can offer our Lord. Through time spent in Adoration we are able to develop a more intimate relationship with Christ, by allowing Him to speak to our hearts and by thanking Him for not only our lives, but for giving His life for our sake.

Scripture/Handouts: Scripture

Songs:

Questions:

• What are some other words for “Adoration” or “adore?”
• Why is it important that we take time to adore God?
• Have you ever experienced Eucharistic Adoration before?  What was the experience like for you?
• If you had to explain to someone who was not religious what the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration is, what would you say?
• How do you think spending more time in Eucharistic Adoration can help people grow closer to Jesus?

Objective: To pray the rosary and learn how prayer with the Virgin Mary will always point them to Christ.

Overview: As Jesus was dying on the cross, He presented His mother to His disciple and to all of us by saying, “Behold your mother” (John 19:27).  Today, we still view the Blessed Virgin Mary as mother to us all.  As with any mother, we can turn to her for guidance and prayers and we look to her to show us the way to her son.

Everything Mary did pointed to Jesus.  Her fiat is the perfect example to us all of what it means to trust in God and follow His plan for our lives.  We should give thanks to Mary for all she has done.  We trust that she hears us and offers our prayers and petitions to her son Jesus.

One of the most popular ways to connect with our mother in prayer is through the rosary.  Through the repetition of the Hail Mary and meditation on the different mysteries, we are able to enter into a form of contemplative prayer in which we can find ourselves praying both with and to Mary.  What a blessing the Catholic Church has in our mother, to lead us into deeper communion with our Father.

Scripture: John 19:27, Luke 1:26-49

Songs:

Questions:

• Have you ever prayed the rosary before?  What was your experience like?
• Do you have a relationship with Mary?  Why/why not?
• Why do you think Mary did what she did?  What do you think was the hardest part for her?
• Mary was young when God called her to give birth to Jesus.  What do you think is one thing God might be asking you to do with your life, so you can live for him?

Handouts: The Rosary.

Overview: Often Jesus makes things quite simple for us, as He did with this prayer that He taught us, which we call the Lord’s prayer or the Our Father.  The disciples asked Jesus how to pray and He gave them the words to use (Matthew 6, Luke 11).  Through this prayer we learn what God wants us to focus on in our prayer lives:

The Lord’s prayer is the most perfect of prayers… In it we ask, not only for all the things we can rightly desire, but also in the sequence that they should be desired. This prayer not only teaches us to ask for things, but also in what order we should desire them (CCC 2763).

In the book of Matthew, we find Jesus teaching the Our Father at the heart of his Sermon on the Mount, in which he instructed his followers on the ways to live a holy life.  It is through living out the words of this prayer that we may come to live holy lives as well.  The Sermon on the Mount is teaching for life, the Our Father is
a prayer, but in both the one and the other the Spirit of the Lord gives new form to our desires, those inner movements that animate our lives. Jesus teaches us this new life by his words; he teaches us to ask for it by our prayer.  The rightness of our life in him will depend on the rightness of our prayer (CCC 2764).

The Lord’s Prayer is so special because it comes to us directly from our Lord.  As we come to a deeper understanding of the meaning of the different aspects of this prayer, we will become able to connect more closely with our Father and comprehend more completely what he desires for our lives.

Scripture: Matthew 6, Luke 11

Songs:

Questions:

• Is it easy for you to think of God as a father? In what ways is God similar to earthly fathers?
• God calls us to be holy. What are specific things you can do on a daily basis to be more holy?
• Do you trust that it is God’s will to always take care of you?
• When we ask God to “give us our daily bread,” what are some things this can mean besides actual bread?
• Have you ever forgiven someone that has hurt you? How did it feel to let go of the anger you had toward that person?
• How can you offer God’s peace to someone who is going through a troublesome time in his or her life?

Handouts: The Lord’s Prayer