Advent Retreat: Signs of the Season

There are many different signs that we all associate with the holiday season: candy canes, mistletoe, bells, cards, angels, etc.  Some of our youth spent a Saturday morning reflecting on these signs and how we can attach a more holy meaning to many of our secular signs.
We opened the retreat by making a paper chain together. Each youth stated a prayer for the retreat and added his or her loop to the chain.  The chain was made of many different colors, just as we are all uniquely made. We hung this chain in the room as a reminder of our communal prayers throughout the retreat.
Next we played a game called "The Giving Game."  This game involved two rounds of giving away and collecting pennies. It gave us the chance to reflect on which is better: to give or to receive.
After a brief break, we came together in small groups to discuss our gifts.  Each group had a gift-wrapped package that had questions written on the outside. The youth were given the opportunity to choose a question to answer and share with the group. Each person had the chance to answer two or three questions and we all got to know more about each other.
The next part of the retreat, was one of my favorites. Each small group received a bag of Christmas items. Their task was to use their imaginations to find the hidden spiritual meaning for each item and create a prayer for it. The youth came up with lots of great ideas, and hopefully, from now on when they see some of these regular every day objects, they might take a moment to stop and think more deeply about them.

We were fortunate enough to share a delicious meal together before moving on to another activity.  We read Leo Tolstoy's "Martin the Cobbler," a story about an old man who discovers that Christ is always among us.
We ended our retreat by reflecting on an empty crèche.  We added straw (in the form of paper) to the crèche with our pledges of service on them.  This was a good reminder of how we can each help to get ready for Jesus by helping those around us.
Our closing prayer was a reflection on the evergreen tree. Just as an evergreen tree stays green year round, God's love for us is always fresh and new.

More links for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany

While you are online today, why not try out some of these seasonal ideas!!

• How would you like to make a personalized book for a younger sibling or cousin for Christmas?  Try here.  You will need a color printer to complete this 30 minute project.

• Want some printables for Christmas gift giving?  Try here.  There are lots of different ideas you can print out.

• Here's a great link to a printable Nativity scene! Make this with a younger sibling, cousin, neighbor or friend. You can print the pieces in color, or print them in black and white to color yourself.  

• How about a family service project you can do together for the holidays?  Check here and make gingerbread dolls to donate to a children's hospital (think UVA) or other charity. The directions call for some simple sewing skills, but I like to cheat by using a hot glue gun!

Do you have any great ideas for the season?  Leave them in the comments or email me and I will add it to the list!

Advent

I found a neat Advent calendar on the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) website. You can access it here. It has daily readings for Advent as well as discussion topics for families, prayers and reflection topics.  Check it out! Remember, Advent starts the Sunday after Thanksgiving!

Confirmation Ropes Course

Each year, our Confirmation class participates in a Ropes Course at Brethren Woods in order to learn some valuable lessons about teamwork and ourselves. We start out with some games where we get to know each other's names. Usually the teens in the group know each other, but there are often adult sponsors that do not know everyone. This is also a great way to break the ice and get people talking. We then move into some trust activities. These are particularly important because the challenge course has some difficult activities for the group to work together on, and if we don't trust each other, it makes them much harder to do. We had several volunteers to do a trust fall with the group where they fell back into the group and we actually picked up and moved around by members of the team. It is quite fun, if you allow yourself to trust the others!

Then we had a few games that tested our listening skills, cooperation and planning. I don't want to give away the outcomes in case any of you are ever given the opportunity to play a similar game, but suffice it to say that we handled the challenge well.

We had to get to a remote village across the Amazon river and the waiting crocodiles!

After the team building activities, we moved into the woods to try our hands at some more challenging...um...challenges! Our leader, Seth, decided to take us straight to one of the more difficult challenges: The Wall. There is a very tall wall that each member of the team must get across with the help of the other team members. We had to work together to come up with a plan and then implement it. I must say that we did a really good job!

First, Randi had to explain some cheer leading moves to Meade:

Then we got started hauling people up and over the wall. Even the adults went. Here's Deacon Fred:

Everyone had to work together and takes turns helping to pull people up the wall:

We actually managed to get everyone safely over the wall! The next challenge involved getting a rope swing to swing over "the ocean" between "two ships." Sounds easy, right? Well not if the rope is stuck between both sides and you have to get it to move from a stationary position. We got that figured out, though, and everyone got to swing across.

All in all, we had a great time with the ropes course. I think the teens and adults really learned a lot about each other and themselves while working together. I can't wait to do it again next year!

Classes Start Sunday

We are gearing up for a great year and getting ready to go! Classes start this Sunday, September 13th at 6:30 PM. Be there or be square!

Diocesan Youth Conference

Check out this awesome video from the Diocesan Youth Conference this summer at William & Mary! We sent 10 youth and 3 chaperones as well as having one of our youth on the Diocesan Youth Council that planned the whole thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MykQaw4RwKg

Check out this video!

Related to the post below, I am linking an awesome promo video for Youth Conference this summer. Check it out and tell your friends:
DYC Promo Video

Youth Conference

What is the Diocesan Youth Conference?
The Diocese Youth Conference (formerly known as the Diocesan Youth Convention) is an awesome weekend event held each summer to gather high school youth from all 152 parishes located in the Diocese of Richmond to one central location. The Conference is a highly energetic, engaging, and awesome opportunity for our high school teenagers to gather as a larger Church community and celebrate the amazing richness of our Catholic Christian faith.

Who should attend the Diocesan Youth Conference?
The Conference is open to all rising 9th graders through graduating 12th graders.

Where and when is the Diocesan Youth Conference?
The Diocesan Youth Conference will be held on Friday, July 24 through Sunday, July 26, 2009 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. For many years the Convention had been held at Lynchburg College, but due to an anticipated rise in attendance, the venue has been changed to the College of William and Mary to accommodate larger numbers.

Now what?
Conference registration wil open in early June. The cost of the weekend is $145, of which Blessed Sacrament typically pays half. If you are interested in attending, please let Rabia know by emailing her at rlieber[at]bsccva[dot]com.

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