Trusting in God’s Mercy
A topic night on the Jubilee Year of Mercy
for Youth Ministry Programs
This is a rough outline that can be adopted for your own needs.
Icebreaker
Number Clump
Have your group walk around and mingle. As they walk you yell out a number and they must gather in groups based upon that number. Once in their groups you as them all to share the response to the question you ask.
4 … best gift ever got for Christmas
3 … If you could discover 1 thing .. what would it be
6 .. 1 thing afraid your of
5 … 1 thing you hope to do this summer
Introduction
Ask the group the following questions to start your conversation
Which is easier.. trusting others .. or trusting yourself?
Which is easier … trusting God …or trusting ourselves?
Sharing
This might be long for your group. Feel free to edit for your groups needs.
Tonights topic.. Trusting in God’s Mercy…
Mercy comes from the Latin word Misericordia. Miser means misery. Cordia means heart.
So literally it means misery heart. To have Misericordia it to have a heart for someone who is in misery or heartfelt compassion.
The word compassion means to bear another person’s suffering. Mercy is heartfelt compassion.
When we forgive someone its an act of mercy. , but not every act of mercy is an act of forgiveness.
Let me explain.. so when we forgive someone that has hurt us, or made fun of us.. we are having mercy on them.
But when we have mercy on others .. say by the spiritual or corporal works of mercy – like feed the hungry, visiting the sick, ,etc ).. we don’t forgive them… but we acknowledge them in their need of mercy.
Before Original Sin .. before Adam and Eve.. there was no suffering. We had a relationship with God. Three was no hurt, no desires or anything.
Whether we realize it or not we are sinners and we suffer.
But now .. we struggle with sin. Temptations lead us away from God and from good people.. even when they may try to help us.
Lets look at a Video Clip that kind of sums this up.
VIDEO CLIP – Bishop Scene from the Movie Les Miserables
On youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhpwV4cwB4o
NOTE: you will need a TV, projector or speakers along with a lap top for this
When God shows us Mercy… we need to learn from it.
Also consider sharing the following video with them ..
https://youtu.be/mxeTa1blKNc
This video was made by teens of the Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament Church in Roseland for the Year of Mercy. It’s a light hearted look at Mercy in action.
Bible Verse .. Matthew 18:21-35 .. Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
Share the Bible Verse and then help summarize for the teens…
Servant owes 10 thousand talents… this is a very large debt.. equivalent to millions of
dollars
Servant brought before King.. can’t pay
Orders servants family, property to be sold
Servant begs.. please be merciful and I will pay you back
King is moved by compassion .. he not only lets him go.. but cancels his debt.
Servant finds another servant that owes him.. he begs the same way and forgiven servant says no
News get back to the King .. and he’s ticked !
Need to understand that its because of compassion that the king has mercy on the unforgiving servant
The unforgiving servant did nothing to deserve or earn that compassion or mercy.
The mistake of the unforgiving servant was that he demanded the friend to pay him back, and failed to understand , receive and trust in mercy of the King.
We have to learn from our sins and trust in God’s mercy. For when we don’t learn from them .. we are just like the unforgiving servant. God forgives us.. we need to learn to trust that mercy and grow from it.
With all that in mind… The Holy Father has declared a Holy Year of Mercy. It actually began Dec 8th at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.. and goes thru the church’s calendar year till November 20th – right before Advent.
Comments from Pope Francis’ Bull of Indiction
Consider sharing with the teens some of the Holy Father’s comments from the actual document on the Jubilee Year. You can access a complete copy at http://rcan.org/yearofmercy
In his Bull of Indiction released by the Vatican on April 11, 2015, Francis proclaimed that the Catholic Church’s "very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love." (Misericordiae Vultus, or The Face of Mercy, 10)
Pope Francis continued, "Perhaps we have long since forgotten how to show and live the way of mercy…The temptation ... to focus exclusively on justice made us forget that this is only the first, albeit necessary and indispensable step.” (The Face of Mercy, 10)
“The time has come for the Church to take up the joyful call to mercy once more," he writes. "It is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters. Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instills in us the courage to look to the future with hope." (The Face of Mercy, 10)
The Holy Father also takes as the motto for the holy year a phrase from Luke's Gospel: Merciful like the Father. " The mercy of God is his loving concern for each one of us. He feels responsible; that is, he desires our well-being and he wants to see us happy, full of joy, and peaceful. This is the path which the merciful love of Christians must also travel. As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other." (The Face of Mercy, 9)
So… what does that mean for you and me…
- We are called to be merciful … not be judgmental.
- Share the reality of Gods mercy with others .. those that might be depressed,
- Practice mercy .. forgive and accept forgiveness
- Practice the Works of Mercy .. help those around us .. the poor, the lonely
- Sacrament of Reconciliation is such a big part of this .. some are afraid.. don’t be!
- Learn from our mistakes and grow from them.
Teen Witnessing
Maybe consider having a Teen Witness on a time they made a mistake and how someone forgave them . Have the person share what the person did for them – the mercy they were shown and what have they learned from it.
Small Groups
Consider breaking the teens up into small groups with a leader to answer questions, or if your group isn’t too large do these as a large group discussion.
1)Can you think of a time in your life when someone showed you forgiveness and mercy? What was that like? How did you respond?
2)What do you think is more difficult - showing forgiveness and mercy, or receiving it ? Why?
3)In what areas of your life do you think you need mercy?
4)What do you think is easier trusting God or trusting yourself? Why?
5)What can you do personally in this Year of Mercy to make a difference in your life and others?
Wrap Up ..
Share with the teens the sheet on the Year of Mercy and the Works of Mercy
Prayer
Wrap up the night with something along these lines and then pray the prayer on the sheet you gave the teens.
Like the King, Jesus our King has compassion on us. He suffers with us, extends his mercy, and restores us to wholeness.
We must not make the same mistake as the unforgiving servant. We must trust in Gods mercy that we have received.
Doing the works of mercy flows from the mercy we have received.
Prayer from Card
Resources used to develop this came from
Youtube
Archdiocese of Newark Website
The Vatican Website
Lifeteen
Center for Ministry Development