Be the Change!

By Jane Angha

Purpose

This session, designed for older adolescents, takes a look at the current economic situation and gives the young people an opportunity to do something positive. Participants will look at the situation through the lens of faith which always brings thought and reflection, creativity and hope. Through the use of Church teaching, social analysis, and action, the participants will come to see God present in the world and their own important part in bringing about change. This session uses the Pastoral Circle process to look at the economic situation.

Component: Justice & Service

Session at a Glance

7:00 p.m.Welcome and Introductions

7:05 p.m.What’s Up? (Involvement)

7:20 p.m.Explaining the Economic Crisis (Exploration)

7:25 p.m.Economic Justice for All (Exploration)

7:45 p.m. Time for a Prophet (Reflection)

7:50 p.m. Voice 4 Change (Action)

8:20 p.m.Closing Prayer

8:20 p.m.Announcements and Refreshments

8:30 p.m.Good Night!

Extend the Session Ideas

  1. Invite a panel of senior citizens or refugees who have lived through tough times. Have them tell their stories and how their faith made all the difference.
  2. On the next weekend, invite teens to interview people in the parish to see how their faith has helped in the current economic situation.
  3. Take the session to the next level of advocacy. Come up with a statement on behalf of the group and send a letter to your senators or congress men and women. Have it typed up and signed by the group.
  4. Come up with some concrete ways your town or city can help with the tough times i.e., lights out, water consumption, look out for elderly and vulnerable neighbors, buy locally, reduce waste, recycle and repair, carpool, create a community garden. Write a letter to your mayor or city council. Have each participant sign the letter.

Materials Needed

  • Newsprint
  • Markers
  • Prayer table with Bible, seasonal cloth, candle, and basket
  • CD player
  • LCD projector and laptop computer (see #1 in Prepare in Advance)
  • “How to Explain the 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis to Your Kids (And Most Adults)” #7 in Prepare in Advance)
  • “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer (Continuum), available as an MP3 download:
  • Resource 1, Economic Justice for All, one for each small group of four to six
  • Handout 1, The Prophet, one copy for each participant
  • Resource 2, Time for a Prophet, five copies (one for each reader, see #3 in Prepare in Advance)
  • Resource 3, Solidarity Pledge (see #5 in Prepare in Advance)
  • Resource 4, Litany of Hope, one copy for the reader (see #4 in Prepare in Advance)
  • Video recorder or digital camera to record prophetic messages

Prepare in Advance

  1. Record different news shows that highlight current economic situations here and abroad (CNN, AC 360, etc.). You need about five minutes of news stories for the closing prayer. This will play without sound. Put on DVD or flash drive.
  1. Prepare newsprint sheets, one with each of the following words on it: Hearing, Seeing, Thinking, Feeling. Place around the room with markers near each one.
  1. Invite five participants to help with the reflection part of the session. Give each reader a copy of Resource 2, Time for a Prophet, before the session.
  1. Invite two participants to help with the closing prayer. One will proclaim the Gospel reading, and the other will lead the Litany of Hope (Resource 4).
  1. Copy Resource 3, Solidarity Pledge, onto nice paper or cardstock and cut along the lines. You will need one for each participant.
  1. Set up the room with chairs for the participants (sitting around tables will work as well). Set up the prayer space with a table covered with the cloth. On the table, place the Bible, pillar candle, and basket of Solidarity Pledge cards. During the closing prayer, the participants will be watching a short video. Your audio-visual set-up needs to work with the prayer space.

7. Download and preview the video “How to Explain the 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis to Your Kids (And Most Adults).”

Session Outline

Welcome and Introduction(5 minutes)

As participants arrive, play “Waiting on the World to Change” in the background.

Gather the group together and give a warm welcome:

Welcome! I’m happy you are here tonight. Tonight’s sessionwill be looking at what’s happening in our world right now…what is in the news and in conversations everywhere – the economy!

We will be taking a look at it and getting a chance to do something about it!

What’s Up?(Involvement) (15 minutes)

How many of you have watched the news lately? Has anyone heard what is happening with our economy? What do you think is the state of the nation today? It seems like everywhere you turn, that is all people are talking about today! What about you? What are you hearing? Or seeing, thinking, or feeling? Let’s find out.

Around the room you will see some newsprint, go to each one of the sheets and write down what you think. Make sure you write something on each sheet.

Once the young people are finished, invite them to gather back as a large group. Bring the sheets to the front of the room or go to each sheet and sum up the lists. Acknowledge each of the responses.

Sometimes news like this paralyzes people. They become fearful or worried. They are not sure if things will ever be better again. So they do things like horde… or become selfish with what they have. They might develop a mistrusting attitude toward the government, economy, business, and banks. The other extreme is to ignore it and hope it will go away.Neither is a great way to respond to the situation, so what ought we to do?Well, the Church, our church, is always about justice…seeing all sides of a situation. So that will be a good place to start.

Explaining the Economic Crisis (Exploration)(5minutes)

We’ve got a good start with your list. Now, we’re going to dig a little deeper into the issues.

Show the video “How to Explain the 2008 U.S. Financial Crisis to Your Kids (And Most Adults).”

Then say the following in your own words…

While this does not give us a complete explanation of the complexity, it does break things down for us a little bit. Since we have neither the time or the expertise to understand the whole problem, let us switch gears to understand what our faith says about the economy.

Economic Justice For All (Reflection) (20 minutes)

Divide the participants into small groups of six and assign each group one of the six principles found in Resource 1. Explain to each group that they will have ten minutes to read their principle, understand it, and then using the group responses from the newsprint, explain how this principle speaks to what we have seen, heard, felt, or thought. They should start their presentation with the following ‘script’:

First, read your principle to the group. Then say for example “We feel that selfishness has led to our economic problem, but our faith says that society has a responsibility to work for the human rights of everyone, not just ourselves.”

Give the groups ten minutes or so and then invite them to share their work with the large group.

Time for a Prophet(Reflection) (5minutes)

Invite the five readers to come to the front of the group and read from their script (Resource 2, Time for a Prophet).

Voice 4 Change (Action) (30 minutes)

Distribute Handout 1, Time for a Prophet, and a pen to each participant.

Some say that the situation in our country—and in the world—right now is the perfect setting for a prophet to enter. What if YOU have been challenged with being that voice? Who would you want to have hear the message?What would the message be? Where and how would you deliver the message? What results might you want to have happen? How would you know it was effective?

For the next 15-20 minutes, you have the opportunity to answer these questions using the same issue you had in your in your last small group activity. Some ways we get messages out today are: t-shirts, bumper stickers, commercials, yard signs, posters, advertisements, public service announcements, etc.

Gather with your small group and get to work! Be prophetic!!

Give groups a chance to come to the front and share their message! Consider recording the messages with a video/digital recorder.

These were incredible! Nice job! It is great to hear the message, but now we actually have to “be the change we want to see in the world!” – like the words from Gandhi challenge us!

The prophets remind people that God is here waiting for us to call on him for help. God’s motive is always love. God’s message is one of hope.

We might hear a prophet say:

“Things aren’t over yet!

Don’t give up!

Don’t panic! Don’t worry!

Do not FEAR!

There is enough for everyone!

Things will turn around!”

As disciples, we are called to not only believe this but to live this as well. To LIVE like we believe that and to make that happen, we have to BE the change we want to see in the world!Let’s take a few minutes to think about what we can personally do to make things better.

Distributethe solidarity pledge cards to each person (make sure they still have a pen). Give participants a few minutes to fill them out and bring them as they gather for the closing prayer.

Closing Prayer (10 minutes)

Make sure the laptop computer and LCD projector are set up for the news video presentation. Ask a volunteer to light the candle on the prayer table.

Gather

Prayer Leader: (begin with the Sign of the Cross)

Jesus,

You have called us together as Church—to be your body in the world. As a community of believer, we know that prayer makes a difference! Now, more than ever, we see the need for prayer, commitment, solidarity, and the prophet’s message. We pray tonight for your help and guidance to be prophetic voices and courageous disciples. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Start the video of news clips. This is played without sound.

Listen

Invite the reader to proclaim Matthew 6:25-33. Allow a few moments of quiet after the reading.

Respond

Prayer Leader:

Our prayer is one that starts in our own hearts, but we take it out further now to those in power who will make decisions for all of us. We pray for our political leaders and business and corporation owners… that they will be motivated by justice, lead with integrity, make decisions for the common good, and to pray for wisdom, discernment, and guidance from God.

Signal the reader to begin the litany (Resource 4, Litany of Hope).

Invite participants to come forward with their pledge of solidarity and place the card in the basket on the prayer table.

Go Forth

Prayer Leader:

May each of us leave with hope and encouragement tonight—that God is enough. Many of us leave challenged by the prophetic challenge our Church gives us. May we be a light for others and with words of hope to make a difference in the lives we touch and the world around us! Amen.

Announcements and Refreshments (10 minutes)

Thank the youth for their participation in tonight’s session. Make any needed announcements, and invite them to enjoy some refreshments. Be sure to hand back people’s pledge of solidarity so they can take them home and keep them in a prominent place.

Websites mentioned in this session were accessed successfully on March 1, 2009.

This session was written by Jane Angha, Director of Faith Formation, St. Bernard Parish, Appleton, Wisconsin. Jane also teaches Justice & Service in the Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies Program and serves as a Program Director for Young Neighbors in Action.

Resources consulted in writing this session include:

Catholic Youth Bible [Saint Mary’s Press]

Justice & Service Course Binder [Center for Ministry Development]

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 222

Prayer of Teresa of Avila

Resource 1

Economic Justice For All

Six Principles for the Economy

13. Every economic decision and institution must be judged in light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person. The pastoral letter begins with the human person. We believe the person is sacred -- the clearest reflection of God among us. Human dignity comes from God, not from nationality, race, sex, economic status, or any human accomplishment. We judge any economic system by what it does for and to people and by how it permits all to participate in it. The economy should serve people, not the other way around.

14. Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community. In our teaching, the human person is not only sacred but social. How we organize our society -- in economics and politics, in law and policy -- directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. The obligation to "love our neighbor" has an individual dimension, but it also requires a broader social commitment to the common good. We have many partial ways to measure and debate the health of our economy: Gross National Product, per capita income, stock market prices, and so forth. The Christian vision of economic life looks beyond them all and asks, Does economic life enhance or threaten our life together as a community?

15. All people have a right to participate in the economic life of society. Basic justice demands that people be assured a minimum level of participation in the economy. It is wrong for a person or a group to be excluded unfairly or to be unable to participate or contribute to the economy. For example, people who are both able and willing, but cannot get a job are deprived of the participation that is so vital to human development. For, it is through employment that most individuals and families meet their material needs, exercise their talents, and have an opportunity to contribute to the larger community. Such participation has a special significance in our tradition because we believe that it is a means by which we join in carrying forward God’s creative activity.

16. All members of society have a special obligation to the poor and vulnerable. From the Scriptures and church teaching, we learn that the justice of a society is tested by the treatment of the poor. The justice that was the sign of God's covenant with Israel was measured by how the poor and unprotected -- the widow, the orphan, and the stranger -- were treated. The kingdom that Jesus proclaimed in his word and ministry excludes no one. Throughout Israel’s history and in early Christianity, the poor are agents of God’s transforming power. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, therefore he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor” (Lk 4:18). This was Jesus’ first public utterance. Jesus takes the side of those most in need. In the Last Judgment, so dramatically described in St. Matthew’s Gospel, we are told that we will be judged according to how we respond to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger. As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental “option for the poor” -- to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This “option for the poor” does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs require the greatest response.

17. Human rights are the minimum conditions for life in community. In Catholic teaching, human rights include not only civil and political rights but also economic rights. As Pope John XXIII declared, "all people have a right to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education, and employment." This means that when people are without a chance to earn a living, and must go hungry and homeless, they are being denied basic rights. Society must ensure that these rights are protected. In this way, we will ensure that the minimum conditions of economic justice are met for all our sisters and brothers.

18. Society as a whole, acting through public and private institutions, has the moral responsibility to enhance human dignity and protect human rights. In addition to the clear responsibility of private institutions, government has an essential responsibility in this area. This does not mean that government has the primary or exclusive role, but it does have a positive moral responsibility in safeguarding human rights and ensuring that the minimum conditions of human dignity are met for all. In a democracy, government is a means by which we can act together to protect what is important to us and to promote our common values.