Hope

April 23rd, 2017

Purpose: To describe what Hope really is and how to persevere in hard times.

Reminders before class:

  • Make sure videos are working
  • Prepare a story about when you went through tough times but you retained your Hope in God, or how God turned your struggles into something good.

What Devyn Needs to Prepare:

  • Put videos on the website
  • Pieces of paper for prayer box

Outline:

5:30-6:30pm: Youth Mass

6:30-7:00pm: Snacks, icebreaker, opening prayer in dining room

7:00-7:10pm: Gather Time in classroom

  • Welcome the teens
  • Take attendance
  • Ask the teens how their Easters were and if they did anything special to celebrate

7:10-7:15pm: Introduction to the night

  • Remind the teens that the week before last we talked about Faith.
  • Tell them that tonight we will talk about Hope and next week we will talk about Love.
  • Tonight we will talk about what Hope really is, how to hold on to it in tough times and how to follow through with goals for ourselves.
  • Ask the teens to name things that they are hoping for right now (ex: to do well on their tests, to win their game, to get into a good college, etc.)

7:15-7:35pm: Bishop Barron Video

  • Tell the teens that Hope is much more than wishing for something. Hope is having a true trust in God, even when times are rough.
  • To give us a reminder about Faith, to tell us about Hope and to give us examples about true love we are going to watch a video with Bishop Barron.
  • Tell the teens that the Bishop uses big words sometimes but he has a great overall message that they should be able to mostly understand at this point in the year. However, if they have any questions about the words he uses encourage them to ask questions.
  • Watch “Bishop Barron on Faith, Hope and Love” by Bishop Robert Barron [10:06]
  • After the video discuss the following questions:
  • What did Bishop Barron say about Faith that reminded you of our discussions from last week?
  • What do you think about Bishop Barron saying “Hope is not naïve optimism; Hope is the conviction that God is the Sovereign Lord?” What do you think that means? (you might need to explain what naïve and conviction mean)
  • Do you believe that God is really in charge of His creation? What examples do you have to prove this?
  • What insight about Love did you enjoy Bishop Barron talking about? What are you looking forward to discussing next week about Love?

7:35-7:50pm: Why do bad things happen to good people?

  • Ask the teens if they have ever wondered “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
  • Ask them to share their insights on this question
  • Say the following:
  • God gave us Free Will because He loves us. We have the power to make our own choices. This means we can choose to do good, but we can also choose to do evil.
  • The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “God is in no way, directly or indirectly, the cause of moral evil. He permits it, however, because He respects the freedom of His creatures and, mysteriously, knows how to derive good from it.” (repeat so the teens can grasp this statement)
  • God has to allow bad things to happen because if He only allowed good things to happen we would not have free will. We would not be able to choose to love Him freely.
  • There is bad in the world because without the bad, we wouldn’t know what good is.
  • Catechists: share about a short story about something bad that happened to you, but good came from it or a time when you remained Hopeful and trusted in God even when bad things were happening. Be honest with the teens- a lot of them are struggling and hearing stories of your struggles will help them Hope in God and good. Focus on how God “knows how to derive good from [evil]”

7:50-8:00pm: The Book of Job

  • Watch the video “The Book of Job” by The Bible Project [story ends at 6min 30 sec]
  • Discuss the following questions:
  • What did you guys think about this story? How would you have reacted if you were Job?
  • Have you ever thought about what immense and detailed decisions God has to make every day just to keep the universe going? Does this give you Hope in His infinite plan?
  • Have you ever struggled like Job but were able to keep your hope in God? What happened?
  • Why do you think God never gave Job a direct answer about his suffering?
  • Do you have any other questions about Job or why this story is important to us right now?

8:00-8:20pm: Hope is our anchor

  • Watch the video “Optimism, Hope and St. Josephine Bakhita/ Columbia Catholic Ministry #19” by Columbia Catholic [3:19]
  • Discuss any insights the teens have from the video. Ask them if they would have been as forgiving as St. Josephine or if they would be able to be as hopeful as Pope Saint John Paul II.
  • Ask the teens if they understand the difference between optimism and hopefulness (optimism is thinking that nothing bad will happen. Hope is the trust that God will get us through the bad times and that they are a part of His greater plan)
  • Have the teens work on their Anchor of Hope worksheets.
  • Pass out Bibles and write the following verses on the board for them to look up and write in their anchor.
  • Lamentations 3:21-24
  • Psalm 3:3, Psalm 3:6, Psalm 62:5, Psalm 119:114
  • Hebrews 11:1
  • Let them use crayons, markers, etc. to make it colorful and to decorate it.
  • If you have time go around the room and have some teens share their worksheets.

8:20-8:30pm: Closing Prayer

  • Pass out slips of paper and have the teens write down something that they are hoping for.
  • Take turns putting them in your classroom’s prayer box.
  • Pray together the “Prayer of Hope” (found on the back of their anchor worksheet.)
  • Heavenly father, I am your humble servant,I come before you today in need of hope.There are times when I fell helpless,There are times when I feel weak.I pray for hope.I need hope for a better future.I need hope for a better life.I need hope for love and kindness.Some say that the sky is at it'sdarkest just before the light.I pray that this is true, for all seems dark.I need your light, Lord, in every way.I pray to be filled with your light fromhead to toe. To bask in your glory.
    To know that all is right in the world,as you have planned, and as you want
    it to be.Help me to walk in your light, and livemy life in faith and glory.In your name I pray, Amen.
  • Tell the teens to have a great, hopeful week!



Directions: Decorate your anchor with things that give you hope. Include at least one Bible Verse that you can turn to when you are struggling.

A prayer for Hope

Heavenly father, I am your humble servant,
I come before you today in need of hope.
There are times when I fell helpless,
There are times when I feel weak.
I pray for hope.
I need hope for a better future.
I need hope for a better life.
I need hope for love and kindness.
Some say that the sky is at it's
darkest just before the light.
I pray that this is true, for all seems dark.
I need your light, Lord, in every way.
I pray to be filled with your light from
head to toe. To bask in your glory.
To know that all is right in the world,
as you have planned, and as you want
it to be.
Help me to walk in your light, and live
my life in faith and glory.
In your name I pray, Amen.