Youth Ministry Resources
From the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Q2: Why does man have a desire for God?
God himself, in creating man in his own image, has written upon his heart the desire to see him.
Download a file for animation on this theme> 2 Deep Desire
From the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Question 1: What is the plan of God for man?
“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life.”
Download a file for animation on this question>1 Purpose of life
The goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit. All the things in this world are gifts of God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us develop as loving persons. But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation. We should not fix our desires on health […]
1. Use Reason
Believe that they are basically good.
Appeal to their reason.
Make reasonable rules and sanctions, explain them to the youth. Say why it is good for them to follow these rules.
Use: ‘Word in the ear’ – meet individual youth briefly informally and suggest to them very calmly the behaviour you expect from them.
Deal with individual misbehaviour individually; and not punish the whole group.
If you believe that people can reason out just as you do, then there is no need to offer corporal punishment.
2. Use Religion
Realise that human beings are also spiritual.
Appeal to their faith and conscience.
Accompany them towards a higher sense of purpose in their life, and motivate them to dream big.
Help them bring their faith to life – this is spirituality.
3. Use Loving Kindness
Realise that we all want to love and be loved.
Appeal to the heart of young people.
Begin on a note of deep compassion towards people under your […]
The Gospels often refer to Jesus’ mission as, “He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people” (Mt 4:23; see also Mt 24:14; Lk 4:18; 7:22; 20:1)[1]. What is the good news? One way of referring to the “good news”, is to take it as the compendium of the teachings of Jesus. In this sense, the Gospels are the good news. At another level the news about the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus could be proclaimed as the good news. However, at a deeper level, Jesus himself is the Good News. Therefore, embracing the Good News just means experiencing Jesus himself.
The interesting thing about the Gospel narratives is that, as I came to discover, there is an underlying pattern in these encounters with Jesus. It is this pattern that […]