RYC
REBORN YOUNG CHRIST
Mar. 4~6, 2005
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
no one can enter
the Kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit.”
- John 3:5 -
RYC Renewal Retreat
Minnesota
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Purpose of this Retreat
The purpose of this retreat is to provide for its participants a “newly reborn young Christ
experience” of the lifelong journey of faith, in each of its five objective areas:
1. Devotion to the Holy Eucharist
2. Daily scripture readings and prayers at a scheduled time of the day.
3. Exercise of the Christian Love
4. Purity of the Body as a temple of the Lord
5. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother.
RYCer’s Promise
God, my Father,
You consecrated me to yourself
On the day of my baptism.
In response to the love of the Lord Jesus, your Son,
Who calls me to follow Him more closely,
I, (your name) offer myself totally to You
With the help of the Holy Spirit who is light and strength.
In the presence of my brothers and sisters,
I pledge myself to devote all my strength to keep faithfully
By following five objective goals.
-
I will offer myself to the Holy Eucharist.
I will commit myself to You, O Lord, through daily scripture readings and prayers
at a scheduled time of the day.
I will glorify You, O Lord, by living the commandment of love.
I will respect my body as the temple of the Lord, by abstaining from harmful
addictions and by being chaste.
I will deeply devote myself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother.
Father, may Your grace,
The intercession of Mary Help of Christians and of St. John Bosco,
Together with the assistance of my brothers and sisters keep me faithful day by day.
Amen.
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The Structure of Each Phase of the Retreat
1. Activity:
Some experience or game or simulation is provided, offering food for
reflection and a “hands-on” experience of the stage under consideration.
2. Teaching: The activity is always followed by a brief discussion and/or teaching
which underscores the main points at issue.
3. Witness:
The teaching is always followed by a personal witnessing by young
team members. They share how they have dealt with or are dealing
with the tasks involved in each objective goals of the faith journey.
4. Discussion:
In small or large groups, the retreatants than react to the witness
talk, and have the opportunity to share and reflect on their own
experiences in the area under consideration.
5. Journaling: The retreatants have time to record in a personal journal what they are
feeling, learning, experiencing. The various exercises give the
retreatants opportunities for prayerful reflection, formulation of personal
resolutions, and thoughts about how to animate spiritual growth among
their peers.
6. Sharing:
In the small groups, the retreatants always have the opportunity to share
what they have written in their journals, particularly regarding their
reflections on five objective goals.
High Points
Five Activities
Confessions:
lives.
Encourage participants to make the best confession of their
Commitment Letters:
RYCers write letters to themselves with their resolutions. It
is mailed back to them at a later date.
RYC Promises
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Needs
1. Snacks
Snacks beside meals
2. Facilities
Each Group sharing rooms/places
3. Stationary
Pencils/pen; Scrap Paper; Markers; Post boar
ds; Tape; Letter paper and envelopes; Name
Tags (5x4 with string); Colored Clay
4. Liturgy
Votive Candles; Christ Candle; Glass Water
Bowl; Crosses for Confessionals; Eucharistic
Adoration; Bibles; Rosary
5. Rec. Equipment
6. Personnel
Team members/Small Group Leaders;
Witness Talk
7. Small Group Activities
8. Large Group Gathering
Overhead Projector & Screen
9. Journal
10. Music Book
11. RYC Promise Cards
12. RYC Candles
13. RYC Prayer Books
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Retreat Schedule
Mar. 4, 2005 (Friday)
6:00 PM
Team Arrival
7:00
Registration
PIC – Minnesota
Need – Name Tags, Pens, Markers
7:30
Opening Prayer Service
PIC – Fr. Gus
Need – Candles for everyone
Ice Breaker/Praising/Games
PIC –
8:00
Rules & Regulation
PIC –
8:15
Session I: My Journey - Chapel
PIC –
Need – large chart, handouts of the chart & pens
The purpose of this session is for RYCers to reflect on their lives after their
experience/participation of RYC New Beginning Retreat. They are already
aware of these five objective goals so it should be familiar to them. They might,
however, be confused as to how they could’ve practiced these give goals in their
daily lives. Hence, a witness talk to begin this session will be helpful, especially
if it’s a peer witness talk.
Part I
Witness Talk – Minnesota (RYC New Beginning Retreat Participant)
**Share with the rest of the large group of his/her journey since the RYC New
Beginning Retreat. How did you integrate the five objective goals to be a better
Christian in your daily living? Which goal was the easiest to adapt to? Which
goal was the hardest? What was so hard about it?
Part II
Need – Handout/Journal, pens
Explain the below chart (a large one will be taped against the wall) to the large
group.
Objective Goals
Everyday
1x a week
1x a month
Holy Eucharist
Prayer/Scripture
Love
5
Every few months
Seldom
Purity of Body
Mother Mary
Holy Eucharist – It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Eucharistic Adoration but
one can just go into a church and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or even
attend mass on a daily basis to receive Communion.
Prayer/Scripture Reading – praying before and after meals; morning/evening
prayer with family; Legion of Mary; prayer meetings; bible study/reading; praying
the rosary, etc. are some of the examples.
Love – doing small things for your parents like washing the dishes, massaging
their back in the evening, going shopping with them, being nice to them and not
talking back, doing errands, etc. With friends, it could be helping a friend solve a
homework problem, listening to them when they are down or happy about
something, etc.
Purity of Body/Respect for Body – avoiding illegal substances, alcohol,
cigarettes, premarital sex, etc. Being excessively addicted and attached to the
internet, games, etc.
Mother Mary – She’s our role model and our advocate. One thing we can
definitely do to show our devotion is praying the rosary.
After the explanation, they will go into their small groups where they will have an
opportunity to reflect further of their journey on the handout/journal given to
them. Please give the students few minutes to think on their own and to jot
down their thoughts. After they have done so, please discuss with the group.
Part III: Making of Group Banner
Need – Felt, scissors, glue, markers
After group discussion of “My Journey”, each small group will make a logo that
represents the group with the felt material given. They will also make up a
song/cheer together as a group and present it to the large group.
9:15
Large Group Gathering – Presentation of their logo & cheer
PIC -
10:00
Session II:
PIC –
Need –
Candle Light Rosary - Chapel
(2 leaders)
Rosary, candles, flash light, meditation music, prayer book
The room will be setup like the diagram below:
Mother Mary Statue (if available)
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*the oval shapes represent groups of students seated on either side of the Mary
statue.
With two leaders leading the rosary prayer, each side of the room will alternately
say the prayer; left side will do the first decade, right side will pick up from the
2nd decade, and so forth. If we have a small group (20 people), then we can
divide half the group and each of the students can pray one Hail Mary for each
decade. Meanwhile, all the students will have a candle in their hands
throughout the prayer. After each decade, we will sing “Ave Maria” 2x.
The prayer service will end with a meditation song played on CD, closing with Fr.
Gus blessing.
11:00
Good Night
11:30
Team Meeting
Mar. 5, 2004 (Saturday)
7:00 AM
Facilitators Rise
7:30
Students Rise
8:15
Breakfast
9:00
Session III:
PIC –
Show Me Love!
Part I
Need – balloons, tape
With the number of balloons given, the group needs to attach and form the
balloons into a heart and have everyone fit inside this heart of balloons.
Part II
*Sitting inside the heart shaped balloons, the groups need to discuss and make
their “love.” Read below for further instructions.
Need – Glue, scissors, tape, Random Objects (pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks,
pompoms, foam pieces, etc.)
One of things we need to do in our daily living is to practice and show love to our
neighbors. There is not one definition of love but many. Invite your group
members to discuss love; various kinds of love they experienced in their lives.
Then together come up with one definition of love; as a group, finish the
sentence, “Love is…” Once, they have agreed on what love is to them, they will
then create that idea/definition with the random objects given.
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9:30
Large Group Presentation
10:00
Teaching – Fr. Gus
10:15
Witness Talk on Christian Love -
10:30
Session IV:
PIC –
Lectio Divina
Part I: Balloon Activity
Need – Story handout, balloons, scotch tape
Each of the small groups will be given a story. After reading and discussion
amongst the group members, they will need to make what the story wants them
to make. The groups will be given approximately 10-15 minutes to discuss and
after that without speaking, only using sign language, the group will need to
make a balloon tower according to the instructions.
(11:00)
Part II: Lectio Divina – Chapel
Need – Lectio Divina Handout
PIC – Each of the small group facilitators.
Instead of within a large group, this part of the program will be done within a
small group setting, led by the small group facilitators. The facilitators will be
instructed and trained prior to the retreat weekend.
12:15 PM
Lunch
1:00
Praise/Games
PIC - Everyone
2:00
Session V:
Mother Mary, Our Role Model
PIC –
Need – Bible verses on Mary
Give one scripture reading to each group. They will discuss Mary’s role,
significance and importance of Mary in the scripture. Based on their discussion
and conclusion, they’ll present to the rest of the group in a skit format and also
group teach the role of Mary in the verses at the end.
2:45
Large Group Gathering
PIC –
3:15
Teaching – Fr. Gus
3:30
Break
3:40
Session VI:
My Body as a Temple of the Lord
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PIC –
Need – Camcorder (2), LCD Projector
There aren’t many influences in the lives of teenagers today bigger than TV.
Advertisers see the 13-18 age group as the 2nd most profitable demographic (1835 males being tops). Therefore, turning that idea around into a positive
message is the objective in this session. Similar to the Christian Love skits of
New Beginning, each small group is to make a commercial based on our fourth
Objective Goal – I will respect my body as a temple of the Lord by
abstaining from harmful addictions and by being chaste. Unlike New
Beginning retreat, small groups will not be assigned topics.
TV commercials are normally 30 seconds in length. For our purposes, 2-3
minutes should be enough for the students to get their message across. They
will be given approximately 30 minutes to prepare.
After the groups have finished preparing their commercials, one of the facilitators
(a/k/a The Camera Man) will go around filming their creations. Once all the
groups have completed their recording, we will gather back to watch all the
commercials.
*As for cameras, the RYC video camera will be used. We should try to find
another video camera to cut down on filming time. One option would be to ask
around at our parishes and borrow one for the weekend. A last resort would be
to rent.
Preventive Commercials
Topics:
1) Pre-Marital Sex
2) Alcohol
3) Smoking
4) Illegal Drug Use
5) Internet Addiction
6) Anger/Violence
Promoting 5 Objective Goals
Topics:
1) Holy Eucharist
2) Prayers/Scripture Reading
3) Christian Love
4) Chastity
5) Mother Mary
Rules:
1) Be creative
2) Everyone in the group must participate
3) No violence or vulgar language
4) Time limit: 2 minutes
4:30
Large Group Presentation
5:00
Large Guided Group Discussion
Teaching –
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5:45
Dinner
6:30
Reconciliation Service
PIC – Everyone
Need – Priests/Confessionals
*All the other preparations will be done during dinner time.
6:30
Praising
6:35
Explanation about the Reconciliation Service
6:40
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
6:50
Witness Talk on Forgiveness (Tentative)
7:10
Individual Confession
Holy Hour – Absolute SILENCE
1. When a student is ready for confession, they will take the
candle (which indicates the priest giving confession) and go to
the confessional. More will be explained prior to Confession.
2. Prepare Confession Handouts
3. Prepare for Meditation Music
4. Separate Room to write letters (dining hall) – CD Player
10:30
Benediction
10:40
Free time with Games & Food
11:30
Good Night
12:00 AM
Team Meeting
Mar. 6, 2005 (Sunday)
7:00 AM
Facilitators Rise
7:30
Students Rise
8:15
Breakfast
9:00
Morning Prayer
PIC –
Need – RYC Prayer Book, Bible, Meditation Music, CD Player
*Opening Song
*Scripture Reading
*Scripture Reflection –
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*Meditation Song
*Prayer of the Day –
*Closing Song
9:30
Session VI:
One Body with Many Parts
PIC –
Need – Small Poster Boards & Score Board
Rules:
Each small group will pick one representative who will do as the group decides.
Every group will play each other at least twice.
Each group will be given a small poster board with each side indicating HEAD
and TAIL. Before each round begins, these representatives will be able to meet
with each other for a minute to “negotiate.” The representatives will then go back
to their small groups and report their negotiations. At this time, each group will
decide unanimously which side of the poster to go with. The representative must
follow the wishes of the group.
Points:
HEAD/HEAD Both gain 3 points
HEAD/TAIL HEAD loses 6 points / TAIL gains 6 points
TAIL/TAIL Both lose 3 points
Teaching/Discussion Teaching:
As mature Christians, we have a responsibility to live up to. Jesus was our
model of how we should live. However, the world teaches us very different
values. This exercise shows us a little about the human condition. I know it was
a lot of fun, but what if the words on the poster board were different. What if
instead of HEAD/TAIL, it was Love/Selfishness, Forgiveness/Revenge,
Trust/Betrayal, Charity/Greed. Would we have been so willing to pull up the TAIL
side then? Some of you will say, well then the game doesn’t become fun if
everybody puts up HEAD. That’s true because the rules of the game are set up
to reward the team with the most points. This is the way that the world is set up.
The world rewards those who are selfish and are out for themselves.
We have a responsibility to live as Christians. God created us in his image and
gave us life and everything in it. There are so many gifts that God has given
(Jesus Points). How do we use those gifts? Do we share them equally with each
other, or do we try to take it for ourselves. There are so many images of people
going hungry, people suffering in the world, yet there are so many images of
people living comfortably, living a rich life. We dream about having the nice
house, the expensive car, the comfortable mansion. We never dream about
helping the poor, curing the sick, giving ourselves to the world. The world has
more than enough land to produce food for everyone. In the US, the government
pays farmers to not grow crops. Just as we did with the activity, the countries of
the world are out for their best interests. “How can I come out better in the end”
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and not, “how can I make the world better,” or “how can I share what I have with
those who don’t have.” In the end the total of all the points we gained as a team
comes out to be less than the total Jesus points. With all the points we as a
group could have shared, because of our greed, we may end up coming out
ahead in the end, but at what price?
How do we live as better Christians? As an RYCer, we have a plan for life. If we
follow this plan of life, we can become better Christians. So what is this plan? It
is the Five Objective Goals.
10:30
Final Small Group Sharing
Need – Evaluation Forms, Student Info Sheet, Newsletter Survey
*Pick volunteers to serve in liturgy
11:00
Clean & Pack
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:00
Kodak Moment
2:00
Closing Mass
Celebrant – Fr. Gus
Need - RYC Promise & RYC Candles
*RYC Candles will be handed out in the beginning, collected back from the
students and handed back out during closing mass.
3:00
Departure
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