National Youth Sunday 2008 :: Reclaim The Future :: Activities
Reclaim the Future
 If you only want a couple of sessions for the run up to and after National Youth Sunday, these are for you. They tie in to the theme and take a fun look at some challenging issues.
Introduction
This year’s National Youth Sunday (NYS08) takes place on the Feast of
Christ the King (Sunday 23rd November.) Young people have an important
role to play in the life of the Church: NYS08 celebrates this role by inviting
them to join together in school and parish communities to reflect, pray, think
and recreate. NYS08 draws on the theme of living sustainably, a crucial
part of the livesimply key message. Reclaim the Future! reminds us that
we have a great opportunity to work together as a Christian community,
and to play our part in thinking about what’s really important to us,
respecting the environment, and striving to end poverty.
About the sessions:
Session 1
(PDF 1.28MB)
There are lots of ideas and resources on the Reclaim the Future! website.
This session is offered as a way to introduce some of the themes of
NYS08. It can work well in schools, but is primarily intended for use with
parish youth groups. Youth leaders and catechists may wish to use some
of the ideas in this resource as part of preparation for NYS08 – perhaps
even as part of a day of activities that would conclude with a special
celebration of Mass. Liturgy resources for NYS08 are also available.
Flexibility is key to using this resource. We’ve written this up so that the
whole session would last for around an hour or so. But you may want to
choose some things and not others, to adapt some of the material, and to
add in your own ideas. Try to think of things that will work well for your
group. And most importantly of all, enjoy celebrating NYS08!
Session 2
(PDF 1.74MB)
This resource contains six Reclaim the Future! (RtF!) prayer stations,
based on the Gospel reading for the Feast of Christ the King. Jesus’
familiar words about the Last Judgement (Matthew 25:31-46) divides
people up into sheep or goats. The sheep are the good guys – those who
have looked out for Jesus and shown care and compassion by their actions
for people in need. Jesus tells us that they will be rewarded in heaven. But
the goats are those who have thought only of themselves. Their decision
not to help the poor and vulnerable shows that they have no love for God –
and so they are destined to a future of misery.
The Gospel features in this year’s Eucharistic celebration of Christ the King
– you can find further ideas and resources for Mass on the RtF! website.
These prayer stations can help young people to reflect on God’s call to live
sustainably whether you’re celebrating Mass for NYS08 or not. The prayer
stations will help to introduce and prepare for such a celebration, but they
also stand alone in their own right.
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