As youth ministers, we seek to nurture both the head and the heart of each teen in our care. We are always searching for activities that will bring the faith home to our young people; activities that will not only help our youth learn about their Catholic faith, but will hopefully also plant a seed within them that will grow, flower, and bear fruit in their lives. In this article are some practical ideas for the entire liturgical year.

Advent
Morning or Evening of Reflection—Teens equipped with journals and pens travel between several stations. The event begins with a group prayer and introduction, and then the young people are invited to explore several stations that have been set up in advance. At each station is a different symbol or experience of something found in the season along with a description and a reflection question or two. Suggestions for items to have at the different stations are a Jesse Tree, a boom box with a CD of Advent music, a nativity set, gift-wrapped boxes, an Advent wreath, several bibles with suggestions of appropriate Scripture passages to read, candles to signify Jesus as the Light of the world, and a gavel and scales to symbolize Jesus’ second coming. You can have as many stations as time and the number of participants allows. At the end of the session, everyone gathers for small group discussion and the event ends with a closing prayer.

Christmas Season
Adopt-a-Friend—Teens spend one session making fleece scarves for the homeless. This is a simple craft that involves cutting fleece to size and possibly cutting fringes on the ends to add a bit of style. They can bring in new socks or gloves and candy canes to package with the scarves if they like. The crafting session should include a prayer for the people who will receive the scarves, a discussion on where we encounter Christ in the flesh, and how we can make him present to others through our own actions. If possible, a testimony by someone who has been or is currently homeless (even better if the speaker is a teen or young adult) can be added. After Masses one weekend, parishioners are invited to “buy” a scarf for a homeless person. For a small donation (we charged one dollar) and the promise to pray for whoever will receive the scarf, the parishioners select a scarf and write a note of encouragement to the recipient. Here is the catch: they do not take the scarves home. Instead, the teens take the scarves with notes attached to the local homeless shelter to be given to those in need.

Faithful Feud Game—Fashioned after the Family Feud game show, this Christmas themed group game is a blast to play! First, take a survey of the parishioners and of youth groups from other parishes asking them questions about the Christmas season. Include topics such as foods eaten on Christmas, what Mass they typically attend, gifts they would buy for their mother/father, favorite Christmas carols, how long it took the Wise Men to get to baby Jesus, etcetera. Then tally the responses and rank them from most to fewest in each category. Assemble the teens, break them into teams, select an emcee, and let the fun begin! Be prepared to provide explanations for some of the questions: why frankincense, gold, and myrrh were given to Jesus, the origin of the midnight Mass, and others.

Lent
Live Stations of the Cross—Presented on the Friday before Good Friday, this prayer presentation allows the young people to take a turn at ministering to their community. The youth take on primary roles as characters in each station, musicians and singers on the music team, costume handlers, and prop persons. Two teens also serve as the presider and the narrator. We Were There: A Way of the Cross (O’Malley and Eimer, © 1996) is an excellent version as the format includes a main character in each station that presents a monologue to draw the congregation into the action and encourages the community members to reflect on what they might have done in the place of each character. You will need to obtain permission from the publisher to translate this booklet into script form and reproduce it for your purposes, but it is well worth the effort. An added bonus: in preparing for their roles, the teens gain a deeper understanding of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Morning or Evening of Reflection—As during Advent, the Lenten season is a good time to have a mini-retreat at the parish. Station items for this event could include incense and ashes, palms alongside a gravel replica of a road to represent Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, a crucifix, cloths in seasonal colors, a paschal candle, a boom box playing a CD of Gregorian chant or Taize prayer, fake money with a piggy bank to represent giving alms to the poor, a schedule of penance services being hosted by different parishes, an examination of conscience, etcetera.

Paschal Triduum
Challenge the teens to participate in the entire Triduum. Offer to meet them at evening Mass for Holy Thursday or to venerate the cross on Good Friday. More than likely, they will attend Easter Mass with their families, but offer an opportunity for those who may not. The week after Easter Sunday, ask them to share their experiences with the large group.

Easter Season
Liturgy of the Hours—Teach teens this prayer of the church by beginning or ending your sessions with the Liturgy of the Hours during the Easter season. The teens might be quite adept at this by the time the season is over, and some may even adopt it as a regular prayer in their personal lives.

Confirmation—Encourage your pre-confirmed teens to attend the confirmation liturgy; have them hand out the order of service or serve as greeters. Ask your confirmed teens to host a reception for the newly confirmed and the whole parish after the liturgy and encourage a few of them to share how the Holy Spirit has been working in/through them since their own confirmation. During the reception, show a slide show of the newly confirmed during their preparation.

Ministry Fair—Ask representatives from each of the parish ministries to host a table in the social hall or on the patio. Invite your teens to meander from table to table learning about how they can get involved in the parish.

Ordinary Time
Film Festival—Host a film festival one evening that spotlights videos made by the teens. Decorate to the hilt and include a red carpet! After watching the videos, you can have an award ceremony and give out prizes (in our parish, we use movie-award-style trophies from Oriental Trading Company) in categories such as best actor/actress, best soundtrack, most creative costuming, etcetera—the list is practically endless. Below are two ways to do this activity, both of which our teens thoroughly enjoy.

Option One—Make and submit videos ahead of time. Give guidelines such as length limits (we use ten minutes), theme (whatever you are studying at the moment: resisting peer pressure, experiencing God’s grace, being a Catholic in today’s world), and genre (silent movie, musical, adventure). Watch and judge the videos before the award night and have the awards ready. Of course, you will still show all the movies that evening.

Option Two—Make videos during the event itself. Divide the group into small teams with a chaperone/driver. Give each team a rule sheet that says where they are allowed to go to make their video (list five or six locations), what types of scenes must be included (comedy, thriller, musical, documentary), whether or not they should include a commercial (if so, what they should advertise – your youth group, perhaps?), and whether you want them to include a stranger or two in their movie. Give them a title and a theme, tell them what time they have to be back, and set them loose! When they return, show the videos and award the prizes.