Confession & Kite Day

Clean Monday is the very first Monday which begins Great Lent, and it is a quite somber day on the spiritual calendar. In Greece, it is customary for young and old to fly kites. Let's bring this wonderful custom here in America, possibly the day or two beforehand, with the following activity.

On the Sunday evening before we begin Great Lent, there is always held the Vespers of Forgiveness where each parishioner asks the priest and one another for forgiveness. It marks the beginning of a great journey in which we embark to clean our souls of the darkness built up from our sins. Consider gathering your youth (ages 2-18) and even their parents earlier that day, or the day before to set aside for Confession and Kite Flying!

The younger children can prepare and experience Confession as a group with the priest, who can speak with them openly about the topic of sin and all can kneel under the "epitrahelion" for the final absolution to conclude, whereas the older kids can prepare their confession ahead of time and meet with the priest one on one. As each group finishes, we all meet outside to hand out free kites and experience the "joy" of a soul released to soar, free and lightened from the burden of sin!

Here is my simplified Top 10 Preparation List http://orthodoxeducation.blogspot.de/2008/06/weight-of-our-sins.html 

Additional Resources :
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_confession.aspx

Pamphlet with Questions for Preparation for Confession:
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/guide-to-confession.aspx

St Mary Egypt Craft - Turn Life Around

The powerful story of repentance that we find in the life of Saint Mary of Egypt which was recorded by the monk Zossimos, can be a memorable one for teenagers and college students. For the younger children though that you might be working with, consider this Orthodox craft:

1. Color two images of Saint Mary of Egypt
The first, from her former life possibly with brighter clothing, youthful skin, etc
and the second after her years in the desert as an ascetic. I chose these two images because one depicts the humility needed to bring about repentance, and the second with hope and stronger faith, prepared to meet God at her death.

2. Cut the images out

3. Glue those images, back to back, with a popsicle stick in between

4. Write the word "METANOIA" (or REPENTANCE) on the sticks with the definition "Turn one's life around" on the reverse side.

As I retell the story, I'll ask the children to show me which side of her we're looking at. Then, we will literally, TURN HER LIFE AROUND, but rotating our sticks to see her as a transformed woman of God, one of the most memorable Saints of our Church.

For more inspiration from her story, here is an excellent sermon in video form:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC3tEQlqdGY&feature=youtu.be

Talking Points to Remember:

• She left home at 12 years old, to a live a life of sinfulness in the city, one which would not bring her happiness, but emptiness and distance from God.
•  When God prevented her entrance into the Church to venerate the Cross of Christ, it was a BIG WAKE UP CALL, to stop and look at herself as unworthy, and in need of healing.
• She did not flee to the desert to punish herself, but TO FIND HERSELF, that is, the true self that God created her to be, beautiful in His eyes.
• She departed for the desert without much, but had one important thing: faith in God that He would provide for her daily food and shelter for 47 years.
• Lastly, the four miracles show us that she became transformed and pleasing to God: she had the gift of clairvoyance and knew Father Zossimas' name before he told her, she was seen elevated off the ground in prayer, she walked on water to cross the river to receive the Holy Eucharist, and lastly, the lion was sent by God to help bury her.

I suggest ending your lesson by reading together or silently this:



St Ephrem the Syrian, Spiritual Psalter, 120:
'How many times have I promised...'
I am unworthy to ask forgiveness for myself, O Lord, for many times have I promised to repent and proved myself a liar by not fulfilling my promise. Thou hast picked me up many times already, but every time I freely chose to fall again...If a righteous man can barely be saved, then where will I end up, I who am lawless and sinful? If the path that leads to life is strait and narrow, then how can I be vouchsafed such good things, I who live a life of luxury, indulging in my own pleasures and dissipation? But Thou, O Lord, my Saviour, Son of the true God, as Thou knowest and desirest it, by Thy grace alone, freely turn me away from the sin that abides in me and save me from ruin.

St Ephraim the Syrian resources
Quote from 120th 'Psalm' in St Ephraim's Spiritual Psalter by our Holy Father St Ephraim of Edessa, the Syrian; excerpted and arranged by Bishop Theophan the Recluse according to the manner of the psalter of the Old Testament.
 

Holy Week for Teens and Children

If you are looking for ideas for Holy Week in your parish, here are two of my favorites.

1) HOLY FIRE IN JERUSALEM

Gather a collection of videos of the Holy Fire in Jerusalem.  That miracle is one many of our kids have never heard..and the miracle continues each year!


On the Eve of the Resurrection, inside the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem, the Holy Fire descends on the Patriarch of Jerusalem from within the Holy Sepulcher and believers pass the light around to all the faithful, who usually hold 33 candles bound together, to signify the 33 years of Christ's ministry on the Earth. The fire is miraculously given but also miraculous in nature, because it does not burn, just as Moses and the Burning bush. Believers have proved this by passing their hands through the fire, beards and faces...as many photos show. It's color is different than normal too, with more of a white-blue hue. The Holy Fire also bounces around like no light show ever manipulated by machines! Pilgrims have seen the Fire ignite unlit oil lamps on It's own and despite the efforts by many Muslims to seal the tomb with wax beforehand, and thorough searches of the Patriarch before entering, the Holy Fire still comes!

There are many articles available as well, some better than others...

http://www.holyfire.org/eng/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-04-07-holyfire_N.htm

Search YouTube for videos and compile the best clips for your own presentation.

2) CONFESSION ACTIVITY
http://orthodoxeducation.blogspot.com/2008/06/weight-of-our-sins.html

Pair everyone up (with same gender) for a "piggy-back" contest.
For younger ones, use backpacks instead and add heavy items like staplers, stones.

The idea is to get them to try carrying around a lot of weight, to see how long they can go...before needing to release the "burden of our sins" They are not moving around, but rather standing in one place in one large room.

During the time period, you could ask various teens to read aloud the Gospel accounts of Christ's judgment before Pilate, Crucifixion, and burial in the Tomb. After the final pair has surrendered to sitting down, you discuss how it felt, what their thoughts were, how heavy was the weight for them, and at what point did they want help? What delayed them surrendering? Often, it is our pride that keeps us away from God, because we want to go about life on our own, until we finally accept God's help because we have reached or limit.

Explain that Confessing our sins is exactly this same concept...of finding relief in the sacrifice that Christ made once and for all. When we experience the weight of sin in our lives,
there is nothing to help us remember God's love for us better than experiencing Confession.

When I did this activity, I showed them the Prayer of Absolution from the Sacrament of Confession, where our priests, through the grace bestowed on them from their ordination, with the stole over our head, and us kneeling, absolves our sins.

This activity lead into a personal reflection time to prepare to confess their own sins troubling them. See the 10 Tools for preparing, or print this reflection list located here...http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/selfexam.aspx. Ask if your priest is available during the afternoon to hear their confessions. I would encourage everyone to go to a personal Confession, however, even if only 5 teens go, it's absolutely worth it.

During down time, young people could help decorate the Tomb with flowerings and crawl under it
in the shape of a cross (which is an old custom)

Publican & Pharisee

This year for the Publican and Pharisee Sunday lesson, here's an idea to get your kids and teens active. Meet outside and introduce the story with two balls. Make your kids observe them, feel them, and throw them around to each other in a circle facing each other.

Ask them to articulate just how different these two balls are. The beach ball is puffed up, displaying an array of colors in a fancy design for all to see. It is like eye-candy. When attempting to fly, especially upwards to heavens, it is tossed to and fro by the waves of air, pushing it in several directions without ever arriving at the destination. It is weightless. It is too plastic, and possibly too perfect. Worse yet, when the air is let out and deflated......there's nothing left. (A balloon also works great and can be blown up gradually in front of the kids as you give "prideful" examples, being the best soccer player, the faster runner, the best singer, first at spelling bee, etc)

The tennis ball is used, worn, abused and been through the dirt. It does have character, in fact, too much. It's scarred, maybe damaged. Might not be very good at playing the sport of tennis anymore, but when you throw it, it's like a rock. It streams through the air, landing just as far as you've thrown it. Its' destination is more reliable even if it arrives not as pretty, at least you know where it's going. It might unravel, but there's substance inside.

Now read the story from the Sunday Gospel: Luke 18:10-14

http://lent.goarch.org/dailyreadings/lectionary.php?type=gospel&code=272&event=1150&DL=EN

Discussion questions: Ask

WHO is the beach ball/balloon? (The Pharisee)

WHO is the tennis ball from the story?  (The tax collector or Publican)
What are the the characteristics you found in each person.

How we are like the beach ball?  (maybe desiring the praise at school /at home, feeling overly proud and better than others, when we talk but don't follow up with action )

 

Which would you rather be? 

Which does God desire us to be like?  A prideful person is a big turn off, to others and to God!

Lastly, this parable teaches us "how to pray." In our holy Orthodox faith, we first recognize and confess ourselves as sinners who have fallen short of perfection, and in need of God's great mercy. thus crying out "Lord have mercy!" Only through humility can we attract God and grow closer to Him. Often times, God tries to deflate our over-inflated balloons in order to teach us humility. For some people, the spiritual life is a constant repeat of this, superficial inflation and divine deflation!

Lastly, include the story from one mother of a modern Saint. She advised St Paisios "it is better to let others win, and keep your friends"  than to strive to be first all the time. This thinking promotes humility as the key to Paradise!

Teenage Confessions

A dear friend spent all of July again this year hearing the confessions of maybe 300 or so teenagers in America. A tough job? Sure, it must be exhausting, but for him and every other clergy, our good Lord sends strength, accountability, and compassion to offer just the right medicine to these wounded souls. And this is just what he discovered: wounded souls.

My clergy-friend and I both agreed, the devil is working overtime on our kids. What they are facing today is worse than we faced. It's more intense, more damaging, and
more in their faces than ever. I share with you a few of these findings.

For boys aged 11-18, they are simply bombarded with pornography. Our media has made this extremely accessible. But I liked my friends response- he explained that every time a young guy looks and deletes an image he is training himself to do this when the right one comes along, so therefore after a few short years of marriage, he will want to click "delete" and search for the next image of his satisfaction.

For girls, the same sad story was heard. A high percentage of girls confessed the desire to maintain their virginity, but when they thought the guy actually cared for them, she did it, for him, and then was "deleted." Also, most girls didn't consider oral activity as one in the same.... but no one can confess the name of Christ, and receive the Body and Blood with the same tongue that has been tarnished by such an unnatural act (without of course repentance).

In the end, our young people must be empowered to follow the examples of the Saints! They can learn that chastity is a tremendous virtue and we can model appropriate behaviors and healthy relationships for them. In those toughest moments, no friend or parent can come to their rescue. They must take it upon themselves to guard their bodies with great courage and determination knowing that we are behind them 100%!

If you have a special way you challenge your young people to set apart their lives for Christ, please post a comment. I've tried to include some other resources below

Free download : my workbook on VIRTUE

Here are some quotes on chastity


The Church's stance on pre-marital relations

Orthodox Video on Purity

Maidens for Modesty Blog

"by practicing virginity they have been espoused to the Word..."

- Methodius of Olympus (3rd/4th cent.)

What is a Spiritual Father?

If the best doctors help to heal our physical bodies by knowing the "right" medicine, so even more does the spiritual father, who is enlightened by God, prescribe the much-needed healing for our soul. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." This is the path to purification, and one does not accomplish it on his own. The Church is our hospital offering the healing medicines of Holy Confession, the Holy Eucharist, and Holy Unction. Without the Church, we are easily mislead into wrong "treatments" prescribing ourselves pain killers when we might need a spiritual heart transplant!!! (Mark 2:17 or Matthew 9:11-13, Luke 5:31)

A Heavy Load

One small way of making the Sacrament of Confession real for kids, is by having them feel the weight of our own sinfulness! (This was tested on teens and proved to be powerful). Without giving away the punchline, ask your kids to pair up (girls with girls, boys with boys)having one hold the other in a piggy-back fashion. Read out loud together a spiritual text on Confession or story from a Saint's life for approx. 5-10 minutes. Check in often with the child bearing the weight- ask him/her how they're feeling....how much longer do they think they can go on.... is the weight getting lighter or heavier as they get tired?

(For younger children, use a backpack and heavy items that are labeled with example sins. Discuss each sin as it is placed inside)

Finally, read out loud the "Prayer of Absolution" that the priest reads at the end of the Sacrament of Confession, and allow the kids to take their seats...thus releasing their burden. Introduce the idea that the weight we carry around can be our sins. What does it mean to be a sinner? What are examples of sins? (To keep a secret, lie or steal, or by doing something wrong without apologizing, to disobey our parents, use profanity, or speak bad about others)

Remember, only Christ was without sin - Discuss the medicine that the Church offers to all who desire to be healed through the Sacrament of Confession. Go one step further to ask if anyone has been to Confession and can share their experience... Lastly, schedule a time for each child/teen to confess.

Ten Spiritual Tools for Confession

1. Tune in by sitting alone with God.

2. Still yourself in silence and clear your thoughts from any daily tasks.

3. Read the prayers to warm up your attention to God.
I have sinned, Lord, forgive me. +God, be gracious to me a sinner.

4. Ask God to open your heart and reveal to you the things to confess.

5. Honesty takes courage. Approach with boldness in Christ.

6. Resist any embarrassment during the Sacrament.

7. Don't let shame get in the way from receiving God’s love.
Run to Him.

8. Don't be sorry that you are a sinner.
This should be of no surprise to you.

9. If you have sadness, be sorry that you have hurt God.

10. Seek to sin no more, not because you expect perfection from
yourself, but rather because you no longer desire to hurt yourself or God.

After Confession Prayer
+Almighty and merciful God, I truly thank you for the forgiveness of my sins; bless me, Lord, and help me always, that I may ever do that which is pleasing to you, and sin no more. Amen.”

A Confession of Faith

I'd like to solicit ideas as a follow up to the last post on secularism. Please share your ideas to the following:

If the Fathers of the Orthodox Church could safeguard the Truth by writing the Nicene Creed in AD 325 and 381, than it must be the answer we offer our youth for tomorrow's generation.

In what ways do you teach the Nicene Creed to your children and families?