HELL-BOUND Demonstrates an Ancient Allegory About Heaven and Hell
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LIFE NIGHT OVERVIEW ABOUT THIS LIFE NIGHT This Life Night begins with a fun competition that HELL-BOUND demonstrates an ancient allegory about heaven and hell. A LIFE NIGHT ON HEAVEN AND HELL The Proclaim encourages teens to consider the realities of heaven, hell, and free will. The Break provides time GOAL for an examination of conscience in which teens choose virtuous actions to replace sinful ones, and the Send is an The goal of Hell-bound is to clarify common misconceptions introduction to the Fatima prayer. about heaven and hell and inspire the teens to make choices based on love of God. ENVIRONMENT KEY CONCEPTS The environment for this Life Night embraces the cheesy clichés of heaven and hell. If possible, have Core Members • Man and woman are created with free will so that they wear Halloween costume horns and all black to greet the can choose to be in a relationship with God or not, a choice teens at the door to encourage them not to go to to the main which God respects. meeting space. Be sure that these costumes are cartoon-like and not scary. Any food served at the Life Night is provided • Heaven is the “ultimate end and fulfillment of the outside and should be difficult to serve or have something deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive missing. For example, provide gallons of water, but no cups; happiness.” (CCC 1024) offer Oreos, but scrape out the filling; serve hamburgers without toppings. Play a song on repeat such as “I Love You” • Hell is the finality of our decision to choose ourselves by Barney or “Friday” by Rebecca Black. over God. At the door of the main meeting space, have a Core Member dressed as St. Peter. He signs teens in, turning some away for silly things, such as, “You didn’t take out the trash,” You KEY TERMS: SCRIPTURE: CATECHISM: rolled your eyes at your younger sibling,” etc. He allows Free Will 1 Corinthians 2:9 1024 others in one at a time for equally silly things such as, “You Heaven 2 Peter 3:9 1033 did your homework,” “You cleaned up your dog’s poop,” etc. Hell 1 John 3:14-15 In the main meeting space, have Core Members wearing Sin white with halos and angel wings. Make the room bright and white. Hang clouds and have a harp soundtrack playing in the background. Place a picture of Jesus in the front of the room. As teens enter, have them sit and stare at it. 26 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 27 MEDIA SUGGESTIONS with the teens the week before the Life Night. Hispanic/ Latino parents might walk up to the doors, see those outfits, Life Teen: “Locked From the Inside” (Life Support: May and decide they will not let their teen stay for the Life Night. 2018) Additionally, have a few people who speak Spanish greeting parents and teens to allay any concerns parents may have. Life Teen: “Choices” (Life Support: January 2018) Cultural Insights Valérie Milot: B. “Smetana: Vltava (Moldau) - Valérie Milot, Hispanic/Latino kids often grow up hearing about “el Cucuy” harp/harpe” (youtube.com) as a demon-like figure who will escort them to hell for doing anything from talking back to their mom to stealing a piece SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS: of candy from the grocery store. There is a lot of talk in #LT_Hellbound Hispanic/Latino homes about all the things they can do (big or small) to end up in hell but not much to balance that with AS YOU GET STARTED... actions they can take to spend eternity in heaven. This often makes heaven seem unattainable and condemnation to hell For an alternate Gather, consider playing “heaven, hell, and certain, thus fueling greater fear and anxiety around these purgatory.” Designate a wall as heaven, the wall opposite to already intimidating topics. Keep this in mind as you pivot in it as hell, and the middle of the room as purgatory. Ask all the Proclaim from how certain actions reflect our choosing of the teens to begin on the wall designated as hell. Instruct heaven or hell, highlighting the reality that Jesus makes the teens to run to the designated place as you call it out. If heaven possible for each of us. a teen delays or touches the wall last, they have to sit down. Play until one teen wins. Notes: ___________________________________________ __________________________________________________ For a deeper Send, consider inviting local priests to hear confessions. Move to the church or Blessed Sacrament __________________________________________________ chapel to end the Life Night with a time of praise and worship __________________________________________________ while the teens celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ HISPANIC INCULTURATION __________________________________________________ By Stephanie Espinoza Contributors: Juan Aznaran, Angie Marino __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Important Notes for Pastoral Care _____________________________ _____________________ The topic of hell is taken very seriously in Hispanic/Latino __________________________________________________ households, and the reality of hell and Satan is not something __________________________________________________ that is seen as able to be taken lightheartedly or handled jokingly. If your Core Team is going to dress up in the costumes with __________________________________________________ horns and all black at the doors of the meeting space, consider _____________________________ _____________________ sending the corresponding Parent Letter (which explains the __________________________________________________ reasoning behind the costumes to parents in Spanish) home __________________________________________________ 28 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 29 they never realize that they can eat if they feed one another. During this Life Night, we are going to explore the reality of hell, but most importantly we will talk about the beauty LIFE NIGHT: HELL-BOUND of heaven. PROCLAIM GATHER “Hell-bound” Teaching (15 min) Welcome and Opening Prayer (5 min) The Proclaim Outline and Proclaim Details can be found on Gather teens in the main meeting space. Welcome them pages 34 to 42. to the Life Night, introduce any teens or Core Members attending for the first time, and begin in prayer. BREAK Fork It Over (10 min) Small Group Discussion (25 min) Previous to the Life Night, create extremely long forks — Divide the teens into the small groups from the Gather long enough to be unable to feed yourself with it — by activity with one Core Member in each group. Begin the taping a plastic fork to the end of a wooden dowel. Have small group with a prayer, and then use the following one per teen. questions to facilitate discussion, beginning with a round of “would you rather” questions: Divide the teens into groups of six to eight and distribute the forks. Have the teens sit in a circle and place a bowl • Would you rather spend eternity with an exposed booger of marshmallows in the middle. As a team, each group in your nose while at school or spinach in between your competes to be the first to eat all of the marshmallows. front two teeth while with your crush? Explain the following rules only: They cannot move from • Would you rather spend eternity constantly hearing nails their spot or move the bowl, and they must hold the fork at on the chalkboard in the distance or hearing deafening the end of the stick. (Ideally, the teens are unable to feed microphone feedback for ten minutes every two hours? themselves and can only complete the task if they feed one • Would you rather spend eternity getting to pick the another.) radio station in the car or always having dibs on the remote control? Transition into the Proclaim using the following: • Would you rather spend eternity always having the desires of your heart fulfilled or never questioning your Sometimes, our perception of hell is somewhat comical. We self-worth? Spend time with this question if it sparks make light of it with little devil horns and images of fire. We conversation. Regardless, share that both of these are may joke saying, “My hell will be (insert the most annoying realities in heaven, so we don’t ultimately have to choose. or aggravating thing in your life).” All of these may express • What images, movies, or songs come to mind when you a particular, watered down aspect of hell, but the game think about heaven and hell? we just played can give us greater insight. An old allegory • How do these images influence our understanding conveys hell as many people sitting around a table with of heaven and hell? How do they conflict with Church long spoons. They are starving but cannot feed themselves. teaching? Because they are so turned in on themselves, for eternity, 30 LIFE NIGHT SERIES: DEAD; 31 • What questions come to mind when you think about Project and pray the Fatima prayer together: heaven and hell? Spend time addressing these questions. For a Core Member who is uncomfortable or unable to O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of answer certain questions, write them down and give hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are them to the youth minister. in most need of thy mercy. Amen. • Describe what it looks like to have a healthy fear of hell. How does a healthy fear of hell push us toward heaven? Notes: ___________________________________________ Be sure to emphasize that healthy fear is not paralyzing. __________________________________________________ It’s recognizing that hell exists, and we can actually spend eternity without the love and joy offered by God. __________________________________________________ • How can knowledge of heaven and hell make you more __________________________________________________ attentive to the choices you make throughout each day? __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ SEND __________________________________________________ Cut & Fill Examination of Conscience (15 min) __________________________________________________ Gather the teens into the main meeting space.