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THE FEARLESS WITNESS A LIFE NIGHT ABOUT SAINT JOHN PAUL II LIFE NIGHT OUTLINE CATECHISM CHURCH Virgin Mary and the Divine # 828 DOCUMENTS Mercy of Christ. # 956-957 Redemptoris Mater, Encyclical, # 2030 St.John Paul II • St. John Paul II had a missionary heart that led YOUCAT KEY CONCEPTS him to fight for the dignity # 132 of all human life; it even led • St. John Paul II will be him to forgive a man that # 146 th canonized on April 27 , tried to assassinate him. # 342 2014 – the Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy SCRIPTURE Sunday. His life provides Romans 8: 35-39 an exceptional witness of a 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27 modern day saint. Ephesians 6: 18-19 • St. John Paul II was an advocate for youth and families. He had a strong devotion to the Blessed GOAL a heart for serving the youth of the Church. Many This Life Night teaches teenagers about St. John teenagers may not be familiar with St. John Paul Paul II, and challenges them to emulate his witness II; this Life Night familiarizes teenagers with his of faith in the face of life’s challenges. life and also presents some of the challenges that he faced in his life. These challenges are very ABOUT THIS NIGHT similar to what teenagers experience in their lives and include atheism, forgiveness, and trusting in This Life Night has been designed for use with a God’s plan after a loss. variety of youth groups. Suggestions for adapting this Life Night for your particular group can be The Life Night begins with a relay race that found at the end of the Life Night in the “Adapting highlights the diversity of St. John Paul II’s life. This Life Night” section. Teenagers will participate in several challenges modeled from the hobbies and interests of the This Life Night was written for the occasion of the THE FEARLESS WITNESS FEARLESS THE saint. This game transitions to the Proclaim canonization of St. John Paul II. St. John Paul II had teaching, which is a brief biographical 2 ST. JOHN PAUL II LIFE NIGHT overview of St. John Paul II’s life and provides ENVIRONMENT insight into the canonization process. Teenagers Set up the front of the room for the opening relay will then have an option of three breakout sessions challenge (see Gather). In addition, have a large that focus on a specific area of St. John Paul II’s life picture of St. John Paul II set up in the front of the and the insights that we can gain from his witness room or projected onto a screen. If possible, set up of faith. The Life Night closes by teaching the a picture of Jesus of Divine Mercy as well. teenagers the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a prayer beloved by St. John Paul II. Teenagers will pray a If you have a projector and screen, consider creating decade together, and be challenged to pray the a slideshow presentation featuring various pictures Chaplet of Divine Mercy sometime during the of St. John Paul II mixed with various quotes from next week while asking for the intercession of St. his lifetime. John Paul II. Note: This Life Night was written for use with the canonization of John Paul II. For this reason, he is referred to as “St. John Paul II” throughout the Life Night rather than “Blessed John Paul II.” Fasten string to a dowel and place a small GATHER magnet on the end of the string. This will be the “fishing pole” and will pick up the “fish” with WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION the paperclip on each end. Once a teen picks up four fish (one at a time), he or she can tag a (5 min) teammate in for the next challenge. The youth minister welcomes teenagers to the • Soccer – St. John Paul II played soccer in his Life Night and introduces any teenagers that are youth as a goalkeeper. Set up a “goal” out of a attending for the first time. He or she leads an cardboard box or trash bin. Teens must score opening prayer to begin the Life Night. a “goal” by kicking a soccer ball into the box or bin. You can choose the difficulty of this game ST. JOHN PAUL II RELAY by choosing a larger (easier) or smaller (more (10 min) difficult) container. Be sure to set up the goal away from the audience so a soccer ball does Ask for four volunteers from each class (16 not accidentally hit a spectator. teens total) to come to the front of the room for a competition. Explain to the teens and the • Acting – St. John Paul II was an actor and a play audience that they will be competing in a relay writer. Find and print an excerpt from one of his race. There are four stations to the relay race plays (available online). In addition to the script, OUTLINE that each member of each team must complete have a “costume” that the teenager completing in order to win. All the stations have been based the challenge must first put on over his or her on activities that St. John Paul II loved during his clothing. The teen completing this challenge lifetime. Set up the four stations prior to the Life dress in costume, read the script out loud, Night: and the take off the costume before tagging a teammate in for the final challenge. • Fishing – St. John Paul II was an avid outdoorsman that loved to fish. Print and • The Keys of Peter – Prior to the Life Night, cutout pictures of fish. Tape a paperclip to the purchase a padlock with a set of keys. back the fish cutouts and place them into a Additionally, find several other keys that will small plastic children’s pool or a large basin. not open the padlock. Place all of the keys into a large bowl filled with shaving cream (St. John THE FEARLESS WITNESS ST. JOHN PAUL II LIFE NIGHT 3 Paul II was also a barber). To complete the • During this time he also was a part of the UNIA, final challenge, each teen must dig through an organization that helped shelter and protect the shaving cream until he or she finds a key. Jews from Nazi authorities during the holocaust. Once they have found a key (they can only When World War II ended, he attended major take one key out a time), he or she must try seminary and continued his studies for the to open the padlock with it. The first teen to priesthood. find the correct key for the padlock will win the relay for his or her team. The Priesthood and Papacy • After his ordination, he continued to become Have a prize for the winning team, or have an educated, receiving several advanced award for the winning class (a small snack after degrees. He was present at the Vatican the Life Night, a prayer card, etc.). Use this game II council, helped draft many important to transition into the first teaching for the Life documents, and was ordained a bishop. He Night. was elected as pope on October 16th, 1978 and remained pope for nearly 27 years. • His papacy was a remarkable one. St. John Paul PROCLAIM II had a love and zeal for young people, families, and met with more world leaders and members “THE FEARLESS WITNESS” of the Church than any pope before him. TEACHING He established World Youth Day, canonized several saints, and had a special devotion to (10 min) the Blessed Virgin Mary. His apostolic motto was, “Totus Tuus,” which means, “totally yours.” • St. John Paul II lived his life fearlessly and with tremendous faith in God. He was • St. John Paul II was instrumental in bringing an avid outdoorsman, athlete, actor, and down communism in the Soviet Union, survived disciple. Throughout his life he faced conflict a failed assassination attempt, and strongly fearlessly and with hope in Christ. Many of promoted forgiveness and God’s Mercy. you may remember little pieces of his life He joined Christ in heaven on Divine Mercy through stories when you were younger, Sunday. Nearly three million people came but St. John Paul II gave us an incredible to pay their respects to his mortal remains. witness of faith in the modern world. • St. John Paul II lived a life of love for God and for • St John Paul II was born in 1920 in Poland, neighbor, and practiced heroic virtue in all he did. and was the youngest of three children. It was for these reasons that Pope Benedict XVI When he was only nine years old his mother waived the normal five-year waiting period for the passed away. Shortly after, his brother died, canonization process to begin for St. John Paul II. and several years later his father passed away as well. By age 21, St.