1 SEARCH RETREAT 1 RETREAT SEARCH A RETREAT ON LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS CONTENT INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THIS RETREAT (Pg. 4) SESSION ONE: FINDING LOVE GOD IS LOVE (Pg. 12) Unless otherwise noted, Scripture passages have been taken from the Revised SESSION TWO: FINDING HAPPINESS Standard Version, Catholic edition. Copyright ©1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division SIN AS DISTORTED HAPPINESS AND JESUS AS REDEEMER of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the (Pg. 26) USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotes are taken from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America (indicated as CCC), 2nd ed. Copyright SESSION THREE: FINDING PURPOSE ©1997 by United States Catholic Conference – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. KNOW, LOVE, AND SERVE GOD (Pg. 38) Author: Lily Hannan, Jessica McMillan Design: Casey Olson SESSION FOUR: FINDING COMMUNITY Copy Edit: Elizabeth Bayardi THE BODY OF CHRIST ©2018 Life Teen, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book, including interior (Pg. 54) design, cover design, and/or icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher. SESSION FIVE: FINDING ME GOD’S PLAN The information contained herein is published and produced by Life Teen, Inc. The resources and practices are in full accordance with the Roman Catholic Church. (Pg. 66) The Life Teen® name and associated logos are trademarks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Use of the Life Teen® trademarks without prior permission is forbidden. Permission may be requested by contacting Life Teen, Inc. at 480-820-7001. 2 SEARCH RETREAT 3 INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS As You Get Started. The outline provided in this resource is just a starting point. Add, subtract, and change things INTRODUCTION TO THE THEME according to the needs of the teens that will be attending Walker Percy, a Catholic American author, wrote, “To the retreat. become aware of the possibility of a search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.” Priests. The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist Most of us are aware that we are onto something because are important parts of this retreat. Make sure to invite your we have hope and find ourselves desiring and asking priests well in advance. If possible, have more than one questions about love, happiness, and purpose. But in priest available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a culture that gives us conflicting answers, we may find a priest, deacon, or Eucharistic Minister to expose the ourselves lost. It is the Gospel message which personally Blessed Sacrament for Adoration. guides our search for truth. Music Ministry. If possible, have a band present to provide God created each of us intentionally, out of love, and for a music ministry for the whole weekend. Ask the band that purpose. Our hearts search for God and will not be content plays at your Life Teen Mass to be part of the retreat, or until united with Him. During this retreat, we will embark ask other local musicians. on the search for God together. It is easy to look to Google for answers, but only God reaches into our lives and gives Teen Involvement. As you plan, make sure to involve teens us a personal response. in games, videos, skits, witness talks, etc. In particular, target teens that might not come on the retreat if they are GOAL not involved. The goal of this retreat is to invite teens into a relationship with God by encouraging them to ask the big questions Advertisement and Invitation. You can plan the best about the purpose of life and answering them with the retreat ever, but if no teens come – what’s the point? Be Gospel message. sure to get the word out about the retreat early. Create and use flyers, bulletin announcements, e-mails, Twitter, BASIS and Instagram invitations to get teens excited about the • 1 Timothy 2:3-4 retreat. Make sure that everyone on the Core Team is • John 3:16 personally inviting teens to come on retreat – at Mass, at • Exodus 14:3 Life Night, at schools, wherever teens are! Create a retreat • CCC 1-2 promo video that can be shown at Mass and Life Nights, and then post it on YouTube. RETREAT PREPARATION As a planning team, give yourselves plenty of time to Pray. In the end, this is God’s retreat and not yours. As pray about and plan this retreat. The retreat will be most soon as teens start signing up, begin praying for the teens effective if the planning process begins at least two to by name and for the help and inspiration of the Holy Spirit three months in advance. As you plan, stay rooted in as you plan. prayer and open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Here are some specific things to keep in mind as you begin your planning: 4 SEARCH RETREAT 5 PRAYER PREPARATION If a priest is not available to join, ask him to be available to As you begin planning the retreat, gather a team of offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation before leaving for the intercessors. Ask this group to pray for the Core Team, retreat. teens, and everyone involved with the retreat. As teens sign up, provide the intercessory team with the names Notes: __________________________________________ of the participants. If possible, have them come on the __________________________________________________ retreat to pray and intercede during the weekend. __________________________________________________ SMALL GROUPS __________________________________________________ The teens will need to be broken into small groups of six to __________________________________________________ eight teens with one Core Member. It is the role of the small __________________________________________________ group facilitator to establish trust and honesty within the __________________________________________________ small group so that the teens will feel comfortable sharing. __________________________________________________ ENVIRONMENT __________________________________________________ Throughout the retreat, a giant Google search bar at the __________________________________________________ front of the room displays the driving question behind each __________________________________________________ session. The questions, “What is love?”, “What is happiness?”, __________________________________________________ “What is the purpose of life?”, “What is the point of Church?”, __________________________________________________ and “What do I do with my life?” focus the teens on the particular search addressed in each session. Popular answers __________________________________________________ to each question are displayed around the room. __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Create the giant search bar and the rotating questions by __________________________________________________ having an artistic Core Member draw or paint it on cardboard or poster board. Make it suitable to the size of your space. It __________________________________________________ should be a prominent centerpiece. Write the questions on __________________________________________________ separate poster boards so they can be added and removed __________________________________________________ for the different sessions. If your budget allows, consider __________________________________________________ purchasing a vinyl banner of the search bar and use velcro __________________________________________________ to switch out the questions. Check out vistaprint.com, signs.com/banners/, or local graphic design companies to __________________________________________________ purchase a customized banner. __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION __________________________________________________ The Sacrament of Reconciliation is introduced in the second __________________________________________________ session and is available throughout the retreat. Be sure to make a Reconciliation schedule and post it in several __________________________________________________ prominent locations for teens to reference. Also, consider __________________________________________________ having sign ups. __________________________________________________ 6 SEARCH RETREAT 7 SAMPLE WEEKEND RETREAT SCHEDULE SAMPLE DAY RETREAT SCHEDULE FRIDAY SATURDAY 5:00 pm Registration 8:00 am Breakfast 5:30 pm Depart for Retreat Site 9:00 am SESSION I: Finding Love 7:30 pm Arrive at Retreat Site 10:30 am Free Time 8:00 pm SESSION I: Finding Love 11:00 am SESSION II: Finding Happiness 9:30 pm Free Time 12:30 pm Lunch and Free Time with Confession Available 11:00 pm Lights Out 1:30 pm SESSION III: Finding Purpose 3:00 pm Free Time with Confession Available SATURDAY 4:00 pm SESSION IV: Finding Community 8:00 am Breakfast 5:30 pm Free Time with Confession Available 9:00 am SESSION II: Finding Happiness 7:30 pm SESSION V: Finding Me 11:30 am Lunch and Free Time with Confession Available 9:00 pm Retreat Gift and Dismissal 2:00 pm SESSION III: Finding Purpose 3:30 pm Free Time with Confession Available *Adapt as necessary 4:30 pm Dinner and Free Time 7:00 pm SESSION IV: Finding Community 8:30 pm Free Time with Confession Available 11:00 pm Lights Out SUNDAY 9:00 am Breakfast 10:00 am SESSION V: Finding Me 11:30 am Lunch 1:00 pm Clean Up and Pack 2:30 pm Depart Retreat Site 4:30 pm Arrive at Parish 5:30 pm Sunday Mass *Adapt as