Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
What we covered this year::
4/19/21: Fire Inside
3/29/21: Oxygen
3/22/21: Life In The Fire
3/15/21: Everlasting
3/8/21:::Kindling
3/1/21:: Circles of Care
2/15/21:: Ignition
2/8/21:: Eternal Kingdom
The Edge Night begins with a fun Gather game where the youth are setup to be waiting for someone to bring them a treat all night and then they proceed to play a fun active game. The Proclaim leads the youth through what will happen at the end of the world, the Last Judgment, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Break gives the youth a chance to discuss the teaching, and during the Send they pray a decade of the rosary, focusing on the Ascension of Jesus. The Edge Night ends with the Core Member who they were waiting for finally coming in with their treat.
2/1/21: A Legacy
1/25/21: Triumphant
1/11/21: Defeated
ETERNAL KINGDOM:
12/21/20:
12/14/20 Royal Descent
12/7/20: Long Live The King
EXISTENCE:
11/16/20: Bad News
- Color My World! - Jesus wants us to live a full and exciting life for Him
- Love One Another - We are to love everyone (not just those nice to us/easy to love) as Jesus loves us. This requires a choice, sometimes it is a simple act of kindness and other times it means putting someone else's needs ahead of our wants.
- Hunger Games - We are called to feed the hungry & give drink to the thirsty. We talked about both physical hunger and spiritual hunger. Together we put together 50 bag lunches that were donated to the Nashua Soup Kitchen. Most of us are blessed to not worry about where our next meal is coming from and have a loving home. What can you do to answer our call to help those that are hungry? Can you share our snacks at school? Can you talk to someone we see sitting alone at school/invite them to join our group? Remember in Matthew 25:40 it says "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."
- Operation Body & Soul - We are called to bury the dead. We talked about how the body is to be treated with dignity upon death -- it is NOT to be thrown away like trash. Because the body is sacred, and equally as important as the soul, the remains are to be honored with a Christian Burial. Although the soul is temporarily separated from body, it will be reunited on the last day when Jesus comes again, and will rise to heaven as Jesus did.
- For the Love of God - We have many gifts in our lives and are called to share those gifts with our brothers & sisters in need. We talked about our call to clothe the naked. Most of us have a lot of clothing... some of which we no longer wear. Wouldn't our clothes we no longer/seldom wear be more beneficial to someone in need? Maybe during this month that we celebrate Thanksgiving, we can take a few moments to see what we can share with others so they too have much to give thanks for. NOTE: Many kids got email before class & brought in coats/clothes to donate. From the EDGE night donations alone (2 of 3 clothing pictures below, 3rd is from parishioner donations on 11/9-10), we donated 17 coats and several bags of various clothing! By end of clothing drive, we donated over 100 coats + a dozen large bags of clothes!!
- A Stranger and You Welcomed Me - we are called to give shelter to the homeless.We often think of those that are physically homeless, but this also includes those that feel homeless/unloved/unaccepted/unwelcomed. When we feel God stir in our heart to help someone, we should listen to the voice that questions what the person will do with money they receive, but rather answer yes to Jesus and pray it will be used wisely. (If too concerned, there are always gift cards for food places.) We also stressed that we can live this work of mercy by inviting those we see that are alone in school to join us & our friends. We discussed St Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her love for the poor -- how she taught that ALL lives should be treated with dignity... that she took people off the streets of Calcutta to a place where they could die with dignity, surrounded by love. That she once said "The greatest disease in the West today is... being unwanted, un;loved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love."
- A Door to My Heart + Just Visiting - we are called to visit the sick as well as the imprisoned. We talked about those that have both physical and psychological illness (to include loneliness). That we can live the call to visit the sick by our just being present, listening to them, telling them stories or playing a game with them. Visiting the imprisoned includes not only those in jail/prison, but also those who cannot leave their home (e.g. nursing home). We can live the call not only by visiting (e.g. if parents want to bring us to a juvenile detention center) to remind people they are still valuable & loved by God, but also by praying for them or writing letters (only use first name if do the latter). It is not for us to judge those who are in prison (only God knows their heart), but to pray for them to repent and choose to follow Jesus. We ended the night teaching how to pray the rosary then praying a decade of the rosary on the mission rosary received as a gift for each one of them (along with card on how to pray the rosar