Sunday, August 20, 2023
The readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time for Year A highlight that God wills all of the world to be saved. In the first reading (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7) the Israelites learn that foreigners who follow the decrees of the Lord also worship God. The psalm (Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8) cries “O God, let all the nations praise you! ” In the second reading (Romans 11:13-15, 29-32) Paul speaks of his ministry to the Gentiles. And in the gospel (Matthew 15:21-28) Jesus heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman.
So here we can talk about being inclusive and wanting all people to be joined in the Kingdom of God. Here are some ideas:
This is an active game where youth try to get their own balls in their own basket while keeping the other team's balls out. This can be a good game to play for the topics of racism and immigration. If you use the option to change the rules mid-game, this makes a good tie in with a lesson on authority or Magisterium.
We often tend to associate with people who share similar traits and common interests: people on our sports team, friends who like the same video games, the theater troupe, our fellow choir members, chess enthusiasts, etc. There is nothing wrong with this unless it leads to an "Us vs Them" mentality. We have to remember not to exclude people outside of our usual circle or even worse, treat them unfairly.
O God, let all the nations praise you!
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
-Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
A Privilege Walk is an exercise where participants consider how circumstances in their lives can be benefits or detriments. These are circumstances which are beyond their control, largely related to the families they were born into and the resources they have.
It is easy to look at the divisions in our country and the injustices and loose hope. But our merciful God is first and foremost our reason for hope. Let us place our country in his hands.
People sort is an activity which can be used as an icebreaker or opening activity for a youth group meeting focused on human dignity, immigration, or institutional racism. Use the debrief time to have an honest discussion about why we group people by race rather than other characteristics.
Fox and Chickens tag is a variation on tag which the person who is it tries to tag the last person in line. The people at the front of the line try to protect the last person.This game could be used with a theme of how God protects us and loves us even better than a mother hen protects her chicks. Or it could be used for a social justice theme about protecting the marginalized.
The sin of racism impacts all of us. Our communities are so divided. We don't understand or listen to each other. We seem unable to make the sacrifices necessary to even the playing field for all of God's children.
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