Reflection Questions

Start by playing a game. Ask a question. The youth should call out their answer until they find someone else with the same answer.

Some possible questions:

• What is your favorite color?
• How many siblings do you have?
• What is your favorite pizza topping?
• What type of pet do you have?

Give them a minute or so to find their group. For those who found everyone with the same answer, give them a small piece of candy.Or give them a point if keeping score. Some people will not have anyone else with the same answer. That is OK. Then ask another question.

After playing the game, ask a few questions.

• Did you like to find people who had the same answer as you? Why or why not?
• If you were the only person with a particular answer, how did that make you feel?
• When you are at school or at a social event, do you like to feel like you are a member of a group?
• How do you think it feels to be excluded from a group? Has this ever happened to you?

None of us like to feel left out or rejected. We like to feel like we belong. It gives us security. But even Jesus was rejected:

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.

When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.

He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Mark 6:1-6

It says that Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. He probably didn’t expect to be rejected by him. But they thought they knew who he was, and his ability to teach and lead didn’t fit into their stereotype of him.

• How do you think Jesus’ friends and family viewed him?
• Do you think Jesus wanted to be able to heal the people from his town?
• How do you think Jesus felt when he realized they had no faith?

Sometimes it is hard for us to imagine that Jesus had feelings in a situation like this. But Jesus experienced all that humans experience when he walked the earth. So it seems likely that this rejection hurt.

Jesus could have responded with anger or tried to get back at them. But he doesn’t try to convince the people of his hometown to believe in him. Instead it seems he just moved on. After this passage, we hear that he goes to other villages in the area. And he sends his apostles out in pairs to heal people and spread his teachings.

But, he advises them

Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.

Mark 6:11

So it seems that he feels the best way to deal with rejection, is to move along to somewhere else.

• What are the dangers of returning over and over to people who reject us?
• What can we learn from Jesus’ example when we feel rejected or left out?
• Who are some people we can turn to when we feel isolated or lonely?
• What can we do to make sure the people we encounter feel loved and included?

This week, your challenge is to go the extra mile to help somebody feel like they belong. If you notice somebody who seems left out, make an effort to start a conversation with him or her. Invite them to join in with something you are doing and be extra welcoming. You never know, you might even make a new friend.

Start by playing the game How Good Are Your Survival Skills? This game focuses on how good we would be at surviving on our own. Allow plenty of time for discussion. Youth will want to debate about their choices. 🙂

After determining how everyone did in the game, start with some opening questions:

• Have you ever thought about trying to survive on your own?
• Do you think you would do OK in a survival situation, or would you need to be rescued?
• Do you think survival would be easier as an individual or in a group? Why?

Hopefully none of us will ever find ourselves in a disaster situation where we need to be rescued. But if we do, imagine how you would feel when the first responders showed up. You’d be relieved and grateful, right?

Read the gospel:

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.

One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.” He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

[There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” But his disciples said to Jesus, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?'” And he looked around to see who had done it.

The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”]

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”

Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”

He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out.

He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was. He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded.

He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

Mark 5:21-43 or Mark 5:21-24, 35b-43

In this gospel, we hear of two people desperately in need of rescue.

The woman with the hemorrhages had been suffering for years. Basically she was constantly bleeding. It is important to understand that in Jewish culture of the time, blood was life. It was as if her very life was seeping away. And even worse, the blood made her ritually impure, and she could not go into the temple to worship until it stopped. She was cut off from her faith community and was desperate to be healed.

The synagogue official’s daughter was already gravely ill when he approached Jesus. By the time they reached the house, it was reported that she was dead. It seemed all hope was lost. But Jesus had other plans.

In both of these cases, the people involved had sought other options first. The woman with the hemorrhages had sought help from the doctors and they had only made things worse. And we can assume that the synagogue official also sought medical help for his daughter.

You can imagine how fear and hopelessness could take over here. But instead of giving up, they turned to Jesus for rescue. The woman by touching the hem of our Lord’s garment. And the father by asking Jesus to come heal his daughter. They are acknowledging that they can’t handle these difficult situations on their own.

• Do you ever feel like you are just barely surviving?
• Have you ever needed God to rescue you from a difficult situation?
• Did you turn to God first, or did you try other options?
• Why do we hesitate to ask God for help?
• Is there someone who can encourage you to turn to God when you are struggling?

This week, keep your eyes and heart open to see where you or a friend is struggling to survive. Turn to prayer first. Believe that God will present a solution and be open to what that solution might be. Remember that you are not alone. Turn to Jesus and look to your faith community for support.

Close with the prayer Prayer to God My Hope in Time of Fear which is based on Psalm 30. It reminds us to turn to God for help and praises God for the many times when he has rescued us.

Start by playing a game which involves a little fear. You will need some strange flavored jelly beans. Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans are a good option. Beanboozled beans are much stronger and the gross ones are really gross.

To play, the player randomly chooses a jelly bean. It could be a delicious flavor or a disgusting one. (Don’t show them the key. Blindfolding players is also a possibility.)

Once the player has the jelly bean, everyone can have some fun guessing what the flavor will be. Then the player eats the jelly bean. You will know by the look on his or her face if it was a nice flavor or a not so nice flavor.

Have some water on hand to let the players wash the flavor out of their mouths. 🙂

Note: Do not force youth to eat a jelly bean. Nobody should have to participate unwillingly.

Fear is a part of life. We are trained to respond to fear. It gets our blood pumping and sometimes even gives us a little rush.

• What are some scary things people do for fun? (Amusement park rides, scary movie, eat a jelly bean that might be gross, etc.)
• Why are you willing to do these things?
• Have you ever done something scary for fun and it turned out to be too scary?

When we frighten ourselves for a thrill, it is something we do where we know we won’t get hurt. And we know it is temporary.

But sometimes, we have to deal with bigger fears in our lives.

Read the gospel:

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.”

Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up.

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm.

Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

Mark 4:35-41

This must have been some storm. Remember that many of the apostles were fishermen. They were used to handling boats in bad weather. But here they are described as “terrified”. They believe they are going to die.

So this is a different type of fear than the type we talked about earlier. This is a fear about something which could truly do harm. This is a big fear.

Pass out some note cards and pencils.

Write some of your biggest fears on the cards. Don’t write your name. Because sometimes one of our fears is telling others what we are really thinking. Pass the cards in. I will read the fears so we can all share what we fear without knowing whose fear it is.

Read the fears.

You might be surprised that some of you fear the same things.

• Does it help to know that you are not the only one who is afraid?
• Are there any other fears you would like to name before the whole group?

We all face fear in our lives. Jesus never promised us a life without “storms”. We know that sometimes things are not going to be pleasant. We are going to have to deal with very difficult situations.

But Jesus did promise to be with us. And to send the Holy Spirit to guide us. We have heard that in the gospel in the past few weeks.

• What might you do when you are facing an overwhelming fear?
• Do you think it might help to share your fear with a friend or adult you trust?
• How can your faith in Jesus help you when you are afraid?

One thing which can help is to learn to trust Jesus in your everyday fears. When you fear what will happen when you do poorly on a test or when you are worried about something somebody said to you, turn to Jesus. Ask him to be with you and bring you peace and calm. And trust that in the end, he will be with you and will care for you. If something doesn’t go the way you hoped, ask Jesus to make a new opportunity out of it.

This week, when you feel fear welling up inside of you, pray the simple prayer of St. Faustina: “Jesus, I trust in You.”

Start with a hands-on activity. Have some easy to grow seeds, peat pots, and potting soil on hand, along with something for scooping out the soil. Suggestions for seeds are marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, or any easy to grow flower.

Have each youth plant a few seeds in their pot. Explain the planting directions for the type of seed they are planting. They should plant several seeds in the pot. This will take a few minutes. When everyone is ready, start the discussion.

Right now everyone has planted some seeds. But these seeds won’t grow without a little care.

• What will you need to do to help your seeds grow?
  • The plants will need water.
  • They will need the right type of sun.
  • They will need to be thinned so they have room to grow.
  • They will need to be moved to a different container or planted in the ground when the starter pot is no longer enough for them.

So these plants are going to need some care. But if you pay attention to them, the little seed you started with will turn into a much bigger plant. And it will produce beautiful flowers.

Read the gospel:

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

Mark 4:26-34

In this gospel, Jesus tells us two parables about growing . He explains that the Kingdom of God can start small, but eventually can grow into something much bigger. It starts with our own tiny seed of faith. Like the small seeds we planted, we must follow the instructions to get our faith off to a good start.

• What are some of the instructions we have for growing our faith? (Scripture, Church teachings, 10 Commandments, Beatitudes…)
• How do these things give us a good foundation for growth?

We also need to care for our faith. We must give it water and sunlight to help it grow. These are like the things which sustain our faith week after week.

• What are some of the things which we must do over and over again to keep our faith healthy? (Go to Mass, come to youth group, participate in service, pray…)
• How do these things help our faith to thrive?

We planted several seeds in our containers, just so we’d be sure something comes up. But if more than one sprouts, you will need to thin them by pinching off the extra plants. If you have more than one plant, then when the plants grow they will crowd each other out. In the same way, we need to remove things from our life which might keep our faith from growing.

• What are some things which might crowd out your faith life? (Too many activities, peer pressure, temptations…)
• What happens when you don’t notice these things and they grow?

Finally, your plant will have to eventually be moved to a different container or outside. These pots we used are meant to fall apart eventually to give the roots to space to grow. If the plant is too confined when it gets bigger, then it can never fully develop and bloom. In a similar way, we will need to move from where we are comfortable into new places in order to develop and grow the Kingdom of God.

• How or when might you need to leave your comfort zone? (Graduate high school, meet new friends, do a service project for unfamiliar people…)
• How will these things help you grow in faith and help the Kingdom of God grow?
• What are some challenges you face in continuing to grow in faith?

As you can see, growing a plant from a tiny seed takes some work. We can’t just forget about it. If we don’t care for our little plant on a regular basis, it won’t survive. This is like the seed of our faith. It may start small, but if we pay attention to it and nurture it, then it will grow and what we do will help increase the Kingdom of God.

Take your planted seeds home and care for them. Be patient. Growing something takes time. Every day, when you check on your plant, say a little prayer to God asking for the grace for your faith to grow also.