The Muppets Movie Night • Faith Festivals

Invite families to join together in watching The Muppets. This movie reminds families of the power of friendship, sharing your gifts and working together.

Surf's Up Movie Night • Faith Festivals

Invite families to join together in watching Surf's Up. This movie is about friendship, family, believing in yourself, and using your gifts

Getting to Know Jesus Faith Festival • Faith Festivals

All Resources

This 90-minute session for families combines tie-dying t-shirts with exploring the colors, symbols, and sacraments of our Catholic faith. The home activity encourages families to share their faith by sharing the meaning of their t-shirts. • By Jane Angha

Autumn Social Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for social activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Advent & Christmas Social Activities • Gather Us In

A party, a cookie swap, and caroling -- three activities to help your family celebrate the season. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Winter & Lenten Social Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for social activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Easter Season Social Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for social activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Advent & Christmas Service Activities • Gather Us In

Try some of these service activities to help your family embrace the spirit of the season. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Easter Season Service Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for service activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Winter & Lenten Service Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for service activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Autumn Service Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for service activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Summer Social & Service Activities • Gather Us In

Ideas meant to jump-start your own brainstorming for social & service activities for families. They are tentatively placed according to season, but many would work at different times of the year, particularly in different climates. These are an aid to your ingenuity, not a replacement for it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Advent Wreath-Making Session • Gather Us In

This activity is designed to encourage families to celebrate with Advent wreaths by giving them the opportunity to make them together. It will be necessary to have the families sign up in advance so that you will know how much material you will need. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Jesse Tree Session • Gather Us In

A Jesse tree is a bare branch that holds symbols of all the people who waited and prepared for the coming of the Messiah. It is this love and preparation that make flowers burst forth from the branch, and this is why a stark branch, rather than an evergreen tree, is used. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Sacrament Scavenger Hunt • Gather Us In

This lesson can be used quite successfully for sacramental preparation programs, particularly Eucharist and Confirmation, as a whole family experience to close a year on the study of sacraments, or as part of a family retreat that takes place in a church setting. The entire experience will take approximately two hours, depending on the ages of the children involved. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Forgiveness Session • Gather Us In

This activity was originally designed to help those families who are preparing a child for the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time. It has been modified, to review the concept of forgiveness and celebrate reconciliation outside the sacrament. It makes an excellent preparation for Lent. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Lenten Crosses • Gather Us In

This activity is similar to Advent wreaths. The entire activity will take less than an hour. It can be done in conjunction with a related prayer service, if you have more time. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Calvary Walk • Gather Us In

This reflection on the Way of the Cross was designed to help families recognize how Jesus is suffering in the world today. Although preschoolers can easily be incorporated into the activity, it is not particularly appropriate for those families who only have small children. School age children will gain far more from the experience. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Body of Christ • Gather Us In

The purpose of this activity is to remind us that we are all different parts of the body of Christ, and the body must work together in the world. It is appropriate as either a lenten or Easter season activity. It is an excellent family activity in preparation for First Eucharist. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Holy Spirit Kites Activity • Gather Us In

The purpose of this activity is to focus families on the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Throughout Scripture, the Spirit is portrayed as wind and breath and air. Building kites is a reminder that all good deeds are powered by the Spirit, as kites are powered by the wind. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Session on Covenanting and Naming • Gather Us In

Activities, ritual, and prayer for helping a group become a community and make a commitment. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Building the Reign of God • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants understand more fully what it means to live in the Reign/Kingdom of God. They will explore the teachings of Christ as they relate to our modern world and everyday life and how to allow our lives to more fully reflect the teachings of Christ.

Celebrating Liturgy & Sacraments • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to recognize that the liturgy is the work of the Trinity and understand that the sacraments are signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church.

Following Catholic Social Teaching • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to learn about Catholic social teaching, including the exercise of virtue in society, the common good, the equal dignity of human persons, and the need to reduce excessive social and economic inequalities

Knowing the Trinity • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to more deeply appreciate our belief in one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They will hear how to know God better by seeing how divine love in the Holy Trinity also extends to daily life in our homes when we live in love.

Learning about Chastity • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to recognize that by creating the human person, man and woman, God gives each one personal dignity. They will appreciate that chastity means the full and complete integration of sexuality within the person and the covenant that spouses enter into.

Living a Moral Life • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to recognize that certain concrete acts are always wrong to choose and that we may not do evil to achieve a good result. They will deepen their understanding that a well-formed conscience is upright and truthful.

Loving the Bible • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to appreciate that God is the author of Sacred Scripture because God inspired its human authors and that we must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the writings of the sacred authors.

Loving the Church • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to understand that the word "church" designates those whom God’s word gathers together to form the people of God, nourished with the body of Christ to become the body of Christ.

Meeting Jesus • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to recognize that the whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching: his silence, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his way of the cross, and his resurrection. They will better understand that in his teaching Jesus announced the reign of God and by his example called us to live out the paschal mystery.

Praying Well • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to explore prayer as a way of cooperating with the Holy Spirit, who helps us remember all that Jesus said and who instructs us in the life of prayer. They will learn the basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise and gain a greater sense of being blessed and of offering blessing.

Talking about God • Whole Community Catechesis

(English & Spanish)

This session will help participants to recognize that God has revealed and given himself to us out of love, gradually communicating God’s own mystery in deeds and in words.

Baptism in Word, Ritual, and Symbols • Generations of Faith

Intergenerational Session

An all-ages session to develop a deeper understanding of baptism so we can live out our baptismal vows more robustly and participate more actively in future celebrations of the rite.

Confirmation in Word, Ritual, and Symbols • Generations of Faith

Intergenerational Session

An all-ages session to develop a deeper understanding of the Sacrament of Confirmation, our mission as disciples of Jesus, and our Christian responsibility within the community and to the world.

Rite of Confirmation Faith Festival • Faith Festivals

This 90-minute session is designed to help households want to attend the celebration of confirmation in your parish and find ways to support those who are getting confirmed.

Community of Hope • Generations of Faith

All Souls' Day Learning Activity

In this activity, participants will explore the meaning of life, hope, and death through the theology of All Souls' Day.

Infancy Narratives • Generations of Faith

Living the Christmas Season

Use this intergenerational program to explore the birth of Jesus, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and Epiphany.

Mardi Gras Celebration • Generations of Faith

This program begins with a festive Mardi Gras celebration of favorite foods and games and then shifts from feasting to fasting with a reflection and prayer service that prepares participants for a meaningful experience of Lent.

Pentecost: Gifts of the Spirit • Generations of Faith

Explore the meaning of Pentecost with participants of all ages with these activities.

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Liberation & Discipleship • Generations of Faith

In this session, participants will come to know the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, understand the role she plays among those who are oppressed, and find a model for discipleship in this apparition of the Blessed Virgin. • By Leota Roesch

All Are Accepted • Generations of Faith

Exploring the Themes of Lectionary Cycle C

This activity is part of the Intergeneral Session on Lectionary Cycle C, but can be used as a stand-alone activity for home or parish use. Using 4 Gospel stories from Cycle C, participants will explore one of the main themes of this cycle's readings.

Blessed Are the Poor • Generations of Faith

Exploring the Themes of Lectionary Cycle C

This activity is part of the Intergeneral Session on Lectionary Cycle C, but can be used as a stand-alone activity for home or parish use. Using 4 Gospel stories from Cycle C, participants will explore one of the main themes of this cycle's readings.

Lectionary Cycle B • Generations of Faith

Participants of all ages will explore the themes of Lectionary Cycle B. • By Leif Kehrwald

Forgiveness & Reconciliation • Generations of Faith

This all-ages session will examine the Christian call to forgive and reconcile within our families, and with the whole world. It will give participants the chance to learn and practice the art of forgiveness. • By Susan Vogt

Reconciling with God & Neighbor • Generations of Faith

In this session, participants will develop a deeper understanding of God's loving forgiveness as portrayed in Scripture and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. • By Joan Weber

Care for Creation Activities • Generations of Faith

A collection of small and large group activities based on the teaching of Care for God's Creation.

Introduction to Justice: Solidarity • Generations of Faith

Use this parish activity to introduce the idea of Solidarity.

Introduction to Justice: Call to Family, Community, & Participation • Generations of Faith

Reflect on how the call to family, community, & participation challenges us to strike a fine balance between our personal wants, our family responsibilities, and our obligations to the larger community.

Meal Portions • Generations of Faith

This all-ages experience will give participants a clear understanding of the imbalance of food distribution around the world.

Reflecting on Justice & Service • Generations of Faith

Use this resource to guide a whole-group sharing experience on justice.

Called to Serve • Generations of Faith

This session guides participants of all ages to understand that Jesus calls us to serve and service in an integral part of being a Catholic.

Stewardship Is & Isn't • Generations of Faith

This all-ages activity explores central teachings about what stewardship is and isn't. It can be used as part of the Intergenerational Session or stand alone.

Pray Always • Generations of Faith

This all-ages session will guide participants to explore and understand the central prayer forms of the Catholic tradition and engage in the practice of prayer on a regular basis.

Jesus of Mark • Generations of Faith

This all-ages activity will introduce participants to the key stories in the Gospel of Mark that reveal the core message of Mark.

We Believe • Generations of Faith

This session invites participants to explore the Christian profession of faith as a response to God's revelation to the world made known through the mission of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle's Creed • Generations of Faith

Believing that Jesus Was Fully Human

This all-ages activity will guide participants in exploring our belief that Jesus is fully human as expressed in the Apostles' Creed. This activity is intended to be followed by the activity titled: The Nicene Creed: Believing that Jesus Was Fully Divine.

The Nicene Creed • Generations of Faith

Believing that Jesus Was Fully Divine

In this all-ages session, participants will explore our belief that Jesus is fully divine as expressed in the Nicene Creed. This activity is designed to following the activity titled: The Apostles' Creed: Believing that Jesus Was Fully Human.

Creeds: Speaking & Living Our Core Beliefs • Generations of Faith

This all-ages session will guide participants in professing and living the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as signs of Church unity in the Easter Season.

Divine Revelation • Generations of Faith

This session seeks to show participants that God has always been and continues to be active in the lives of humans. God moves among us; God speaks and acts in human history, and above all, God acts and speaks in the words and deeds of Jesus.

Hunger Activities • Generations of Faith

Use these parish ideas to dive into issues related to hunger. Includes an involvement activity, an exploration activity, a reflection activity, action activities, and a prayer service.

Intro to Old Testament • Generations of Faith

The Great Stories & Oral Tradition

This session will introduce participants to nine great themes of the Old Testament through the great stories of the Old Testament and explore the passing on of these stories through oral tradition.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit • Generations of Faith

In this all-ages activity, participants will create ornaments that reflect the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Refugee Activities • Generations of Faith

Use these parish ideas to dive into issues related to refugees. Includes involvement activities, exploration activities, reflection activities, action activities, and a prayer service.

St. Joseph Table • Faith Festivals

This Faith Festival is designed to introduce participants to the tradition of the St. Joseph Table as a way to prepare for the celebration of the feast of St. Joseph on March 19. • By Jim Merhaut

Family Hike • Faith Festivals

Spend time in creation celebrating family, nature and the presence of God. • By Jane Angha

St. Patrick • Faith Festivals

Celebrating Faith

Learn about the life of St. Patrick and find new ways to celebrate and share your own faith. • By Jane Angha

Dolphin Tale 2 • First Steps for Families

Family Movie Night

Gather families to view a movie together and discuss its themes. • By Jane Angha

Muppets Most Wanted • First Steps for Families

Movie Night

Gather families to view the movie and discuss its themes. • By Tom East

Becoming Missionary Disciples • Generations of Faith

Participants will explore their baptismal call to be missionary disciples. Pope Francis reminds us tat we are called to share the Gospel message with all those we meet, bringing and being Christ to them. • By Rosina Hendrickson

The Good Dinosaur • First Steps for Families

Movie Night

Gather families to watch the movie and discuss its themes. • By Jane Angha

Exploring the Creed • Generations of Faith

Use these Church Year sessions to give an overview of the Creed.

Who Wants to Be a Saint? • Generations of Faith

Script for All Saints' Day

We are Called

In this all-ages session, participants will reflect on how we are all called to be disciples.

1800PRAYER

A skit to introduce the topic of prayer.

The Practice of Prayer

This all-ages session has been adapted from "Pray Always" specifically for Lent.

Why the Lectionary? • Generations of Faith

In this all-ages activity, participants will grow in their understanding of why we use the lectionary as the means for proclaiming the Word in worship.

Dedication of an Altar or New Church • Generations of Faith

In this session, participants will prepare for the dedication of a new altar or new Church. • By Jim Merhaut

Discipleship & Discipline • Generations of Faith

This all-ages activity introduces participants to the idea of discipline in discipleship.

Jesus Through the Church Year • Generations of Faith

Experiencing Christ in the Advent & Christmas Seasons

In this all-ages session, participants will explore the "who" of Jesus through the Advent readings.

Jesus Through the Church Year • Generations of Faith

Experiencing Christ in the Easter Season

In this all-ages session, participants will explore the "who" of Jesus through the ritual actions of the Easter season.

Jesus Through the Church Year • Generations of Faith

Experiencing Christ through the Symbols of Lent

In this all-ages session, participants will explore the "who" of Jesus through the central symbols of the season of Lent - Year C.

Lenten Jeopardy • Generations of Faith

Explore the people, traditions, and scripture passages of Lent in a Jeopardy-style format.

Acting Out the Gospels

Advent & Christmas

Use the book Acting Out the Gospels by Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND, to dramatize the Infancy Narratives.

Advent Calendar • Generations of Faith

Help participants prepare for the birth of the Messiah by creating an Advent calendar.

Advent Film Festival • Generations of Faith

Sponsor a film festival using one or more Christmas feature films.

Advent Music Festival • Generations of Faith

Use music to help prepare participants for the birth of the Messiah. You can use live or recorded music.

Beatitudes for "Saintly" Living • Generations of Faith

The Beatitudes are values that come straight from the mind of Christ. In the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us what will make us truly blessed or happy. On All Saints' Day we recognize that we are called to be like God's Saints.

Praying with the Saints • Generations of Faith

Participants will write prayers that capture the life and actions of several saints and holy people.

Saint for the Week • Generations of Faith

Participants will learn about several saints and try to emulate them in their lives for the week.

Saints Film Festival • Generations of Faith

Sponsor a film festival using one or more feature films portraying the lives of Saints.

Saints Gallery • Generations of Faith

Participants will create a gallery of Saints for All Saints' Day.

Introduction to the Bible • FamilyFaith@Home

Families will be able to identify basic aspects of the Bible: major divisions, kinds of writing, and key characters and stories.

Giving & Receiving Forgiveness • FamilyFaith@Home

Participants will reflect on the need for forgiveness in their lives from the perspective of both accepting and giving forgiveness in their relationship with God and with others.

Church: Community of Faith • FamilyFaith@Home

Participants will be able to identify Church as a community of faith that transcends time and space.

Living in Solidarity 2

Participants will learn how to live in solidarity, loving our neighbor in an interdependent world. • By Gladys Pozza

Forgiveness Matters • Faith Festivals

Participants will learn about the power and grace that forgiveness and reconciliation can bring to our relationships.

Summer: A Church Going Forth

This resource connects you to examples of seasonal commemorations and opportunities with the hope that it might spark the interest and passion of the families you serve. By offering families guidance, resources, and space to explore such moments through a Catholic faith lens, we empower them to more deeply understand the realities of the world and respond faithfully in it. Faith-based resources, web links, and suggested action steps are also provided for encouraging research and peer leadership. Using some of these ideas for fostering a global sense of mission in youth and families can also help them to be the Church going forth in joy, in hope, and in the world this summer. • By Ted Miles

Winter: A Church Going Forth

This resource connects you to examples of seasonal commemorations and opportunities with the hope that it might spark the interest and passion of the families you serve. By offering families guidance, resources, and space to explore such moments through a Catholic faith lens, we empower them to more deeply understand the realities of the world and respond faithfully in it. Faith-based resources, web links, and suggested action steps are also provided for encouraging research and peer leadership. Using some of these ideas for fostering a global sense of mission in youth and families can also help them to be the Church going forth in joy, in hope, and in the world this winter. • By Ted Miles

Becoming Community • FIRE

Year-long Program

The entire collection of sessions for year one of FIRE: Becoming Community. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Year-long Program

The entire collection of sessions for year two of FIRE: Celebrating Community. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Year-long Program

The entire collection of sessions for year three of FIRE: The Responding Community. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Year-long Program

The entire collection of sessions for year four of FIRE: The Believing Community. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Living Community • FIRE

Year-long Program

The entire collection of sessions for year five of FIRE: The Living Community.

Playing, Learning, Praying • FIRE

Parish Tools for Gathering Families

This is a collection of large group activities to use in conjunction with the FIRE program. They also serve as stand-alone activities. It includes social activities, service activities, family day events, and prayer services. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Covenant & Naming

The aim of this session is to enable the group to look at the factors needed to become a community, and to commit itself to these conditions. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Communication

The purpose of this session is to investigate the many ways we communicate with one another, and to practice our listening skills. Participants will look at the many ways in which God communicates with us, as well as address our difficulty in receiving that communication. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Prophecy

We are all called in baptism to be prophets. But what does that mean? In this session participants will experience what it might feel like to be called to respond as a prophet to unjust situations present around us. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Jeremiah

Jeremiah's message was one of repentance. He used many images to help the people picture how they were called to respond to God. In this session participants will explore the image of the potter and the clay and think about what it means to be clay in God's hands. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Ezekiel

In this session participants will celebrate reconciliation. The hope is that participants will come to see how their hearts have been hardened, and to accept the new hearts that God wishes to give them. This session requires clay hearts. Instructions for making these hearts can be found in "Becoming Community: Jeremiah." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Isaiah

In this session participants will look at the signs of our times as Jeremiah & Ezekiel might have read them. Isaiah offers another message, one of comfort & hope. Participants will discover how the messianic poems in Isaiah were developed. Rather than reading them as a foretelling of the future, they will be understood as the celebration of the hopes of a people. This session refers to two other sessions - "Becoming Community: Jeremiah" and "Becoming Community: Ezekiel." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

John the Baptist

The purpose of this session is to deepen participants' understanding of the person and mission of John the Baptist. Unique among the prophets, he was called both to tell it like it is and like it could be. He prepared the way for Jesus, as each of us is called to prepare the reign of God. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Jesus as Human

Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophets, the Word spoken by God. Because we know Jesus is God, we have difficulty understanding why the people of his day rejected him. In this session participants will experience Jesus as the people of his day might have experienced him. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Jesus the Affirmer

In this session participants will experience the manner in which Jesus loved the people he met and the way he called them to greatness. Participants will do the same for one another. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Parables

In this session participants will see the full strength of Jesus' stories. We will translate the parables into our own everyday life to become more acquainted with them and allow ourselves to be touched more deeply by them. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Jesus Taught Us to Pray

Jesus came as the Word of God. Not only did he speak God the Father's Word to us, he taught us a way to speak to God. People were praying for centuries before Jesus came. People pray today who have never been taught. Jesus' teaching on prayer did not make prayer possible; it made prayer simple. Participants will experience how directions can make a difficult task simple. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Eucharist

In this session participants will experience how Eucharist is a type of family reunion. We will focus on the importance of Jesus' command to remember him. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Calvary Walk

The purpose of this experience is to enable all of us to realize that Jesus not only suffered and died in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago, but that he continues to suffer and die in all the people suffering in our world today. It also hopes to familiarize participants with the ancient Catholic devotion of "Stations of the Cross." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

Resurrection

In this session participants will be able to recognize the deaths and resurrections in the ordinary moments of life, and to deal with the feelings that accompany them. This session is lengthy but can be split into two sessions if necessary. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

The Coming of the Spirit

In this session participants will experience the first Pentecost. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

How Do We Know the Spirit?

The Spirit cannot be seen or heard in the ordinary sense of those words. We experience the Spirit through what the Spirit does in our lives. In this session participants will compare their experiences of the Spirit with their experience of air. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Becoming Community • FIRE

The Reign of God

In this session participants will explore the Beatitudes as actions that bring about the reign of God. This session refers to another session entitled "Becoming Community: Isaiah" as well as boxes from "Becoming Community: How Do We Know the Spirit?" • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Covenanting

This session is meant to be an opening session for a year of gatherings. Participants will dedicate a symbol for their community to be used throughout the year. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

We Belong to a Family

In this session participants will understand that families share certain characteristics and that family is the normal way in which God prepares for each of our births. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Families Share Symbols & Rituals

In this session participants will explore the power of symbol and ritual in our lives and know some of the symbols we share as a Catholic family. The symbols and rituals that families are asked to bring to this session are described in the Take Home sheet from "Celebrating Community: We Belong to a Family." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Beginning a Church

In this session participants will understand how the organizational structure of the Church might have developed and will focus on the divine presence of the Spirit in the people. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Baptism: Our Initial Commitment

In this session participants will understand that an initiation rite is meant to symbolize what we believe about the group into which we are being initiated. In baptism, we are initiated into the very life of Christ. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Confirmed in the Spirit

In this session participants will understand Confirmation as a sacrament of "transition" and of "intensification." Participants will have the opportunity to explore what this sacrament could mean for them within the particular tradition of their church. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Eucharist: Food for the Journey

In this session participants will be introduced to Eucharist as the third sacrament of initiation. It will help participants become aware that we bring all that we are to Eucharist, and ask that it be transformed into "bread for life." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

A Eucharistic Celebration

In this session participants will have the opportunity to have an in-depth experience of Eucharist. Preparation can be done as a separate session or as part of "Celebrating Community: Supper & Sacrifice." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Eucharist: Supper & Sacrifice

In this session participants will understand what it means to "lay down one's life for a friend" and will consider the meaning of sacrifice, especially the Eucharist as sacrifice. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Jesus Teaches Forgiveness

In this session participants will have the opportunity to experience and understand how Jesus treated sinners. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Reconciliation as Healing

This session has two options. In the first, participants will be given a clearer concept of sin and forgiveness and will demonstrate the examination of conscience and celebrate Reconciliation. In the second, participants will understand the sacrament of Reconciliation and the process of reconciliation as ways in which we become more beautiful people. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Jesus as Healer

In this session participants will explore the stories of the New Testament in which Jesus healed the sick and deepened faith in the healing power of God. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Living in a Broken World

In this session participants will become aware of the plight of those living with disabilities and suffering in our world. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Holy Orders

In this session participants will examine the role of ordained leadership in the Church. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Marriage: Living in Partnership

In this session participants will consider what is necessary to enable and sustain the commitment of two people in the sacrament of matrimony. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Reviewing Our Symbols

In this session participants will review the symbols used in the sacraments. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

Celebrating Community • FIRE

Festival of Tables

This session can be used as a review of the sacraments. Families or individuals are assigned a sacrament and will prepare a table and presentation ahead of time to share with the group. Descriptions and suggestions can be found on the Background sheet from the session "Celebrating Community: Reviewing Our Symbols." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Covenanting

In this session participants will look at the factors necessary for it to become a community and to commit themselves to these conditions. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

I Believe

In this session participants will have the opportunity to explore the meaning of "belief" and to develop a "family creed." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

In God, the Father Almighty

In this session participants will explore a picture of God broader than the traditional one most of us have been given.

The Believing Community • FIRE

Creator of Heaven & Earth

In this session participants will increase their awareness of creation as a gift from God and sensitize themselves to their responsibilities in preserving it. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

In Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord

In this session participants will look at some of the values God proclaimed, not just by choosing to send the Son, but by the family God chose to bestow humanity on the Son. We will also consider the gifts bestowed upon Jesus by his family and upon each of us by our families. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

Most scholars agree that Jesus did not come into this life knowing that he was the Son of God. This knowledge grew within him and must have been the cause of much questioning and concern. This lesson examines what that search must have meant for him and his family, and is designed to help participants realize that life in a “holy family,” in some ways, is like life in any family. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Call to Minister

In this session participants will understand the special place the baptism of Jesus appears to have had in his awareness of his own call. Participants will look at similar moments in their own lives where God calls them to a deeper understanding of who they are meant to be. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Call to Discipleship

In this session participants will explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The symbols of "fanship" are described on the Take Home sheet from "The Believing Community: Call to Minister." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Call to Be Eucharist

God promises us that each community will have within it the gifts it needs to proclaim the kingdom. In this session participants will look at themselves as people of the reign of God, at Eucharist as their proclamation of that reign, and at the gifts they have been given for the task. The explanation of the "gifts" each family is to bring can be found on the Take Home sheet from "The Believing Community: Call to Discipleship." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

In this session participants will examine the trial of Jesus and recognize he was condemned by good, religious people who thought they were acting in the best interest of their people as a whole. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Was Crucified, Died, & Was Buried

In this session participants will reflect on the ongoing passion of the Lord in the world today. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Descended into Hell & Rose Again

Particiapants will explore the connection between death and resurrection in the life of Jesus and in their own lives, and examine the place of mourning in the death process. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Ascended into Heaven

This lesson will examine judgment and the eventual establishment of the reign of God as the purpose of the death, Resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

I Believe in the Holy Spirit

In this session participants will recognize the action of the Spirit in their lives. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

The Holy Catholic Church

In this session participants will recognize that saints are people who live Spirit-filled lives. Many people who are never canonized are saints, and all of us are called to live as saints. All the saints, living and dead, make up the community we call the Church or the communion of saints. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Forgiveness, Resurrection, & Life Everlasting

In this session participants will experience forgiveness as it was taught by Jesus. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Believing Community • FIRE

Review of the Year

This session is a review of The Believing Community, based on the Apostles' Creed. It could also be used as review for any lesson on the Creed. Questions can be prepared ahead of time by the leader or by the participants, or questions can be prepared as part of the session by the participants. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Covenanting

In this session participants will write a covenant together that they will follow for the year. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Creation

Participants will develop an understanding of how the Scriptures were written and an insight into the nature of the creation stories. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

The Fall Guy: The Stories of the Fall

Participants will have clearer insight into the stories of the origin of sin and a sense of sin's communal nature. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Mission Impossible: The Call of Abraham

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, we are met time and again with the idea of call. Someone is “called” to do a special work for God. This call is given the name of “election.” This experience examines one of the first families to experience themselves as called, and tries to offer insight and understanding into what it must have felt like to be Abraham and Sarah. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

The Family Feud: The Story of Jacob

This session is meant to foster communication around the difficult problem of family fighting. The Jacob and Esau story is used to point out what a common thing feuding is between siblings, and the fact that God can use anything—even family fights—to fulfill the divine promises. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

The Favored Son: The Story of Joseph

This experience focuses primarily on the need for affirmation and communication in our lives. The story of Joseph is used to highlight the development of these essential skills. This session required reading the story of Joseph ahead of time. Suggested scripture verses can be found on the Take Home sheet from "The Responding Community: The Story of Jacob." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Prophecies, Promises, & Visions: The Messianic Prophecies

Participants will understand how Israel’s concept of a messiah grew out of its needs at a specific time in history and the manner in which this prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus. • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto

The Responding Community • FIRE

Slavery & the Exodus

The purpose of this lesson is to help the group understand what it means to be enslaved. To understand the Exodus and Passover, it is necessary to first understand oppression. This lesson is designed to be used in conjunction with "The Responding Community: Passover Celebration." • By Kathleen O'Connell Chesto