CAFOD ‘Mountain top moments’ resources
CAFOD has two new films available to use with young people when they have experienced a faith-filled ‘mountain top moment’, typically after a retreat, a pilgrimage or an event like Flame, World Youth Day or Brightlights. The downloadable videos are supported by a pdf resource with activities to help young people explore the issues raised in the films, and encourage them to get involved in something that inspires them, to make a difference, to take action. Read more
Lent ideas from Brentwood Diocese
Brentwood Diocese has put together a range of links to Lent activities, from crafty projects like making a crown of thorns or stained glass window to freeze-frame Stations of the Cross.
CAFOD: Lent 2017 is fish-themed!
The new resources for Lent from CAFOD are online now and tell the story of how communities in Zambia are learning to grow and sell fish to make a living. Read more
Resources for Womens’ World Day of Prayer
Women’s World Day of Prayer 2017 is on Friday 3rd March. It’s one of the biggest ecumenical prayer events worldwide, and each year, Christian women from a different country write a prayer service for a new theme. This year’s theme , ‘Am I being unfair to you’ is about justice, and was inspired by the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. The order of service for 2017 was written by the women of the Philippines. Read more
Lent – resources from Mission and MissionTogether
Lent begins on 1st March, so any help we can get with our preparations is very welcome. Missio and MissionTogether have produced a range of downloadable resources for secondary and primary levels.
SECONDARY
Missio has created engaging presentations to help your school journey through the weeks to Easter. Their assemblies employ the relevant Sunday Gospel, highlight Lenten practices, and reference Catholic Social teaching, focusing on a different CST principle each week. The assemblies and available to download at MISSIO
PRIMARY
This year, Mission Together’s Lenten resources focus on the theme, Growing in Love. You will find the Lent Calendar, containing a prayer, activity or reflection for each day of Lent. and the primary resources including Lent Liturgy and accompanying activities, which you can download from MissionTogether.
National Youth Sunday 2016 – Mercy Rips Through
National Youth Sunday in 2016 marks the conclusion of the Year of Mercy The NYS website reflects on this Sunday’s Gospel, and on acts of mercy:
Advent Assemblies for secondary & youth groups from Missio
Missio have crafted Advent assemblies for secondary and youth groups. Each presentation includes scripture, prayer, opportunity for reflection, and links the key themes of Advent with our call to be missionaries of God’s love throughout the year.
Download these and Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord assemblies on the Missio website
Mission Together’s Advent resources for primary schools
Don’t mention Christmas yet … but … are you preparing for Advent in school?
Mission Together has lots of resources to use with children in Advent, including a daily Advent calendar, a quiz on symbols used at Christmas, hand-craft activities, and an Advent liturgy. Download them all at missiontogether.org.uk
Assemblies for primary & secondary schools to conclude Year of Mercy
On December 8th 2015, Pope Francis initiated a Jubilee Year of Mercy. This special year concludes on 20 November 2016.
To mark this, Missio, the Pope’s official charity for overseas mission, and its children’s branch Mission Together, have produced Primary and Secondary versions of the assembly Our Mission; To Be Merciful. These assemblies focus on the key themes of the Jubilee, help explain mercy and mission, and emphasize the ongoing call to act mercifully. Our Mission; To Be Merciful can be downloaded free from our respective websites: www.missio.org.uk and www.missiontogether.org.uk
CAFOD Advent calendar 2017 – download now!
As the refugee crisis continues, CAFOD’s Advent calendar this year has the theme ‘welcome the stranger’ – one of the corporal acts of mercy, and includes scripture and daily actions.
St Peter Claver Assembly & Lesson Plans
The Apostleship of the Sea has some great assembly and lesson plans based on the ‘Apostle of the Slaves’ on its website.
The resources are for Stage 2 and 3/4, and provide interesting material on his life and work, and on how the Apostleship of the Sea follows in his footsteps in ministering to seafarers today.
Games for Youth Ministry? There’s an App for that!
It’s a rainy afternoon, the activities you’d planned aren’t going to work now, and despite your wealth of youth ministry experience, Plan B is well and truly in the back of your mind and you’re struggling to bring it forward. Sound familiar? This could help!
Read more
Lampedusa Cross – Resource for reflection on the refugee crisis
Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and CAFOD have come together to produce a resource to enable the Catholic Community to reflect on the European refugee crisis, drawing inspiration from the famous Lampedusa crosses.
A Song for the Year of Mercy from CJM
Inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter Misericordiae Vultus, CJM Music has produced a song available for free download.
Video: Catholic Social Teaching in 3 minutes
Catholic Social Teaching in 3 minutes is a fast-paced animation from CAFOD introducing CST for young people. It can be used in classrooms, RE lessons, with youth groups, and particularly fits with Year 8 Unit 6 People of God: Called to Serve RE framework for 11-14s.
Music for Lent from CJM Music
CJM Music has settings for each of the five Sundays of lent – and they are free to download.
CYMFed National Catholic Award Scheme – resources launched
Launched in early February 2016, at the CYMFed National Leaders’ Congress, the Faith in Action Award Scheme acknowledges and celebrates young peoples’ involvement within our communities. The award encourages volunteering and offers points for reflection. The award is split into four different levels tailored to different age groups.
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross in the Year of Mercy, with Fr Nick King SJ, produced by Southwark Catholic Youth Service.
These can be used for individual prayer and reflection via the podcast, or in larger groups using the videos.
Podcasts and videos are here
The prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy
On Tuesday 8th December, we begin our Jubilee Year of Mercy which will take us through World Youth Day and many other events, before ending in November 2016. Take a look at the prayer written by Pope Francis especially for the Jubilee Year of Mercy:
The Origins of Chaplaincy – From Fr David O’Malley SDB
Wednesday the 11th of November is the feast of St Martin de Tours, the first chaplain! Below is an extract from Fr David O’Malley’s book ‘School Ethos and Chaplaincy’, available from Don Bosco Publications and on Amazon
“The story of chaplaincy begins at the gate to the city of Amiens in 337 CE. Martin, a young soldier in the Roman army, was walking into the city during a bitterly cold winter. The crowds were hurrying past a half-naked beggar who was close to death. Martin, unpaid and having only his military uniform, stopped and looked at the man who gazed back at him expectantly, with hand outstretched. After a slight hesitation, Martin took out his sword and then removed his cloak and sliced it through the middle giving one half to the man and using the other half to cover himself again. Read more
Alpha Youth Film Series
Alpha in the US have created some really good videos directed to young people. It’s not a Catholic resource, but is focused more on questions and opening up a space for people to start to engage with their faith, so we think it’s well worth looking at! Read more
Climate Action Simulation Game
Remember trading trainers? Then the trade game? There’s a new climate based simulation game for groups! Check it out and find all the resources you need on the CAFOD site here
King of Hearts – NYS 2015
The 2015 National Youth Sunday Resources are online, you can find them all here, order printed resources from Redemptorist publications, or download them directly from the Bishops Conference Website through the links below. Read more
Migrant Debate Resource from the Columbans
Migrant Crisis?: The Big Debate
A PowerPoint from Columban Justice and Peace Education. For use with young people to explore refugees and faith responses.
The Columbans Justice and Peace Education team have created this resource to for their work, but wanted to share it with a wider audience.
You can download it here!
Commissioning Chaplains – Fr David O’Malley SDB
Taken from Fr David O’Malley’s Blog
This is the time of year when many chaplains are commissioned or re-commissioned for service in school communities. Commissioning can be a very helpful experience for both the chaplain and for the school community because:
- It highlights the spiritual dimension of the school and the seriousness with which the school approaches its ethos.
- It emphasises the different role and relationships that the chaplain has to maintain within other professional relationships at school.
- It allows the school to recognise its formal links to the church as a a church school, especially if the dean or some local clergy take part in the commissioning.
- It is a formal invitation for others to recognise and pray for the chaplain and be ready to support their work.
CAFOD Refugee Crisis Resources
It’s been all over the news, but is a topic that’s always worth looking at. Find some of CAFOD’s resources about the current crisis that will also be useful after the news stories die down. Find their resources here.
The E-Testament
The Salesian Media Office shares a reflection, video and prayer each week to help young people reflect on the Gospel reading for the coming Sunday. It’s updated each week and is a great resource for young people themselves and form time prayers!
You can find the site here: http://www.the-etestament.co.uk