We are the Body of Christ

By Tom East

Purpose

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

John 3:16 (New American Bible)

God the Father loves us so much, that he sent Jesus to show us how to live our lives in accordance with God’s plan of love. This plan includes the Church, founded by Christ, which continues to share His Word and Actions for the love of all men and women. This session explores what it means to be Church and to live the call to continue the salvation of the world as Christ’s Body on earth.

Component: Catechesis

Correlation to the U.S. Bishops’ Adaptation: Course 4:A-1:The Catholic Church Instituted by Christ (Catechism of the Catholic Church #748-766)

#759"The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life," to which he calls all men in his Son. "The Father . . . determined to call together in a holy Church those who should believe in Christ." This "family of God" is gradually formed and takes shape during the stages of human history, in keeping with the Father's plan. In fact, "already present in figure at the beginning of the world, this Church was prepared in marvelous fashion in the history of the people of Israel and the old Alliance. Established in this last age of the world and made manifest in the outpouring of the Spirit, it will be brought to glorious completion at the end of time."

#763It was the Son's task to accomplish the Father's plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. "The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the scriptures." To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church "is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery."

Session at a Glance

7:00 p.m.Introduction: God’s Plan

Extend the Session: Sculpting Activity(add 15 minutes)

7:05p.m.Naming Life Experience: Symbols of Church

7:30 p.m.Sharing the Faith Message: The Church is the Body of Christ

Extend the Session: The Church in Action (add 20 minutes)

7:45 p.m.Integrating the Message

8:10 p.m.Living the Faith Message: Sharing the Good News

8:30 p.m.Announcements and Refreshments / Good Night!

Materials Needed

  • Bible, marked at John 3:16
  • Table, cloth, pillar candle, matches or light stick, basket, and bowl of water
  • Bibles, for each participant

Note to Leader:It would be helpful if the Bibles used by each small group would all be of the same translation. If having a Bible for each participant is not possible, try to have two Bibles per small group.

  • Meditative music
  • Song for Closing Prayer:“We Belong to You” by Trevor Thomson or“Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo/We Are the Body of Christ” by Jaime Cortez and Bob Hurd
  • CD or MP3 player and speakers, if musician is not available
  • Large index cards, 5” x 8”
  • Masking tape
  • Markers, one or two per small group
  • Art supplies for creating symbols of Church:
  • Chenille stems or pipe cleaners, assorted colors
  • Modeling clay
  • Colored markers
  • Construction paper
  • Magazines
  • Scissors
  • Glue sticks
  • Tissue paper
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Pens or pencils, one per participant

Extend the Session: The Church in Action

  • Handout 1, The Church is…,one for each participant.

Prepare in Advance

Note to Leader:This session is correlated to the U.S. Bishops’ Adaptation of the Curriculum Framework, published in January 2010 by the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis at the USCCB. Download the Adaptation from this website:

1.Prepare a prayer table for the closing prayer with a cloth, Bible, candle,matches or light stick, and a bowl of water. You should also have a basket or a bowl that participants will use to place their card with their baptismal name and reflection.

2.Reflect on a personal story about a time that you made a plan to show someone that you love and care about them. This could be a time that you planned a surprise party or you created a special gift. Prepare yourself to share this story as part of the introduction to this session.

3.Set out the art supplies needed by each group on tables. Try to be sure that there are enough supplies for each person to select a creative way to make a symbol.

4.Prepare the cards that you will need for your presentation in the Sharing the Faith Message section:

  • God’s Plan for Our Salvation
  • The Good News
  • The Kingdom of God
  • The People of God
  • The Body of Christ
  • Led by the Holy Spirit
  • Jesus’ Mission Continued

5.Prepare your teaching presentation for the Sharing the Faith Message section. Use the suggested comments as a starting point in your preparations. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, review these two key teaching points: #763 and 759. See also these references: #777, 778, 779, 749, and 752.

6.Create these headlines in bold print using portions of a newsprint sheet:

  • Church is…
  • What is Jesus Doing?
  • What Does the Church Do?

You will be posting information on the wall during several sections of the evening. Plan to have room to post index cards under each of these headlines.

7.If you are using Extend the Session: The Church in Action, complete the process explained in Handout 1, The Church is… and prepare a presentation of your personal responses to these questions.

8.Select a reader to proclaim Matthew 28:16-20 in the closing prayer.

9.Invite a music leader to provide music for the closing prayer, including a closing song.

10.Set up tables for refreshments and sign-in. Have one or two people at the sign-in table with check-in sheet and nametags and registration information (have a few extra packets on hand for walk-ins). Hospitality is important! As the leader, spend the arrival time moving among the participants, greeting and speaking with them.

Session Outline

Introduction(10 minutes)

Welcome the participants. Begin the introduction by sharing a personal story about a time when you made a plan to do something special for someone you care about. This could be a time that you threw a surprise party or that you created something special or did something extraordinary to share your love with someone. After your story, ask the youth if they can think of a similar experience. Invite one or two youth to share a brief summary of their experience. Continue by introducing the session:

We make plans to show people that we love them. Tonight we are going to think about God’s plan to show his love. He has a really big plan because his love is so big; he loves us beyond what we can imagine. His plan begins with Jesus and continues through the Church with each one of us. Let’s ask for God’s blessing on our session.

Begin the prayer with the Sign of the Cross.

Loving God,

Open our hearts to hear your Word and to know you better.

Help us as we strive to learn about Jesus and the Church gathered in His name.

Bless our time together and keep our hearts focused on you.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Optional)Extend the Session: Sculpting Activity (15 minutes)

In this activity, participants take turns creating a scene or emotion by “sculpting” their partner into a position. Begin this activity by dividing the participants into pairs. Explain the sculpting process:

One of you is clay, the other is the artist. Partners will take turns sculpting each other to represent the action, emotion,or scene that I will describe. When you are the sculptor, you can tell the “clay” how to move or change their body position or facial expressions. You may also move the arms and hands to reposition the “clay.” Remember to be respectful of your partner. I will give you just a couple minutes per instruction.

To the Sculptors: Sculpt your clay to represent someone who is glad to meet their friend who has just arrived from a trip.

Allow a minute or two for them to do the sculpting.

To the Sculptors: Sculpt your clay to represent someone who is terrified, as though they have seen a ghost or a monster.

Ask half of the group to watch, while the other half works on this sculpting. Invite several people in the working group to be sculptors and to work together to create this scene.

To the Sculptors: Sculpt your clay (your group) to represent a football team.

The other half of the group should watch while half of the group works on this sculpting.

To the Sculptors: Sculpt your clay (your group) to represent a Christmas morning in a large family.

In this final round, ask both groups (each with several sculptors) to take a few minutes to create a plan for their sculpture. In this round, the groups will plan at the same time, but they will take turns creating their sculpture so that one group is sculpting and the other group is watching.

To the Sculptors: Sculpt your clay (your group) to represent the Church.

After both groups have had their turn, invite the group to sit and be comfortable. Ask for sample responses to these questions:

  • How were you formed into the Church?
  • What was your part of this scene?
  • How did it feel to sculpt the Church?
  • How did it feel to be part of the Church?

Provide summarizing comments and transition to the next activity.

Naming Life Experience: Symbols of Church (25 minutes)

In this activity, participants will work individually to create a symbol of Church, drawing on their personal experience. Divide participants into teams of four to six. Have each team sit at one of the tables where you have set out art supplies. Give these instructions:

How would you finish the sentence, “Church is…”? I want you to finish this sentence by working individually to create a symbol that shows something that is true for you about your experience of what the Church is. On your table you will find a variety of supplies. I ask you work in silence so that you will respect each other’s experience.

Play meditative music in the background. Allow five minutes for the creation of the symbols. Invite youth to share about their symbol in their small group. Use this process: someone at each table should volunteer to go first. After their sharing, they should invite the next person to share. This should continue until each person has had a chance to share.

Allow ten minutes for sharing. Ask the groups to brainstorm words or phrases that describe Church based upon their sharing. Each word or phrase should be written separately in marker in large print on a 5 x 8” index card.

Ask participants to post their cards on the wall under your headline: Church is… Review the ideas and ask the group what they notice about the list:

  • What do you have a question about?
  • What surprises you about the list?
  • What do you notice in common?
  • What do you notice that is distinctive or stands out?
  • What do you find most interesting or most important?

Collect several questions and comments. Provide comments or explanation for any items that require further discussion. Summarize the list.

Sharing the Faith Message: The Church is the Body of Christ (15 minutes)

Provide a presentation about Church using these key ideas. As you share each idea, post a card on the wall next to the cards that describe “Church is…”

Post the card that reads “God’s Plan for Our Salvation.”Read this Scripture using the Bible that you marked:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

John 3:16(New American Bible)

Share these comments:

God the Father sent Jesus, his Son, to save us because we are lost without him! We are lost to sin and we are lost in our friendship with God. Jesus shows us the way to love and helps us to avoid sin. Jesus is God’s plan for all of us to have eternal life and to know God’s love completely! The Catechism of the Catholic Church #763 states: “It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time. Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent.”

Share this comment:

Jesus’s job is to love us and show us the way. That is why he came to earth as a man. An important way that Jesus does this job today is through the Church.

Post the card that reads “the Good News.”Share these comments:

Jesus founded the Church by sharing the Good News. The Good News is that God loves us and calls us to follow Jesus and to be his disciples. We share the Good News with others when we share about our friendship with Jesus and when we invite others to know Jesus and join us as part of the Church.

Post the card that reads “the Kingdom of God.”Share these comments:

In the Gospels, Jesus spends a lot of time talking about the Kingdom of God. He is describing the world that is completely guided by God’s love. Every action, every word, and every relationship follows God’s commandments and His way of loving. We know from our experience and from reading or watching the news that everyone in the world is not following God’s ways of loving. People make bad and hurtful choices that are the opposite of God’s love. The Church points the way to God’s love and provides a vision for the Kingdom of God—a taste of God’s love in action.

Post the card that reads “the People of God.”Share these comments:

God gathers people from all ends of the earth to know Jesus and to continue his work as the People of God. This means that we are people who have made a covenant with God, a life-giving promise to follow God’s ways.

Post the card that reads “the Body of Christ.”Share these comments:

The Church uses this term to describe three things. The Body of Christ is Jesus who lived in first century Palestine. The Body of Christ is also the Church. With Christ as the head, we are all members of His body, and we continue his work. The Body of Christ is also the Eucharist we receive. Catechism #777 states, “...the People of God…who… nourished with the Body of Christ, become the Body of Christ.”

Post the card that reads “Led by the Holy Spirit.”Share these comments:

The night before Jesus died he told the apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit to guide them and help them. The Spirit continues to guide the Church. The Spirit leads us today to go to the people who are hurting, hungry and who feel far away from God’s love.

Post the card that reads “Jesus’ Mission Continued.”Share these comments:

As the Church, we continue Jesus’ mission of sharing God’s love and call. We are Jesus’ hands and feet. We are Jesus’ voice and loving touch. We are Jesus’ body—his continued presence calling the world to know and follow God’s love.

Conclude this portion by making connections between these ideas and the cards that were posted earlier. Invite comments and questions from the group.

(Optional)Extend the Session: The Church in Action (20 minutes)

This reflection provides an opportunity for individuals to reflect upon these seven descriptions of Church by identifying each one with a person, community, or institution of the Church. Distribute Handout 1, The Church is…, and explain the instructions for completing the reflection. Spend a few minutes providing personal examples for some of the descriptions. This is an opportunity for you to share a witness about a person, community, and institution of the Church through which you experience the Church in action. Allow four or five minutes for individuals to complete their reflection. Play meditative music in the background and ask participants to work in silence. Ask participants to share some of their reflections with a partner, instructing them to share only what they are comfortable sharing. After a few minutes of sharing in pairs, gather as a large group and ask for one or two examples for each of the descriptions. Conclude by sharing your gratitude for the Church in all of its faces and places; people who live as Christ’s body and make these words become alive!

Integrating the Message (25 minutes)

In this activity, the small groups will read and reflect upon a Scripture that describes one of Jesus’ actions that we as a Church continue to imitate. The group will identify what Jesus is doing in the story and then will name some of the ways that the Church continues these actions. Assign one of these Scriptures to each group. (If you have more than five groups, you can assign the same Scripture to more than one group. If you have a smaller group, you could have pairs or groups of three worktogether on the Scripture passages.)