· web viewintroduction. the three ‘c’s’ of the just faith programme are: community....

Introduction

The three ‘C’s’ of the Just Faith programme are:CommunityCompassion

Courage

Just Faith is a programme for young adults, adapted by the Scottish Just Faith partners for use in parishes as part of the Just Faith programme. Just Faith is comprised of three organisations: SCIAF, Justice & Peace Scotland, and Missio Scotland. For all of them their work and vision is inspired by the Gospel, in particular the call to be compassionate and merciful. Their desire is to share the social justice work of the Church and encourage Catholics to connect their faith with action for a better world.

This programme complements and supports the Caritas Award programme, introduced by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland to recognise and promote the active faith commitment of young people in their final years of high school. In parishes it can be used as part of the Caritas Award programme: Links between the Just Faith programme and the Caritas Award are highlighted at the start of each session. Quotes from Deus Caritas Est (the foundational document for the Caritas Award) are also included at the head of each section, further emphasising the link between the two programmes. The programme also includes quotes from Laudato Si, and ideas for reflection.

Just Faith’s aims are to:

Invite young Catholics (aged 16+) to think about our interconnectedness, our interdependence, and our call to know and to love others as we are known and loved by God.

Make connections that are life-giving and sustainable between a young person’s relationship with God and with others.

Build up a young person’s capacity for real engagement for justice in our world; an engagement rooted in their own personal faith journey that sees them reach out to others in love. (The focus in terms of the justice dimension of this campaign is centred on climate change and the “for the love of” campaign https://fortheloveof.org.uk/)

Encourage the development of leadership qualities and skills in participants; skills which would be used in the local parish on justice and peace issues in particular, but also in terms of wider engagement around peer evangelisation

Provide young people with a positive and empowering experience of Church and community through their engagement with this programme.

“We are called to find Christ in [the poor], to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” Evangelii Gaudium, 198

This programme will fulfil these aims by: Providing a safe, challenging space for young Catholics to explore together questions of justice, in

particular, as they relate to our world and the impact of climate change.

Just Faith youth resource 2016 1

https://fortheloveof.org.uk/

Exploring with young people practical ways they can become actively engaged in their own parishes/youth groups/dioceses in the search for justice for those most marginalised and forgotten in our world.

Providing interesting material to facilitate young people's engagement with Catholic Social Teaching (CST).

The following qualities underpin the Just Faith programme in parishes. These qualities inform all of the sessions, the material, the engagement between those facilitating the sessions and those participating in them. These qualities – the three ‘Cs’ of the Just Faith programme - are:

Community: Young Catholics will, through this programme, build stronger friendships with one another as brothers and sisters on a journey of faith. They will also seek, in solidarity, to know and to love those experiencing poverty, marginalisation and injustice in our world. Finally they will build connections with their local parish or local pastoral reality. The primary purpose of the programme centres on ‘building community’ as something living and dynamic within the faith lives of the young participants on this programme.

Compassion: we recognise our own need for our God who is all tenderness and compassion. Young people involved in the programme will engage with one another with gentleness. They will especially engage with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalised and the disadvantaged with great compassion. In doing so, they seek out and embrace with love all that we sometimes find most challenging and most different in our world.

Courage: the programme acknowledges the need to pray to the God of love who inspires us to love others as we have been loved. Courage is needed to recognise and embrace the ‘other’, and to see in him/her the very face of Christ, broken and shared for us in our world. Courage is also needed to act out of that new way of seeing others in our world.

Through these qualities the programme links with the three elements of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland Caritas Award. These are:

Faith Learning: To inspire young people to learn more about their faith and its teaching, with particular reference to the Church’s social teaching. Faith Reflection: To help young people to understand the importance of prayer and reflection in their lives. Faith Witness: To encourage young people to engage in practical action for justice in their parish, community and world as a response to learning, reflecting and deepening their understanding about their faith.


“Ecological education can take place in a variety of settings: at school, in families, in the media, in catechesis and elsewhere. Good education plants seeds when we are young, and t‘We pray that this faith programme will allow us to get to know you better and in getting to know you, be ever more inspired to build a world of justice and of peace.’hese continue to bear fruit throughout life.” Laudato Si 213

The programme should be seen as a faith development experience for the participants, rather than any kind of academic exercise. In terms of programme format, the sessions are rooted in the ‘See-Judge- Act’ model at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching.

Who is the programme for?This programme is for those young people who have begun to ask questions about their faith, in particular around where they feel their faith is calling them in terms of engagement with the wider world. For this reason, although the programme is not exclusively for older teens and young adults, it would be envisaged that it is with this group that the programme might have most resonance. It is possibly this slightly older group that would also have the maturity and sense of purpose that would allow them to commit to the programme.

It is envisaged that this programme would be best suited to a smaller group of young adults (no larger than 10).

Local differences will obviously apply in terms of the makeup of the group. The programme is designed to be flexible enough to meet these variations.

Prayer within the programme

The programme recognises that all Christian action, if it is to be Gospel inspired, must be rooted in an ever deepening relationship with Christ. For this reason, this programme is seen as an opportunity to build on the young person’s experiences of prayer and perhaps to introduce them to new types of prayer. In particular, it seeks to deepen the young person’s experience of contemplative/meditative prayer and also to introduce young people to a ‘Lectio Divina’ style of engaging with scripture. There is also an attempt to introduce to the participants some principles and approaches of Ignatian spirituality; particularly those relating to the invitation to ‘see God in all things’.

Those who participate in the programme will be encouraged to journal for the course of the programme. It is suggested that this journaling take a slightly different form to traditional prayer journaling.

The entire programme is rooted in two key biblical texts: Luke 10: 25 – 37; The Parable of the Good Samaritan and Micah 6:8 and all prayer is focused on the 3 C’s of the programme; Courage, Compassion and Community.

Links with Caritas award

While the Just Faith programme has been developed separately from the Caritas Award it should be seen as complementary, offering opportunities for those participating to further deepen their learning and awareness of our faith.

In particular:- The prayer and reflection dimension throughout the Just Faith programme complements that

encouraged in the Caritas Award, building on existing experience and offering new practice. In all cases encouraging an understanding that action needs to be rooted in prayer.

- Just Faith introduces Catholic Social Teaching to participants, in the context of the social justice work of Church agencies here in Scotland. This supports the Caritas Award’s Faith learning


dimension which encourages young people to reflect on how knowledge of faith informs and influences our actions.

- The reflective action required in section 5 of Just Faith, along with the reflective journaling and recording, can be counted towards the Faith Witness component of the Caritas Award.

Direct links with the Caritas Award are drawn throughout the resource with notes at the start of each session highlighting how it complements an element of the Caritas award.

Programme format

Just Faith is completed over six sessions. In addition there is an optional Commissioning Ceremony that takes place in the parish. Session 5 involves the group taking part in an action, in the Parish and/or wider community. The remaining sessions; 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 should take place at a suitable venue within the parish.

As the rationale above suggests, this is a parish based programme and would invite, at the end of the engagement, a follow on engagement within the parish. It might also be good to invite one of the Just Faith organisations to meet with the group to discuss how the group can engage with its work as it supports the social justice work of the Church, here in Scotland and worldwide.

The group might also develop a short video on the group’s work during the programme. (See final session for further details).

Sessions 1, 2, 3 and 4 centre on aspects of Catholic Social Teaching. Human dignity, solidarity, and community in particular, are explored through these sessions. Quotes are used from a number of recent documents, including Laudato Si with ideas for responding to the document. In addition, it should be noted that every effort is being made, through this programme, to engage with the technological and cultural reality of young people in their everyday lives; while also providing a voice that seeks to challenge aspects of that same reality.

Sessions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 should take about 90 minutes with some time for tea/coffee and biscuits at the end. The optional Commissioning Ceremony can take place during Mass on a Sunday in the parish and should take no more than 10 minutes. Session 5 can be as long or as short as participants decide.

It might be noted that each session is designed to be interactive. While there are ‘input’ moments, these should be understood as opportunities to deepen understanding, invite new insights and share learnings.

In addition to each of the sessions, participants are asked to undertake a number of ‘Take the Action’ activities. These ‘Take the Action’ moments allow participants to work through material covered during the sessions. They are also intended to give participants real opportunities to engage with the material in their own particular ‘day to day’ realities in their own local communities. In addition, each participant would be expected to undertake some reflection on their own personal experiences. Details of this reflective piece are contained within the programme itself.

The overall approach suggested by this programme requires some preparation on the part of the leaders, e.g. for session 1 it will be necessary for the leader to have identified people the participants are going to interview for the next session; for session 2 leaders will insert prayer passages from session 1 into a


PowerPoint used in Session 2 and so on. The amount of preparation should not be onerous and the energy spent on the programme is best spent during the sessions, and in building relationships within the group.

For the purposes of recording activity and sharing that activity in online spaces, it would be useful to photograph various moments (with the group's permission) and at appropriate moments throughout the whole programme.

Additional supporting material is available on the Just Faith website http://www.justfaith.org.uk/ and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/justfaithscotland. This is also a space for you to input your own thoughts and reflections as the programme happens. It can also be a space for participants to engage with through their own updates.

It is important that all material recorded on the 'graffiti wall' is kept so that it can be returned to at the end of the programme and to act as a reminder of the ongoing engagement by the group in the programme.

In each of the sessions a distinction is made between the older adult/main facilitator and the peer facilitator. This distinction is for the purposes of detailing the programme’s structure and content. The language of main/ older adult facilitator and peer facilitator should be avoided when communicating with participants. Both facilitators are equal in this task and have vital roles to play depending on their own aptitudes, experiences and appetite. Suggestions of who should do what are made in the knowledge that these personal realities will differ. Both facilitators should decide who is doing what after discussion.


Just Faith online

Just Faith is a programme that draws on participants’ experiences of social media and the online world. You can access additional material and encourage participants in the programme to engage with one another and the wider community by engaging with the Just Faith website http://www.justfaith.org.uk/ and by liking https://www.facebook.com/justfaithscotland.

You can also look at the websites of the three Just Faith partners:http://www.sciaf.org.uk/http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/ http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/http://www.missio.scot

http://www.missio.scot/

http://www.justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk/

http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/

http://www.sciaf.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/justfaithscotland

http://www.justfaith.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/justfaithscotland

http://www.justfaith.org.uk/

Session 1

“Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Deus Caritas Est, 1

Session 1 is a gathering session to introduce participants to the programme and to one another. The key scripture text is the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the dimension of CST being introduced is Solidarity.

Before the prayer, this session should begin with introductions. People might just introduce themselves in terms of their name and why they decided to come along. Facilitators might also consider using some form of a warm-up exercise to help participants to relax at the start of the first session. (A variety of warm-up exercises that you might use are available online on the Just Faith website).

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith – Catholic Social Teaching- Reflecting on our Faith- Parable of the Good Samaritan Lk 10: 25-37 (Gathering Point 2)

ROOM SET UP AND PREPARATION

Resources needed for this session:

• For the prayer space: coloured cloth and candle

• Chairs arranged in a circle around the prayer space• Handouts 1, 2, 3 and 4• Large sheets of paper (for Graffiti wall)• Data projector and screen• PowerPoints 1 and 2• Post it notes and pens

Put the required number of chairs in a circle. If you wish, set up a very simple prayer space with a candle in the centre.

Have a small ‘graffiti wall’ set up. This can be as simple as some sheets of A1 paper stuck together and appropriately designed as a ‘wall’ or something more elaborate, depending on your skill and budget. It can be a permanent fixture or something you remove after each session. It is important that nothing is lost off


SESSION OUTLINE Prayer Introduction to the Programme Journaling Who is my neighbour? Commissioning Ceremony ideas Closing Prayer

the wall as it is designed to be a record of the programme from session 1 to the final session. For session 1, you should have some blank post-its available on the wall, with markers/pens on a table nearby.

Don't forget to do a warm-up session at the start of Session 1 and give participants a chance to introduce themselves in a more formal way as well.

OPENING PRAYER

Begin by lighting the candle. With quiet music playing in the background, invite participants to bring themselves into the space, and come to stillness. Decide which of the facilitators will lead the prayer.

The Opening Prayer is adapted from a Lectio Divina approach to praying scripture. Given time constraints, and that this passage forms the heart of the entire programme, the prayer should be relatively short. A suggested approach might be:

1. Begin by handing out Handout 1: Scripture passage. Invite participants to put everything else out of their hands and to take a moment to ground themselves, quietening their minds and bodies.

2. Tell the group that you will read the passage twice. Read the passage the first time, slowly and allow a moment of quiet.

3. Now, tell the group that you will read the passage again. Ask the participants to take a moment just to select a word or a phrase that speaks to them from the passage. Invite them to allow that word to come to them rather than feeling they have to ‘pick something’.

4. Take a few moments in silence. Ask the group to share what word or phrase they picked. Remind them that there is no need for commentary on this; just the word or phrase.

5. Invite them to now write that word or phrase on one of the post-its on the wall. (Note: these should be collected by one of the facilitators and used as part of the prayer in Session 2.)

There does not need to be a big conversation at this point. It is sufficient to allow the prayer to end quietly by slowly bringing people back into a more interactive space. Alternatively, invite participants to speak aloud their own prayer for the programme.

A. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAMME

WHAT?

Begin this first part of Session 1 with some time for participants to share what their hopes for the programme are. With quiet music playing in the background allow participants to record, on post-its, their hopes for the programme. Once they are finished invite them to stick their post-its on the graffiti wall, and to share with one another their thoughts and feelings on them.


Methodology Required equipment Time

Discussion PowerPoint 1: Objectives 20Large sheets of paper for Graffiti wall.

1. Go through Session 1: PowerPoint 1 with participants on the objectives of the programme.Invite some discussion as necessary and of course, invite reaction at the end.

2. Ground Rules (see below). Again use the graffiti wall to record 'ground rules’ in terms of how the group itself wants to operate together and how they see the online dimension of the piece. (Facilitators need to give this piece a little bit of thought and some suggestions are below).

NOTES ON GROUND RULES

Two sets of ‘rules’ need to be considered.

1. The first set relates to how sessions will be run by the group. The focus here should be on mutual respect, respecting the privacy of the other, active listening, participation and attendance at all sessions if at all possible.

2. The ‘online’ dimension of the programme. These need to include: respecting people’s right to report on their own thoughts and feelings; not reporting or sharing anything said, produced or recorded by another without their permission; not writing anything online that might be considered unfair, hurtful, harmful or untrue; attributing sources of facts/statistics used is also an important area that needs to be mentioned.

It should be remembered that one of the purposes of the programme is to suggest the positive ways in which social media can be used. It’s important therefore that these kinds of ground rules are something which all participants sign up to and understand.

WHO?

There is flexibility here. It might be worth considering the peer facilitator leading on the objectives of the programme and the ground rules with the ‘older’ facilitator assisting as required.

B. JOURNALLING AND THE CONSCIOUSNESS EXAMEN

WHAT?

This is an introduction to journaling, a technique also used in the Caritas Award. Journaling is a key dimension of the programme. Participants are encouraged to journal regularly on their experiences of the programme. It is essential that time is taken with this piece so that no one is put off by what is being asked! It’s all very manageable.



Input PowerPoint 2: 20Consciousness Examen and journaling

Handout 2 Consciousness Examen

1. Work your way through the PowerPoint (Session 1: PowerPoint 2) that explores the Consciousness Examen and Journaling). As you go through this you should allow some time for discussion.

2. Take some time to go through the Consciousness Examen handout.3. Give active examples of what both Journaling and the Consciousness Examen might look like in

real life. You will need to use your own experience to do this; you will also need to give some preparation time to it.

WHO?It might be advisable that the older of the facilitators lead on this piece as it requires some exploring from one’s own experience. The peer facilitator can contribute to this also.

C. WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR? (TAKE THE ACTION!)

WHAT?

This part of Session 1 is an introduction to the first ‘action’. Participants are invited to go out in pairs to work with a person identified by the parish. It is an invitation to engage with the parish through interviewing. Part of this session should look at the protocols, some ethical questions around interviewing and some questions that might be asked. The handout ‘Who is my neighbour?’ can be used to explore this exercise in detail with participants.

Here the link with the parish is key; ideally the parish will provide willing and interesting subjects to be interviewed by the young people. The facilitators, working with the Parish Priest or appropriate parish contact, need to begin selecting interviewees in advance of the programme’s starting date. In selecting interviewees the following might be considered:

The ability of the interviewee to communicate their life story well. The ability of the interviewee to engage warmly with the interviewers. The interviewee’s current or previous involvement in social justice issues. The interviewee’s ability to articulate an understanding of the link between faith and action. The possibility that they may have a ‘climate change’ story to tell or a perspective to give.

The safety of all the participants in the programme is paramount so it is important that interviewees selected are known and well regarded in the parish.

Individuals who are to be interviewed need to be fully briefed in terms of:



Input Handout 3: 20‘Who is my neighbour?’

Discussion Exercise.

What the programme is about and who will be participating. The interview piece should be presented as an ‘act of service’ by those who agree to be interviewed; an act of building up the community and contributing to the faith development of the participants.

The importance of them being as honest as possible without going into details that they would be uncomfortable being relayed in a more public space.

The places the videos are likely to be seen e.g. within the wider Just Faith group, and that a section or sections of the interview may be used as part of a wider video piece coming from the Just Faith group. In addition, it would be important to inform interviewees that a portion of the video may appear on YouTube, Tumblr or the Just Faith website. (Seeking permission in writing for this might be worth considering).

As mentioned, given the focus on social justice issues and on climate justice in particular, it is worth considering older people and/or people from the Global South as the focus of these interviews. More information on faith and climate justice can be found in session 3.

Just Faith participants will go out in pairs to interview their neighbours. Handout 3 “Who is my neighbour?” will detail what is required of them. Guidelines and suggestions are included. The importance of safety in terms of the exercise to be completed should be emphasised. From a pastoral perspective, the key emphasis will be on ‘connecting with the stranger’ and what this means for both the ‘stranger’ and the ‘befriender’.

To allow the leaders to prepare for Session 2 it is important that the two facilitators also complete this exercise with the peer leader in the role of the interviewer.

D. COMMISSIONING CEREMONY

WHAT?Just Faith youth resource 2016 10

‘We pray that this faith programme will allow us to get to know you better and in getting to know you, be ever more inspired to build a world of justice and of peace.’


Discussion Handout 4: 10Suggested commissioning ceremony options

‘The key emphasis will be on connection with the ‘stranger' and what this means for both the 'stranger' and the befriender'.

This final part of Session 1 can be quite short. It’s a chance for the group to decide the type of commissioning ceremony the group wants including the option not to have a formal one at all!

The ‘Commissioning Ceremony’ Handout with ideas of what to do can be shared with the group.

WHO?

This might be a good section for the peer facilitator to lead on so that no one feels pressured to do the more formal piece!

NOTE ON COMMISSIONING CEREMONY

This is optional and there are a number of ways this service might happen in each parish. It is envisaged that individual groups will decide what best suits them and their parish circumstances. While it is up to the group to decide whether to hold a public ceremony, from the parish’s perspective it is preferable that they do, making public their commitment to their faith.

There are 2 options suggested below. If the first option is selected, spend a short time going through a possible text. (Modify the one suggested on the handout according to your circumstances).

It is important that not too much time is given over to this piece. Session 1 is very jam packed!

OPTION 1:

If your group choose to hold a commissioning ceremony during one of the Parish’s Sunday Masses a suggested outline is available on the handout (Handout 4) . It might be good, for example, to have the ceremony during a Mass that involves the Parish Folk Group if you have one in your parish.

OPTION 2:

Maybe a full Commissioning Ceremony is not something the group would be comfortable with. Instead, they could ask the Parish Liturgy Group and/or Parish Priest or Curate to include the names of those participating in a Prayer of the Faithful for each of the Sunday Masses for the coming weekend. The Prayer might read something like:

Lord, we pray for our Parish’s Just Faith group. We pray for (put names of participants here). We pray that this faith programme will allow them to get to know you better and in getting to know you, be ever more inspired to build a world of justice and of peace. Lord hear us.


‘We pray that this faith programme will allow us to get to know you better and in getting to know you, be ever more inspired to build a world of justice and of peace.’

In addition, you might ask your Parish Priest and/or the person in charge of the Parish Newsletter (and website if you have one) to include a list of the participants and invite people to pray for the group as they undertake the programme. The note might read something like:

(Names of participants) are a group of young adults from our Parish talking part in a project called Just Faith. They are being led by........................ and............................. This programme will take place over the next six weeks and will see the group explore with one another and indeed the wider Parish community the connection between faith and justice. We ask that you pray for them as they undertake this programme. We also ask that you support them in whatever way you can in their work. For further information contact.................................................... And watch this space for further news and updates from the group!

CLOSING PRAYER:

Because Session 1 is so jam-packed it might be worth offering people a very quiet reflective space – even five minutes- just to gather their thoughts. Alternatively use one of the prayers in the Caritas Awards booklet to end this session.

This prayer session might be led by the peer facilitator.

And finally….Before you have your cup of tea/coffee and biscuits, don’t forget to remind people to do their interview and to journal!


“An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better that we found it. [....] The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters.” Evangelii Gaudium, 183

Session 2

This session again focuses on the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the key concept/dimension of CST being introduced is the dignity of each human being. The session aims to root all that we do in terms of Social Justice in the basic understanding we have of one another as made in God’s image and likeness. The session is rooted very much in the first phase of the ‘see-judge-act’ of Catholic Social Teaching. The focus is on seeing the ‘other’ with greater compassion and clarity as our brothers and sisters. It would be important to begin the session by asking people how they found the week that passed and how they are now. This kind of 'check in' with participants ensures that you as the facilitators keep connected to the group and to their growth.

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith – Catholic Social Teaching- Reflecting on our Faith- Parable of the Good Samaritan Lk 10: 25-37 (Gathering Point 2)




• Chairs arranged in a circle around the prayer space

• Quiet music

• Data projector and screen

• Power Points 1 and 2

• Scripture text from Week 1

• Handout 1 and 2

• Graffiti wall

• Flipchart and pens

• Interview clips from participantsJust Faith youth resource 2016 13

“I wish in my first Encyclical to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others”. Deus Caritas Est, 36

SESSION OUTLINE

Opening Prayer Interviewing exercise (play back) Image-ing exercise Social media; communicating what I see Closing prayer

• Post it notes

• Small hand mirrors

As for Session 1, put the required number of chairs in a circle. If you wish, set up a very simple prayer space. Have your candle in the centre. At the start of the session, before the Introductions or before the Prayer, light the candle as a symbol of Christ present as the group works through the session. Have the PowerPoint set up and ready to go with the Opening Prayer. To prepare for the Opening Prayer, the words/phrases chosen by participants as part of the Opening Prayer for Session 1 need to be gathered up. They can be inserted into the PowerPoint for the prayer but also need to be physically available to participants to put on the graffiti wall as part of the prayer.

Have copies of the scripture passage from Week One available.

Before the prayer, invite participants to ‘check in’ on how things went during week 1, especially in terms of the journaling piece.

OPENING PRAYER

The post-its are read out and symbolically placed around the ‘Graffiti wall’ once again by the facilitators.

The words or phrases underlined during the prayer in Session 1 can be inserted into a PowerPoint of images depicting our care for one another.

Participants are invited to enter into the Parable of the Good Samaritan once again using Lectio. Give each participant a copy of the parable. The suggested approach is:

1. Play quiet music, quieten the group down, enter into a prayerful space with one another.2. Play the PowerPoint.3. Re-read the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Read it a second time.4. Ask participants to share with one another again what word or phrase they selected and to say

why.5. Allow a short sharing space on this. In this sharing space some of the words used for the Prayer

PowerPoint might be referred to. What does it mean, for example to say that each person created is ‘special, precious, unique, and created for a purpose?’ Particularly what does it mean in the context of this parable and their own lives?

6. Conclude with a short Prayer of Petition from one of the facilitators and/or some of the participants that calls God to continue to journey with them during Session 2.


A. INTERVIEW PLAY BACK

WHAT?

This piece requires a fair bit of preparation work by the facilitators to ensure that there is something to playback from the participants! This will mean checking in with participants during the week in advance of Session 2 to make sure the interviews have happened and will be ready to be seen. Encourage participants to select a short section of the interview that they want to show. Two minutes from each pair would be sufficient.

The interviewing exercise:

Remind the group of the exercise undertaken during the week. Play back a short section of the facilitators’ interview. Allow space for the peer facilitator to reflect on his/her own experience of the exercise.

Invite others to share both a section of their interview and their experiences of doing the interview. While the discussion is being led by the peer facilitator, the other facilitator might put notes on the flip chart for use later. Some unpacking of how the exercise might have been experienced from the perspective of the person being interviewed would be useful. The discussion should also include insights into responses around climate change and its effects. (In terms of the climate change piece, don’t panic if not much comes up here for people! This is quite normal for groups beginning to explore this complex area.)

Don't forget that the focus from Catholic Social Teaching here is the human person. Allow the group to discuss how they saw the dignity of the human person through the videos and images they saw here and through their own interviewing experience. This could be recorded as part of participants’ Faith Learning if they are taking part in the Caritas Award.


Methodology Required equipment TimeDiscussion Laptop and Projector 25

Flip chartInterviews from participantsready to go

“God’s word teaches that our brothers and sisters are the prolongation of the incarnation for each of us: “As you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). The way we treat others has a transcendent dimension: “The measure you give will be the measure you get” (Mt 7:2).” Evangelii Gaudium, 179

WHO?

The peer facilitator might be best placed to lead this discussion with the other facilitator providing support as necessary.

B. IMAGE-ING EXERCISE

WHAT?

Images (see website) that attempt to reflect the encounter with the person they interviewed or their reactions to the encounter - and which centre on concepts like compassion, mercy, togetherness and solidarity - are placed on the floor for participants. (This can be done before the session begins and can be used as part of the prayer space). You might also print out and include the following quote from Laudato Si on solidarity:

Each participant is invited to pick one that speaks to their experience. Allow some time for this piece; you might consider playing some quiet music in the background. Guide people as they look at the images by reminding them of some of the words on the flip chart from part A of this session. Then invite them to share on why they picked their image! The key here is to ensure the connection is made between the interviewing experience and the images.



Use of art/images Images (on website) 15

Discussion Flip Chart

“In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters.” Laudato Si 158.

WHO?

Either facilitator can lead on this section.

C. FACEBOOK OR TWEET WHAT I SEE!

WHAT?

This session (using PowerPoint 2 Social Media) aims to explore with participants how social media can be used as a space for sharing ‘what I see’. Try to make the connection and illustrate the movement from the ‘interviewing exercise’ (see the other) to the images exercise (reflecting on/ judging what I saw).This might be a valuable experience to log as part of the Caritas Award Faith Learning and Faith Reflecting.

Go through the Social Media PowerPoint and handout. (Session 2: Handout 1, Social Media)

It's important to provide space for participants here to discuss and share on their own experiences of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, then share how they feel these tools might be used for Just Faith.

Remind participants that the Examen is the tool by which we are helped to really see and feel what's happening around us and to see God in our experiences of life. Give some space here to a short discussion of how people have found the Consciousness Examen.

Participants may have questions on it and need reassurances around it. Take time to hear and respond to any concerns. Remember; there is no wrong way of doing this exercise! What’s important is that people are taking time out in the evening for quiet prayer and reflection on their day.



Input PowerPoint Session 2: 20

Social Media

“See moments where the dignity of the person is being compromised; this could be a reality relatively close to you, a reality in your local community or a more global reality.”

WHO?

Both facilitators should lead on this section; the more experienced facilitator might take comments or questions on the Examen.

TAKE THE ACTION!

At the end of this session ask participants to spend the week contemplating what they see around them. This is the first stage of the 'see-judge-act' process and is of course intimately connected to the Examen. The aim is to pick up on what is happening and to try to see moments where the dignity of the person is being compromised. This could be something relatively close to them in their local community or a more global event. The invitation to ‘see’ should include some aspect of how that ‘seeing’ makes them feel.

Ask participants to record what they see using Twitter, their own Facebook pages, Instagram, Tumblr and the Just Faith Facebook page. In summary, the exercise might be understood as follows:

See Record Share

This exercise connects with the Faith Reflection component of the Caritas Award. Encourage them to reflect on, and log, how this integrates their faith with daily life.

D. REMINDER MOMENT:

WHAT?

A short time should be given over to asking people to continue to do the Examen every evening and also to take some time to post on Facebook or Tumblr experiences of what is seen and experienced during the week. It would be no harm offering a friendly reminder around some of the ‘ethical’ considerations/rules of engagement for social media!

“Time is taken with this to allow participants to get a sense of how they are seen' by God. This is God's vision of who they are.”

WHO?

The peer facilitator might lead on this.

CLOSING PRAYER


Methodology Required equipment TimeInput – 20

There are two options here depending on the group’s level of comfort and ability to engage with the material. There are also perhaps some sensitivities around ’body image’ related matters that might need to be considered around Option 1. If at all possible, try to work with Option 1 as it is the richer and more relevant of the two.

OPTION 1:

Reflecting on the other, reflecting on myself. (Small hand mirrors required).

With quiet music playing in the background, participants are asked to hold up a mirror to themselves. Quotations from scripture (Handout 2, Closing Prayer) are read out to them slowly by one of the facilitators. Time is taken with this to allow participants to get a sense of how they are ‘seen’ by God. This is God’s vision of who they are. Take at least 3 – 4 minutes with this piece.

Participants then turn to the person sitting beside them and sit looking at one another as the quotations are read out again. Is this how we see one another? How we understand one another? Again take a few minutes to do this well.

At the end, take a moment for participants to share on this prayer experience. Ask them to say aloud one of the quotations that really touched them about themselves or about the person they were sitting with. Put this quotation on a Post-it and put it up at home as a reminder for the week ahead.

OPTION 2:

One of the facilitators slowly reads out all of the quotations. Participants are asked to say aloud the one that touches them most and why. They are then invited to write this quotation on a post-it and put it up at home as a reminder for the week ahead.

ALTERNATIVELY:

One of the facilitators first reads out this quote from Laudato Si

They then invite the group to enter into the spirit of the Examen. Sitting quietly, ask them to reflect on the times they have contributed to the damage of God’s creation and ask God for forgiveness.Then reflect quietly on the small acts we have undertaken that help to care for God’s creation in all its forms, and give thanks for all that is good.


“[Earth] now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will.” Laudato Si, 2

Finally, ask God to be with us as we work to be better stewards of the world, and help us to notice each day what we can do.

Finish as always with a cup of tea/coffee and biscuits! And remind participants to 'take the action'!


Session 3

This session focuses on the work of the Just Faith organisations to address some of the realities noticed by the participants in their ‘take the action’ piece from Session 2. Preparatory work is required by the facilitators to gather reflections and observations from participants in advance of this session. (Half way during the week, it might be useful to make contact with participants to see how their seeing, recording and sharing experiences are going!) This third session relates very much to that second part of ‘see- judge- act’ of Catholic Social Teaching. The focus here in terms of CST is on global solidarity.

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith – Catholic Social Teaching- Reflecting on our Faith – personal testimony- Parable of the Good Samaritan Lk 10: 25-37 (Gathering Point 2) - Faith Witness – responding to what we see





• Quiet music


• Power Points 1 and 2

• Handout 1

• Scripture text: Micah 6: 6-8


“...she [the Church] cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper.” Deus Caritas Est 28

SESSION OUTLINE:

Opening Prayer Summary of action taken during the previous week using PowerPoint Our Global Reality Climate change Taking action on climate change Closing prayer

• Graffiti wall


• Post it notes

• Downloads of videos

As for Sessions 1 and 2, put the required number of chairs in a circle. Set up a very simple prayer space. Have your candle in the centre. At the start of the session, light the candle as a symbol of Christ present as the group works through the session.

Have the PowerPoint: Opening Prayer, set up and ready to go. Have your ‘graffiti wall’ set up.

Before the prayer welcome participants and invite them to ‘check in’ on how things went during week 2, especially in terms of the social media piece.

OPENING PRAYER:

The Prayer piece proper here is very short. After lighting the candle ask participants to quieten down. Invite one participant to read from the book of Micah (6: 6-8). There is no need to re-read it. The words will also be displayed on the PowerPoint. Invite participants to reflect quietly on the words and what they mean to them.

After the Prayer the peer leader speaks for about 5 – 7 minutes on his/her own faith journey, specifically on Micah and the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It is advised that the peer facilitator and the lead facilitator meet in advance to discuss this piece as this input is central to this programme. The two facilitators will need to work together on this testimony to ensure it speaks to the overall objectives of the Just Faith programme.

After the testimony, invite reaction from the participants in the form of questions or affirming statements. Affirming statements from participants relating to the testimony are put up on the graffiti wall.

A. REFLECTING ON THE ‘TAKE THE ACTION ’ EXERCISE FROM WEEK 2


“Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.”

Evangelii Gaudium, 187

Methodology Required equipment TimeGroup Sharing and PowerPoint and Projector 10Discussion PowerPoint 1: Opening Prayer

WHAT?

This session requires some preparation required by the facilitators. Comments made, images taken or observations made by the participants from Facebook pages, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr etc need to be collected in advance. It is important that you get permission to use them in this way. Gather them together and add them to the blank page on Power Point 1(see Session 3: PowerPoint 1) and play them with background music accompanying the slide show.

Discuss with the participants:- What was 'seeing' like for them?- What was noticed?- What grabbed people's attention?- What did 'being attentive' feel like?

WHO?

Given the important job done by the peer facilitator for the Opening Prayer, it might be better to give him/her a break and allow the other facilitator to lead on this piece.

B. OUR GLOBAL REALITY

WHAT?

This session aims to introduce participants to our global reality. It is important that there is a good transition made between Section A and this section. This might be done very simply by saying that while the images, comments and observations made speak to the local reality in which we live and operate there is also a wider reality that we need to connect with. This might be called a “global reality” and can feel very hard to understand and make sense of.

So we’re going to break it down into something a little more immediate today....

Go through the PowerPoint (Session 3: PowerPoint 2) on “Our Global Reality”. Take time for questions and comments. At the end, allow for some discussion of the reality described. Invite all participants to put one word on the graffiti wall to describe their own reaction.


Methodology Required equipment TimeInput PowerPoint and Projector 10Discussion PowerPoint 2:

Our Global RealityGraffiti Wall

It's very important to allow participants to speak very honestly about their individual reactions. What has been presented are statistics, facts and figures. How do we translate that into real people, at home and overseas?

Invite participants to respond to the quotes from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si. What does it say to them about how he sees the global reality and our response from the perspective of faith?

The encyclical offers us an opportunity to reflect on the world around us, and to consider how we organise our common home. Pope Francis prioritises the issue of climate change because its impact profoundly affect the poorest people in the world but also because it damages all aspects of God’s creation. He argues for a change of heart that we might adopt a more respectful attitude to our earth and all who dwell on it.

Inevitably, within the discussion, questions around our ‘responsibility’ in our common home will emerge. This leads us to the next part of this session.

C. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND OUR GLOBAL REALITY

WHAT?

Introduce Justice & Peace Scotland, Missio Scotland and SCIAF as three agencies of the Catholic Church here in Scotland. Working with, and on behalf of the Church, they are three examples of the Church, as an institution and the people, putting their faith into action.

Highlight some of the work of these three agencies, with reference to some of the issues raised in the PowerPoint in the last section including literacy, food poverty, low pay, clean water and sanitation, refugees and asylum seekers, conflict and peace. Note how their work with individuals overseas and here in Scotland makes them increasingly aware of the impact of injustice on the poor and most vulnerable people.

Draw attention to the variety of work they also undertake at home and overseas to tackle climate change e.g. in responding to the effects on climate change in local communities, enabling people to help themselves; campaigning on the issue of climate change here in Scotland and encouraging people to change their own behaviour.

If you have time, use some of the excellent material from these three agencies available here which give more information about their work. http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/ or http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/looking-after-creation for specific reference to work on climate change.


Methodology Required equipment TimeInput PowerPoint and Projector 15-20Discussion Video

Handout 1: Pope Francis on the environment

http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/looking-after-creation


http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/

http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/

This is particularly relevant for participants involved with the Caritas Award as it encourages people to understand how our faith calls us to action. Remind those involved to record it as evidence of Faith Learning and Faith Reflection.

Invite people to consider what issues stand out for them and what they might like to work on in the future. They can look at the graffiti wall, their interviews and information they have gathered from social and other media that has made them aware of what is going on in our world. Issues might include:

Campaigning for the living wage Tackling food poverty Benefit changes Campaigning for access to education Clean water and access to sanitation Access to health care, including supporting people with AIDS/ HIV, leprosy etc Campaigning against Trident Supporting asylum seekers and campaigning for fair treatment of refugees Highlighting the causes and consequences of conflict Fair trade and the impact of unfair trade Campaigning for action on climate change

Ask them to put their ideas on the graffiti wall and let them know that you will come back to them in the final week.

Explain to the group that the focus from now will be on the issue of climate change, as climate change is a major cause of inequality in our world and is looking more and more like the global justice issue of our time. In particular, emphasise the increasing work of the Church on the issue of climate change (refer them to handout 1, Pope Francis and the environment) and the recent encyclical Laudato Si. Also how the work of the three agencies makes them increasingly aware of how climate change affects the poorest and most vulnerable.

Then, move on to allow some reactions from the group to the words ‘climate change’. What is their sense of it? From the interview exercise at the start of the programme, is this something that is a burning issue in Scotland? If so, why? If not, why not? Are they surprised at the Church’s involvement in the issue?

Play SCIAF’s reflection on Climate change. You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93N7BoLx7Kw&index=8&list=PL8C17F446D0D91874

WHO?

This section might be usefully led by the peer facilitator.

D. CLIMATE CHANGE – WHAT CAN WE DO?


Methodology Required equipment TimeInput PowerPoint and Projector 15-20Discussion Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93N7BoLx7Kw&index=8&list=PL8C17F446D0D91874

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93N7BoLx7Kw&index=8&list=PL8C17F446D0D91874

Before moving into this next and very important section, get some reaction to the video. What particularly struck people here? What, if anything, caused them concern?

If there is anything pressing here from participants, space should be given for them to put their comments on the Graffiti Wall. It's very important to allow participants to speak very honestly to their own reactions.

A statement like the following might be useful as a bridge into the next section of this session; “One of the things that causes people to ‘switch off’ from the issue of climate change is a sense of feeling disconnected from the impact of it yet we are increasingly aware that climate change is affecting people all over the world, including in our own country. Whether we are affected personally or not, solidarity demands that we try our best to connect with the impact on the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our world, wherever they are.

A group like this is well placed to make that strong emotional connection with people they’ve never met. Because of what we believe about how God loves each one of us and makes us one family, we can make that connection to our brothers and sisters wherever they are. Another reason why people can feel disconnected to this issue is because we can feel powerless to do anything.

Over the next few sessions, we’ll hopefully start moving from that sense of feeling disempowered to feeling really empowered and powerful. We can make a difference. Let’s find out a bit more!”

Play the second video available here:http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/fortheloveof

If time, read out the following quote:

Then invite the group to take a minute to write down on small pieces of paper, ways that we can, together, look after our world. In a show of solidarity, add them to the graffiti wall and remember that we do these things for the benefit of all.

WHO?

As we move into the ‘action’ space, it might be useful if the peer facilitator led on this section.


“The creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home”. Laudato Si, # 13

http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/fortheloveof

E. TAKING ACTION

WHAT?

Invite participants to spend some time talking about what they would like to do in terms of an action or actions.

Use three headings: As an individual/person of faith As a leader in their community As a citizen

This is just a first stab at this conversation. It’ll be looked at a little further during the week. Push them a little under the three headings. Give a little time to explore any resistance there might be.After Session 3 the participants will have an exercise to complete. They are asked to begin thinking about the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland “For the love of...” campaign, and how they could design an action relating to it within their parish or community.

In terms of the research piece itself you might consider:

Encouraging them to look at the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland website http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/

Do a little bit of reading around the Church and care of creation. What does the Church teach and how does Laudato Si help us to understand Pope Francis’ views on the environment and the link with social justice? What else does Pope Francis have to say on this?

SCIAF have an excellent resource on Laudato Si for use in small groups. Have a look and see if you could use it in your parish or school. http://www.sciaf.org.uk/latest-news/laudato-si-study-guide.html

The Bishops’ conference in Ireland has produced an interesting Pastoral letter called the Cry of the Earth. Are there other interesting views from the Church around the world? Could this give us ideas for the Church here in Scotland?

Check out who else is working in this area; look at the events page on the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland website. Are there events happening in your area? Who’s involved that you could work with?

Find out more about Eco-congregations Scotland http://www.ecocongregationscotland.org Is your parish an eco congregation? If not, find out what is involved to become one.

Have a look at the three Just Faith agencies and find out how they work on climate change, or respond to its impact.

What do you think – even at this early stage- would grab your community’s attention around climate change? What would get them active on it? What will ‘convince and convert’?


Methodology Required equipment TimeDiscussion PowerPoint and Projector 20

Flipchart & pens

http://www.ecocongregationscotland.org/

http://www.sciaf.org.uk/latest-news/laudato-si-study-guide.html

http://www.sciaf.org.uk/latest-news/laudato-si-study-guide.html

http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/

Remember you don’t have to ‘do’ anything yet, or even ‘decide’ anything, it’s just about doing a bit of surveying and surfing to see what is out there and to get the creative juices flowing!

Facebook or Tumblr might be used during this week to share ideas of what a campaign in the local parish might look like focussed on climate change and care of God’s creation.

CLOSING PRAYER

The closing prayer should be quite simple. Either create your own PowerPoint with a collection of images relating to climate change and quotes from Laudato Si. Alternatively use this PowerPoint produced by the three Just Faith agencies: http://www.sciafyouth.org.uk/index.php/teachers-zone/secondary-resources/tiof/looking-after-creation, and put to music of your own choosing.


“If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.” Laudato Si, 11



Session 4

After the activity following Sessions 1, 2 and 3, this session re-roots participants in their own faith stories in a more explicit way. It is a moment for participants to interiorise what they have experienced so far. This is important as the next part of the programme moves people into action. It also allows some planning space as we move into this third phase of ‘see - judge - act’. There are very few input moments in this session. The focus in terms of the opening prayer is once again, “the Parable of the Good Samaritan”. The concept from CST that is focused on here is again human dignity.

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith – Catholic Social Teaching- Reflecting on our Faith- Parable of the Good Samaritan Lk 10: 25-37 (Gathering Point 2) - Contributing to our Faith Witness



• For the prayer space: coloured cloth, candle and bowl of holy water


• Quiet music


• Download of Lego Good Samaritan film

• Power Point 1: optional

• Paper and pens

• Post it notes

• Handout 1: Mercy quotes


“ ...time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service.” Deus Caritas Est,36

SESSION OUTLINE

Opening Prayer Merciful love; quotations exercise Research undertaken Planning for action Decisions and tasks Closing Prayer

• Graffiti wall


Put the required number of chairs in a circle. Set up a very simple prayer space. Have your candle in the centre. At the start of the session, before the Introductions or before the Prayer, light the candle as a symbol of Christ present as the group works through the Session. Have the data projector set up and ready to go with the Youtube film. Have your ‘graffiti wall’ set up. Have the sheet with ‘mercy’ quotations ready for distribution.

OPENING PRAYER

Note: The level of sharing encouraged in this exercise presupposes that a high level of trust has been built up within the group. It will be up to the two facilitators to gently lead the conversation through this exercise. Facilitators need to be aware that issues may arise in this session that require not only delicate handling immediately but may also require some follow up after it.

This prayer again focuses on the parable of the Good Samaritan. This time the Parable is re-told using the Lego telling of the Good Samaritan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3GJCK4Wy-0 ). This is a relatively light hearted take on the Parable. Watch this together.

Once you are finished watching it, invite participants to give their initial reactions. What word or phrase or idea did they notice maybe for the first time? This isn't a discussion space so encourage the group to give their reaction in a prayerful way.

Now invite participants to write or draw about a time where they felt they were the person left on the side of the road and were then given help (this does not have to be shared). You might play some quiet music in the background during this exercise. It might be good to give little prompts as people are writing or drawing.

Invite participants to make the connection between the help they received from others and God. God works through others in their love and care for us.

Be sensitive to where people are with this. The sense of times when God didn’t appear to be with them must be allowed to be there too.

Now lead participants into the question; ‘how have I experienced in my own life God as my Good Samaritan?’

Participants are reminded that they should share as much as they are comfortable with (it’s important to remember that this is not a therapeutic context). The previous session’s Peer Testimony was the modelling


“We incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved by the suffering of others. Let us listen to what God’s word teaches us about mercy, and allow that word to resound in the life of the Church.” Evangelii Gaudium, 193

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3GJCK4Wy-0

of this kind of open and real sharing that the group for this session might be reminded of in their sharing on the Parable. It might be useful to allow the peer facilitator to lead on this.

Particularly encourage participants to reflect on their experiences in the light of the dignity of the human person. How does their experience remind them that they are made in the image of our loving God?

In this way the concept from Catholic Social Teaching of the dignity of the human person is brought front-and-centre to the reflection and discussion.

Participants are invited to reflect and journal on this question during the week in terms of the question; God’s love for me means... Participants should also be encouraged to share on social media if they wish.

For those involved in the Caritas Award this experience could be used as a contribution to their evidence of Faith Learning.

Participants are invited to write a short response to the exercise at the end of the sharing and to put it up on the Graffiti wall.

A. MERCIFUL LOVE

WHAT?

In some respects, this exercise is a continuation of the prayer.

Invite participants to reflect on the Mercy quotations on handout 1 and select one that reflects their current sense of what ‘merciful love’ is to them.

Invite participants to share which quotation they chose and why.

Facilitators need to guide this discussion to ensure it includes some slightly more challenging questions around the response that is called for when we realise we are so deeply loved by God. Recognise too


“…the ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion[...] what they all need is an “ecological conversion”, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.” Laudato Si 217

Methodology Required equipment TimeDiscussion Handout 1: Mercy quotes 20

Graffiti wall.

however, that for many people, this sense of God’s love is still unarticulated and, in some cases, not yet experienced. Facilitators have to balance the need to recognise participants’ reality yet at the same time also offering some challenge.

WHO?

There is flexibility here. If the older facilitator led the prayer, then the peer facilitator should lead this first part of Session 4. You might also consider co-leading on this piece. You will now, hopefully, be so used to one another that this might even happen quite naturally. Remember though to give one another space as well!

A. REFLECTION ON RESEARCH

WHAT?

This part of Session 4 should focus on the research undertaken by the group after session 3. The facilitators might prepare for this by checking Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram updates from participants and recording them as part of a PowerPoint slideshow.

This could also be an opportunity for the group to share on where participants’ interests are around what they have found.

WHO?

Again, there can be flexibility around who leads this session.

B. PLANNING FOR PARISH BASED, SOCIAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGN

WHAT?


Methodology Required equipment TimeDiscussion PowerPoint 1 (optional) 20

Graffiti wall.

Methodology Required equipment TimeGroup Sharing and Flipchart 15Discussion

This is an open space for participants to begin to make decisions about what action they want to take. Try to keep it realistic. Think SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. (There is an ‘e’ here too! Can the work undertaken by evaluated?)

There is also an important piece to consider around how participants will use social media as a key dimension of their campaigning work.

Finally, don’t forget the importance of recording all decisions. It might be worth considering beginning the recording piece now at this part of Session 4.

There are a whole range of activities that might be undertaken. It is useful to remind participants of the three categories that they might engage in:

Myself as an individual/person of faith Myself as a leader in my community Myself as a citizen

The aim here is to reach some decisions around what can be done, especially at local level. In particular, how can people be ‘mobilised’ to live lives in greater awareness of the impact their choices make on the environment and therefore on some of the poorest people, in the developing world, and also here at home.

It is important that this part of the session is a brainstorming space from which SMART activities might flow.

A useful way of discerning what action (or actions) might be taken is to have a flip chart to record all suggestions.

WHO?

Again, given the nature of the conversation there should be some fluidity here around who leads this exercise.

C. DECISIONS AND ASSIGNING TASKS

WHAT?

From the list of suggestions reduce them to, at most, 2 actions. From these actions, make a list of tasks that will need to be undertaken.


Methodology Required equipment TimeGroup Sharing and Flipchart 15Discussion

Invite people to volunteer to undertake the tasks according to their own interests and aptitudes. Tasks might include:

- Recording the action- Sharing the action on social media, (While this is everyone’s responsibility someone might

volunteer to coordinate this)- Involving local schools- Involving local clergy and religious- Engaging with the wider parish- Working with local press- Advertising (particularly if it is an event you are intending to run)

Planning for the action should continue during the week depending on what the group has decided to do, and all moments of planning should be recorded.

A great deal of planning for the action can take place using social media with participants sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram to advertise the action. This is of course the point! If the group feels they need an additional meeting together however this should be facilitated if at all possible.

Finally, it is vital that the Parish Priest and any curates know about the action, that it be advertised extensively in the Parish and that the Parish are called to be involved in as real a way as possible. In particular it would be good to link with the people who were interviewed by the group at the start of the programme.

WHO?

Again, given the nature of the conversation there needs to be some fluidity here around who leads this exercise.

CLOSING PRAYER

This prayer is designed to confirm some of the work done in the earlier part of the session and to inspire participants for the work ahead.

A bowl of holy water is placed in the centre of the prayer space. Participants are invited to go to the water and bless themselves as a reminder of their baptismal identity and the love God has lavished on them.

When each of the group has returned to their chairs, one of the leaders might lead a prayer of thanksgiving for each of the group members; naming each member by name - and not forgetting of course, the other facilitator and themselves!

Alternatively, use part, or all, of one of the prayers from paragraph 246 of Laudato Si e.g.

A Christian prayer in union with creation

God of love, show us our place in this worldas channels of your love


for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.Enlighten those who possess power and moneythat they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live.The poor and the earth are crying out.O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life,to prepare for a better future,for the coming of your Kingdomof justice, peace, love and beauty.Praise be to you!Amen.

At the end of the session, participants are reminded again to journal during the week on their experiences; particularly this week on how they go about their planning for this piece.Caritas Award: Remind participants that this planning and activity can be used as evidence of participation in Faith Witness activities in their parish.For those involved in the Caritas award encourage them to log the time they spend on this activity. This can also be used to reflect in their Faith Learning on how understanding of Faith calls us to Witness.

Don’t forget the cup of tea!


“it is vital [...], that [the action] be advertised extensively in the Parish and that the Parish are called to be involved in as real a way as possible.”

Session 5

Session 5 is a very different session. It is the action point of the programme where participants put into practice some of their thinking and learning from the programme. This fifth session focuses on the final stage of 'see-judge-act' and encourages participants to learn more about, and live out, the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Solidarity.

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith – Catholic Social Teaching- Witnessing to our faith- The action taken this week can be used by participants as part of their parish faith activities for the

Caritas Award. Remind them to log their activities in the light of this.

- Session 5 differs from the other sessions in the programme as it is a practical moment for the group. It is the point when the group put their learning about their faith, in particular Catholic Social Teaching, into practice and organise a time of solidarity within the parish. In other words, action that leads us into solidarity with our brothers and sisters wherever they are.

This action should have been agreed, and planned, by the group in session 4.

The group may decide that another planning session is required. If this is the case, then the action moment becomes Session 6. If not, it is Session 5.

The participants should individually record moments from this solidarity action, and take whatever follow up action from the campaigning that is required (see above re Caritas Award).

Finally, participants are sent away to journal on their experiences.


“Concern for our neighbour transcends the confines of national communities and has increasingly broadened its horizon to the whole world.” Deus Caritas Est, 30

“It is essential to draw near to new forms of poverty and vulnerability, in which we are called to recognize the suffering Christ, even if this appears to bring us no tangible and immediate benefits. I think of the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned, and many others.” Evangelii Gaudium, 210

“These achievements do not solve global problems, but they do show that men and women are still capable of intervening positively. For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love.” Laudato Si, 58

It is up to the group to decide when they want to have their campaigning action. If it means waiting a couple of weeks after Session 4 that is fine but it is better not to allow too long a gap between Session 4 and the action undertaken.

Don’t forget to record the action in different media e.g. upload your videos onto Facebook, Tumblr or You Tube, Tweet your pictures or post them on Instagram, to ensure the good news of the work is shared.

SEE.JUDGE.

ACT.Take the action!

Solidarity experience


Session 6

This is the concluding session; an opportunity for the participants to reflect on their experiences and draw together their learning from the programme. The three core concepts of CST; community, human dignity and solidarity are drawn together. The session itself is relatively short to allow the group to have some social time together after the session.

“The three core concepts of CST; community, human dignity and solidarity are drawn together.”

Links to Caritas Award (CA):- Learning about our Faith - What have we learnt about our faith?- Reflecting on our Faith- how has my reflection affected my understanding of my faith?- Witnessing to our faith – what have I done, what more can I do?





• Flip chart and pens

• Handout 1

• Blank postcards

• Graffiti wall

Put the required number of chairs in a circle. Set up a very simple prayer space and have your candle in the centre. At the start of the session, before the Introductions or Prayer, light the candle as a symbol of Christ present as the group works through the session and reflects upon the programme.


“As a community, the Church must practise love.” Deus Caritas Est, 20

SESSION OUTLINE Opening Prayer Play back 1! Reviewing our action Play back 2! Reviewing the programme itself From journaling to journeying: Just Faith postcards Closing Prayer

Have your ‘graffiti wall’ set up with all the inputs from the various weeks. It would be good if there were photos from the campaigning action on the graffiti wall and from other moments in the programme so people have a sense of the overall experience.

Print off the following quote and add it to the graffiti wall.

A. OPENING PRAYER

Light the candle once again. The session begins with a gratitude prayer; bringing participants back to the Story of the Good Samaritan by returning them to the words they selected initially in Week One.

Now invite participants to reflect upon: How my understanding of being a Good Samaritan has changed, if at all? How does my understanding of God as ‘Good Samaritan’ now stand?

This is very much an open discussion space for people but facilitators need to be mindful that it is also a prayer space. Encourage people to share in a way that doesn’t overly intellectualise their learning: To consider how it might have led to a deepening relationship with God and how they understand God’s love for them and the call to love others.

B. PLAY BACK (1)

WHAT?


“Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others. Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.” Laudato Si 159


Group sharing and Flip chart 15Discussion

This is a space for participants to reflect on how they felt their campaign action in week 5 went. It is important to allow people to be as honest as possible in their evaluation. It might be good to invite the group to buzz in 2’s first, then feedback to the whole group.

Pose questions like:- What went well? - What would we change if we were to do it again? - How effective do we think it was in terms of raising awareness around the “For the love of...”

campaign specifically and the climate change question more generally? - How engaged was the local community in the action? - How successful were we in getting the word out using social media? - What, if any, follow up actions do we need to take? - How can we continue to campaign on climate change? - In Laudato Si Pope Francis encourages us to take actions that show love for our neighbour,

especially those affected by climate change. How can we ensure we practically show that love in our own lives and community?

- How can we reflect on this in the light of the Caritas Award? - And of course, very importantly, did we enjoy the experience!

WHO?

The peer facilitator might lead this stage of the evaluation.

C. PLAY BACK (2)

“How has my understanding of being a Good Samaritan changed?”

WHAT?

This is a space for participants to reflect on the overall programme. It is important to provide space for participants to be as honest as possible. It is also a good time to encourage them to think about what skills and knowledge they have developed from their campaigning planning and action over the last few weeks, and how they can use them in the future on other justice issues relevant to their faith. Remind them particularly of the issues they highlighted in week 3.

Encourage them to reflect on: What did I find useful? What did I find less than useful?



Group sharing and Flip chart 15Discussion

How did my use of social media change? What skills and abilities have I developed over the last few weeks? How has my understanding of the link between faith and action developed? How has my understanding of Catholic Social Teaching developed through reflecting on recent

documents such as Laudato Si? How did my understanding of climate change grow? What other issues am I aware of that I would like us to be involved in? In what way, if any, did my faith grow? What is my sense now of my parish community? What addition was the Examen to my prayer life? What can I log from this experience towards my Caritas Award? Any other questions you feel are helpful.

Record comments and suggestions on the flip chart to allow for your own evaluation of the programme at the end.

WHO?

The older facilitator might lead this stage of the evaluation.

“How did my use of social media change? How did my understanding of climate change grow? In what way, if any, did my faith grow? What is my sense now of my parish community?”

D. FROM JOURNALING TO JOURNEYING

(i) Participants are asked to write a postcard to themselves on their experiences and where they want to see themselves in 3 months time on this issue.

These cards will be inserted into envelopes and posted back to them in 3 months time with an invitation to a more formal re-union. Of course, the group may have their own ideas around remaining together in some format. They may decide to form a parish social justice group to connect with e.g. Justice and Peace, SCIAF or Missio Scotland (or all three!) for young people in their parish, or consider other ways to engage in social action as an outcome of their faith.

If this is the decision of the group then the support of the parish is crucial. The group can also look for support from their diocesan youth officer or Caritas award co-ordinator. Don’t forget that the Just Faith agencies SCIAF, Justice & Peace and Missio Scotland can also offer advice and resources. Encourage the



Group sharing & Discussion Flip chart 15Handout 1: What next? Postcards

participants to have a look at their websites for more information or there are further ideas on handout 1 “What next”.

(ii) Video pieceAll participants are invited to make a video piece over the coming weeks/ months that could be submitted to the Just Faith website. These videos can also be uploaded to Facebook, Tumblr or YouTube for comment by other Just Faith participants and facilitators. Videos can also be submitted as evidence towards their Caritas Award, in particular as evidence of Faith Witness and Faith Reflection.

CLOSING PRAYER:

This is an open space where participants might be asked just to pray in gratitude for one thing or one moment or one person they encountered on the journey of Just Faith.

Conclude with a social event of the group's choosing.


· web viewintroduction. the three ‘c’s’ of the just faith programme are: community....

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