Description: This retreat uses imagery from Psalm 1 to draw young adults closer to God and encourage them to share God’s love in the world around them.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Depending on where you choose to hold this event, you will need to work several weeks or months in advance to secure a location. For immediate preparation, three-four hours prep time includes: prayer, meditation on Scripture, reviewing recommended YouTube video, making copies, preparing other materials, etc.
- Volunteers Needed: Two facilitators would be ideal along with an extra set of hands to help with set up and preparations.
- Ideal Group Size: Five-18
- Ideal Time for this Event: If you’re doing this retreat style, at least one full day is preferred. A Saturday or Sunday from 9 a.m -4 p.m. with a break for lunch and concluding with mass works well.
- Who is this for? Young adults in various life stages.
- Supplies Needed: Projector, Internet access, folders for participants, journal paper, journal questionnaire, schedule, copies of Psalm 1, opening and closing prayers, tree poster (or image projected on a screen), name tags, chart paper, “Pep Talk From Kid President” YouTube video (see “Help” section), lunch arrangements (optional), materials for service project for the afternoon (if incorporating), copy of the meditation (for leader only)
- Reserve the Space: Ideally, this event requires a retreat-like facility with a large space for gathering the entire group and smaller spaces for the break-out/reflection sessions. You might use a retreat center, but a parish center may have appropriate spaces, particularly if the weather allows participants to go outside for the reflection time.
Publicize the Program
- Begin by reaching out to diocesan young adult leaders. Ask those individuals to make contact with young adult ministers in the area. Suggest hosting a day of reflection or perhaps setting up a five-part series for young adults in the area.
- Catholic campus ministries would be a great potential to host the program.
- E-mails and Facebook posts tend to be the most practical, engaging, and effective forms of communication and advertising.
- Announcements at individual parishes may be a great opportunity to advertise as well.
- Bulletin inserts may work, although typically young adults do not read the bulletin.
- Making a video to invite individuals to the program is clever and unique.
- Finally, the best way to advertise is through personal invitation.
Prayer for Program Planner: Gracious God, I thank you for the opportunity to serve you in this capacity. I pray that you bless my efforts and reveal your power through this experience. Bless the participants that they may feel and experience your love in new and extraordinary ways. Open their hearts to what it means for them that you are living water and their roots should be dug deep in you. Amen.
Community Building: This program would be ideal as a day retreat. It calls each participant to look at his/her life as the tree, with three given parts: roots, trunk, and crown. Each represents part of who we are, mostly as men and women who must be rooted in God’s love for us, living our lives with the knowledge of what we stand for, as well as a people who spread God’s love to the world, bearing fruit through our lives. It includes the suggestion of a service project as the action/crown portion of the concept being presented.
Make It Happen
- At least four to six weeks in advance (perhaps earlier, depending on the space you wish to use) begin planning for the retreat.
- Secure a location, begin publicizing, make plans for lunch, and coordinate any other logistics (e.g., a priest for Mass, etc.)
- Determine your schedule for the day (See “Help” section) and plan the three sessions appropriately.
- If you are incorporating a service project, make arrangements for that.
- Spend some time reflecting on the preparation materials (See “Help” section).
- On the day of the event, arrive early to prepare your large gathering space and test the technology. You may wish to incorporate a prayer space or environment with some visual interest: a Bible, a candle, some posters or images of trees.
- Greet people as they arrive. Invite them to take nametags. If the group is not familiar with one another, be sure to introduce people.
- Here’s the schedule for the day:
Session 1:
- Give explanation of roots and their function (Use Preparation Notes in “Help” section)
- Meditation — Guide the group using the “Psalm 1 Guided Meditation” worksheet (see “Help” section)
- Ask young adults to reflect on these questions:
- How is your prayer life?
- What are you rooted in?
- Who do you count on in life to nourish and strengthen you?
Session 2:
- Give explanation of trunk and its function (Use Preparation Notes in “Help” section)
- Reflection: Ask young adults to journal about the following questions:
- What do you stand for?
- What confession do you make to the world through your life?
- When have you fallen short in standing for love?
- What current circumstances in your life are challenging you today?
- Offer an opportunity to participants to pray/reflect in silence and then share their reflections and what they are praying about.
Session 3:
- Give explanation of branches and their function (Use Preparation Notes in “Help” section)
- Pass out “Two Feet of Social Action in Love” handout (See “Help” section)
- Discuss the following questions:
- How is God prompting you to become more active in offering shade to those around you?
- What more can you do to help those less fortunate than yourself?
- What gifts can you offer to the world?
- How can you give of yourself to my family and friends?
- Watch “Pep Talk From Kid President” YouTube video (See “Help” section)
- Discuss the following questions:
- What gifts have you been given that you can give to the world?
- What is one thing you can do to make the world more awesome?
- Complete service project (optional)
Ideas
- Add follow-up service projects to advance the concept of being fruitful “crowns” to the world. These will help participants define their role in the world and give them an opportunity to serve as a community and seek opportunities to bear more fruit, both in service and everyday life.
Help
- Schedule for the retreat (PDF)
- Preparation Notes (PDF)
- Guided Meditation for Session 1 (PDF)
- Two Feet Handout (PDF)
- “Pep Talk from Kid President” YouTube video
Recommends
- Song: “Tree” by Justin Rizzo
