Meditations for I Lenten Sunday

 LENT 2015IICCG Europe / ICCS EuroMed Regions Gospel (Mk 1, 12-15) “And at once the Spirit drove him into the desert and he remained there fro forty days, and was put to the test by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and the angels looked after him. After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the gospel from God saying. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.”              FLOOR TO THE WITNESSES It is a pleasure to have here with us two direct witnesses, who followed Jesus during His life. They will accompany us during all this Lenten journey and each Sunday they will tell us their feelings and thoughts about the Sunday Gospel. It is particularly important to be able to see things from their point of view, they were present and they can bear witness to the faith they saw growing in their souls.Let us give them the floor: PETER  My name is Peter, I was a fisherman that Jesus “fished” along the lake of Gennesaret. I did not expect something like this, I cannot possibly explain it, my brain does not accept it. It is only my faith that enables me to overcome my fear, and if you want, I will come with you.I left my family and my trade to follow Jesus. In the secret of my soul, however I experienced many times the temptation to abandon this folly. He had predicted it to me: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31-32). We are all tempted. When one lets one’s mind to be enlightened by faith, one can say, as I did: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16). MARY  My name is Mary, I am Jesus’ mom. I am a woman, my place in the society of my time is to be quiet and hidden. This fits me well, because I tend not to speak  too much, I always keep what is happening in my heart (Lk 2:19): I know that it is there where I can entrust everything to God.I always followed Jesus, my son, from a distance, but with all my heart. If you want, I will accompany you along this path and I will try to explain how I lived the last days of my Son’s life.It is not that I never experienced temptation. Many times I was tempted to give up to sorrow. Jesus left our house at 30, he did not plan to have a family of his own, he was “deceiving” common expectations… but how can a mother abandon his son? Her heart will always be with him and mine was always near Him: I knew that, with time, I would understand I only needed to have faith. FOOD FOR THE MIND Every Lent is a new beginning; sometimes beginnings are welcomed, other times so and so! We welcome Lent as a time to refresh our faith, but we know from other Lents that it is hard to keep going, and it has been like this for a long time! We might ask ourselves what Lent is really for.The focus of Lent should not be on what we give up but rather on what we are given. We must concentrate on the self-giving love of Jesus which we will celebrate in Holy Week. We allow ourselves to believe in this love. Often it is difficult to believe in God’s tender love, that conquers everything else in the world and that is offered out of God’s mercy and compassion.Lent pours the grace of forgiveness into our world, that is needed both individually and as a people. We need to know that God is greater than any of our sins: wars, violence and hatred. God wants His Kingdom to come here and now. Lent is our chance of saying ‘yes’ to a partnership with God in saving the world from the consequences of evil and sin.Let us pray, read the Gospel every day, do something good for our neighbour every day. This is the way to share in the saving love of God. Maybe we can ask ourselves what our Lent does for the others rather than just wondering what we are doing for Lent. It is a time for renewal, that is shown in love, forgiveness and care of others in our lives.  FOOD FOR HANDS – ACTIVITIES Please find here below some activities. You may decide to start off with them and then to introduce the ideas presented above. FOR YOUNGER MEMBERSTemptation NotebookCut some construction paper into 4 little squares. Give each child at least 8 little squares to staple together or to hole punch and use yarn to hold together. Children can write or trace SAY NO TO TEMPTATION on the front of their little booklet. Encourage children to take their booklet home and write the times that they DID say NO to temptation and to bring their little booklets back next week for a special treat!FOR YOUNG MEMBERSMaking a “Survivor 10” Bracelet or NecklaceHave participants string 10 shells or beads onto leather lace to remind them of God’s laws, the Ten Commandments, key to surviving to temptation. Tell the participants that God has given us his laws to protect us and to help us survive here on Earth. (Tie a knot before and after each shell or bead as they are strung). As each bead is strung onto the leather lace name the corresponding commandment: #1 I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before me. #2 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. #3 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. #4 Honor your father and your mother. #5 You shall not kill.. #6 You shall not commit adultery. #7 You shall not steal. #8 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. #9 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s. #10 You shall not covet … anything that is your neighbor’s. Tie off the leather lace to fit around the wrist or neck.FOR SENIOR MEMBERSOvercoming difficulties and facing temptationsPlace in the centre of a room a table with some appetizing snacks (chips, popcorn, candies, chocolate, etc…). Participants are asked to enter the room and to seat on the floor spreading around, at distance. They are also told that snacks cannot be eaten until the end of the meeting.Ask participants whether they believe or not to be able not to eat the snacks (while we, leaders/facilitators, are allowed to eat something every so often).The activity takes place in different steps: 1st step: from where they are, sitting on the floor, participants are asked to stand up without using their hands. Someone will be able to do it, someone else not… let’s wait for a while and then let’s make the 2nd step. 2nd step: now participants are asked still to be seated on the floor but in pairs. Each pair is placed shoulder to shoulder, crossing their arms. They must stand up by pushing against each other’s back and mutually sustaining themselves – it’s the only way to stand up. 3rd step: now in little group of four, always shoulder to shoulder. They must well coordinate in order to succeed in standing up the four of them – they have to! 4th step: keep on going, having everybody standing up together after having a unique circle done – it will be difficult! When it is believed the game is over (if they don’t succeed, is useless to keep on trying), have them sitting on chairs in a circle. And evaluate what has been going on:- did they like the game?- which difficulties they had to face?- why were they falling down?- how did they tried to stand up again together?- did they do anything to help others?Try to highlight the fact that when even just one of the group fail this has negative consequences for the all the group, also leading someone to do the same!