Retreats at Home

After completing all the Walks below, please complete the form listed under documents and submit it to your DRE.  
Walk #1 - Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)
---With each walk through Scripture, your child(ren) will first listen to the Scripture passage. Together, you and your child(ren) will explore a couple of questions, child(ren) first and then you:

1. Who does the father in the story represent?
2. What are some of the things the father does?
3. What does it feel like to have mom/dad forgive you?
4. Have you ever acted like either one of the sons?
5. How about the prodigal son… What did you hear about him?

As parent, talk to your child about Reconciliation. Ask if your child has any concerns, fears, questions. After taking these, share some of your own experiences with Reconciliation. This can be a wonderful opportunity to connect in regards to the faith with parent-child.

Walk #2 - Last Supper (Lk 22:7-38, Mt 26:17-30, Mk 14:22-26)
---Choose one of the above passages and read the passage together. Look online for some of the great artwork surrounding this Last Supper scene (Google Michelangelo or Leonardo Last Supper). Look at these pieces together and talk about the expressions and postures of Jesus and the Apostles.  Ask you child what each person might be thinking.  Ask them what they would have thought if they were at the last supper.
---Project (Choose one to do):

• Make a First Communion banner. Using felt, a banner that includes your child’s name, a host, a chalice, a cross, and other Eucharistic symbols, hot glue the felt pieces to a felt banner and connect a string up top so the work can be hung and displayed.
• Write a letter to Jesus.  Have your child write a letter to Jesus about why they are excited to be able to recieve the Eucharist this year. 
• Color a Last Supper.  Google a Last Supper coloring page and have them color it in.  
• Other ideas: Do something else that will hlep your child think about what they will be doing.  Have a great idea email it to George Dragan gdragan@diokzoo.org 

Clean-up and Snack Break

Walk # 3 - Experiencing the Eucharist
If you have FORMED (subscription through your parish or you can get a free subscription for a limited time) watch the following:
Brother Francis - The Bread of Life
Or you can watch: 
Blessed First Communion: The Real Presence
AND watch:
The Veil Removed
After: Go on a walk with your child (this will both help to have some activity, but also make it easier to have a conversation instead of making this feel like it is teaching them). Talk to your child about the Eucharist and the Mass. Share with them your understandings and what you are still learning about the Mass and the Eucharist. Talk about the importance of going to Church each Sunday and how giving praise and worship to God is the most important thing that we can do. By showing God this act of love, He meets us in the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of His Son Jesus Christ and gives us the grace of communion with God by entering our body. With Jesus within us, we can go out and be like Jesus in how we love and help others. After sharing this, have your child share with you the ways that he/she can be like Jesus at home, at school, when playing with friends, etc.
Close with the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be

Note: All content unless otherwise noted is original to Diocese of Kalamazoo

Begin with Prayer – Mental Prayer found Click Here
Video on Happiness – What do you desire?
Watch Chris Stefanik Click Here
Watch Fr. Mike Click Here 
 
Talking points for parents (to use when doing the discussion):

• We are all created for happiness. Every single person created is created by Love (God) for love (to give and receive to all – God and others)
• There are many things that we can say make us happy. Food, sleep, friends, games, etc. But we notice that these things make us happy only for a moment or a period of time and then fade away. I will need to eat again, I will need to sleep again, my friends can come and go, the games I play will end. My quest for happiness is one that is constant.
• So we must ask ourselves; if this happiness is fleeting or has these moments of rise and fall, is there something or someone that will continually, constantly make me happy? Am I desiring the right things in my quest for happiness?

Discussion - Parent ask child first and then child ask parent:

1. In what do I put my desire? What is it that makes me happy?
2. How has this quest for happiness been successful? How has this quest for happiness fallen short?
3. How do I view faith in my life? Is it just one of many parts of my life, and maybe not a very important part at that, or does my faith pervade every other aspect of my understanding that Jesus is the heart and center of my life and the reason I was created?

 
Video on How God fulfills our desire? 
Watch Fr. Mike Click Here
 
Talking points for parents (to use when doing the discussion):

• Because we are created by the Creator who is Love, it makes sense that that which makes us happiest are the things that are surrounded by love. However, it is true that we say things like, “I love pizza” or “I love my football team”. And like we discussed above, the pizza I love dwindles and fades and I am left wanting more. The football team I love so often disappoints and leaves me sad and unfulfilled. So these things are not proper love.
• My desire for happiness finds much more success in loving others, for it is these that I love can bring me to a place of happiness that lasts, but I also experience ways in which they love me; ways in which they reciprocate the love that I have shown them. A bridge that connects us is formed here that allows me to realize that it isn’t just me doing the loving (my football team doesn’t love me back, my pizza doesn’t love me back); some one else loves me and this fulfills my desire for happiness in a way nothing has before!
• However, even here, with the love of some one else, I can experience a deficit in being fulfilled. Relationships get broken, things are said that hurt, actions are done that betray; happiness is taken away. Unfortunately it is true that another human being cannot totally fulfill my desire to be happy. The glimpses that they provided were nice, but this has obvious faded.
• All is not lost… The glimpse of happiness, those moments of happiness overflowing; these point to the One who is the fulfillment of all desire. Remember that we are created by Love Himself! God creates us in His image and likeness and wants us to experience the Divine Life, which is to say that He wants us to experience our desire to be happy to the full. God fulfills our desire to be happy by us actively seeking relationship with Him (a relationship that He will accept without question) and choosing to invite Him into each moment of our life. Happiness is found in living with God, living for God, and sharing this lived relationship with all that we meet so that they too might meet the One who created them out of love.

 
Discussion - Parent ask child first and then child ask parent:

1. Who in your life makes you happy? What qualities do they possess that you like?
2. What kind of relationship do you have with God? In what ways do you find fulfillment with God? In what ways is your relationship with God not fulfilling?

 
Spiritual Experience: (choose an option that works for your circumstance)
The goal of these activities is to help your child “encounter” Christ, who is real and whose action and interaction with us is real. However, to facilitate our dialogue with Jesus, we must first use the obvious means at our disposal to listen to him. These would include first, the Scriptures, the Mass, the sacrament of confession, visiting with him in the Blessed Sacrament, prayer such as the Liturgy of the Hours (a.k.a, The Divine Office), Lectio Divina (a method of reading scripitural passages and meditating on them). Other Catholic spiritual reading (lives of the saints or mediations written by them  such as The Confessions of Saint Augustine, The Autobiography of Saint Therese of Liseux, etc.) . Always ask the Holy Spirit to help you hear his voice when you pray or read.
Once we learn how to hear the ways in which God speaks to us, we will hear him speaking through very ordinary things in our lives each day
 

• Make a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament at your Parish and Make a Good Confession
• Pray the Rosary as a Family (20-30 minutes)
• Do a Liturgy of the Word (Opening prayer through Gospel of Mass you can find guide here)
• Lectio Divina (a way of reading the Bible instructions found here)
• Attend a livestreamed Mass

 
 
Discuss together between parent and child the following after your time of prayer:

1. How was prayer for you?
2. What did you experience?
3. Did you encounter Jesus in any particular way (did He speak to you or give you vision)?

 
Final Talk - How do we live a life that seeks God?
W atch Ken Yasinski Click Here
Watch Fr. Mike Click Here
 
Talking points for parents (to use when doing the discussion):

• You might be thinking, “Great, the fulfillment of my happiness exists in God who I don’t readily see, I can’t touch, I can’t talk to. How is this supposed to work?”. We have to trust in His presence, which nature assures us through the order of the created world, which Scripture verifies by His words, which countless men and women throughout the ages have lived and died for. God is alive, He is present in His Church through the most blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and He is calling your name.
• We hear this call at Mass when He speaks through the readings and when we hear the priests words over the elements of bread and wine. We Jesus in the Eucharist and experience the same Lord who makes a sinner a saint. When we pray with the faith the size of a mustard seed He hears our cry. When we live a life of love for those that we encounter in our daily lives and serve others so that life might be better for them, we experience Jesus. Sharing our personal stories of graced encounters in life can show us the presence of God in the fruit and gifts that we receive. This sharing allows us to find similarities in how God is connecting with His people.

Discussion - Parent ask child first and then child ask parent:

1. What can we do together as a family to live a life that seeks God?
2. Share a time in your life when you felt a grace from God. This could be peace that seemingly came out of nowhere or joy while in the midst of an unjoyful situation.

Close with prayer: Come Holy Spirit
 
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
 
(Pause: place your hands on the head of your child and earnestly pray for them, you can do this quietly or out loud.  Ask God to give them the gifts of the Spirit that they may be strong in their faith, good to others, and successful in the eyes of God.  Use your own words to ask God to bless your child in the ways you want them to be blessed.  Remove your hands and continue.)

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Note: All content unless otherwise noted is original to Diocese of Kalamazoo

With this Confirmation At-Home Retreat, students along with their parents will engage 3 topic questions on Confirmation. Under each topic question, you’ll begin by watching the video links. Next, you’ll find talking points to do as parent-child, and complete the questions and activities together, recording your response on the completion sheet (given separately). The benefit of the At-Home Retreat is that you, the student, get to engage this important moment of your life, in a very intentional way, with your parents. Take this time, either as you prepare to receive the Sacrament or reflect on your own reception of the Sacrament, and see how the Holy Spirit is speaking to you to embrace and live as a child of God. As you progress through this retreat, it is a recommended option that you make use of a notebook, diary, or journal to write your responses to questions so that you can reflect on them later to see how you are progressing spiritually.  
---Q1: Why is Confirmation important?
First, watch these videos together (parent and child) – Estimated time for completion – 20 minutes:
Video on the Holy Spirit: Bishop Barron on The Holy Spirit - YouTube
Further: Reflections on the Sacrament of Confirmation - Word on Fire
Second, read these talking points together (parent and child) and as you engage this material, be free to share your own experience – Estimated time for completion – 10 minutes:
1. Apart from its sacramental graces, Confirmation is for you the fulfillment of the Sacraments of Initiation (i.e., Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation). This isn’t a graduation from the faith; rather it is the completion of your basic education so that you can begin your life as bearers of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Your education in the Catholic faith should be life-long, and should consist of spiritual reading of the Catholic Saints and authors, continued catechesis in adult level material, daily reading of the Sacred Scriptures, and explanatory commentary by Catholic authors. This can be done in courses offered online, at the diocese, in your parishes, or on your own. The greater you understand your faith, the closer you will become to Jesus and his Church, and the more effective you will be to others as a witness to the Gospel.
2. These Gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord) give us the grace to participate in the divine life of grace and not only to live your own life centered in Jesus Christ but to use your own gifts and talents in sharing Christ’s love and mercy to all you encounter. So, these Gifts of the Holy Spirit enliven you, if you invite the Holy Spirit to be Lord of your life, to use your own talents to be more complete with these Gifts.
3. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit as received in Confirmation most especially help us to live as holy women and men and to keep Jesus Christ and His Church central to our life. We need to call upon the Holy Spirit to discuss difficult issues with those we are in close relationship with; we need to call upon the Holy Spirit when a friend of ours is in trouble and needs help; we need to call upon the Holy Spirit to make the right choice when it is so easy to make the wrong choice. How do we come to know the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us? We need to become familiar with His voice by attending weekly Sunday Mass, reading the Bible daily, praying and listening to God regularly and often, engaging with people intentionally in conversation and offering them your attention. Further, you’ll notice, if living with and for the Holy Spirit, you’ll notice the presence of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in your life (like love, joy, peace, patience, chastity, etc.). These Fruits are a positive sign that we are in right relationship with God and are listening to and abiding by the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and are a sign that we are ordering our life rightly by placing our life centered in the One, the Blessed Trinity, who orders our life toward the good and keeps us leading a life of happiness.
Third, discuss these questions together (parent to share while child shares and records on the completion sheet) – Estimated time for completion – 15 minutes:

1. In what ways is Confirmation the beginning of your faith life?
2. Go to https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-seven-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit and review the article on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Choose one Gift that is your favorite or one Gift that you would like to pray for and practice on. What about the particular gift you chose do you think will bring you closer to Jesus Christ?
3. Name some specific ways that you can keep the presence of the Holy Spirit and His gifts alive and strong in your life.

---Q2: What does Confirmation mean to you?
First, watch this video together (parent and child) – Estimated time for completion – 10 minutes:
Video on Confirmation: Bishop Barron on the Sacrament of Confirmation - YouTube
Second, the child will complete the following spiritual activity – Estimated time for completion – 60 minutes:
1. Now that you have completed (or are close to completing) the classroom requirements to receive the Sacrament, have you had the chance to think about what it is that Confirmation means to you?
2. Have your mom and/or dad, grandma and/or grandpa, sponsor tell you about what Confirmation means to them (please choose your sponsor and at least 1 other to interview). Ask them questions such as why was this Sacrament important to them? What do they remember about receiving the Sacrament? What Gifts of the Holy Spirit have they really relied on or worked on? What struggles have they encountered in living their faith since their Confirmation? What is one thing that they wish someone would have told them about Confirmation before they were confirmed?
3. Having taken part in the above interviews, find a half-an-hour of quiet that is free from phones, television, interruptions (as much as possible) and truly consider the question, “What does Confirmation mean to me?” One suggestion for this time of prayer is that once in your quiet place, be silent for a couple of moments, then quietly but audibly announce the question, then wait and listen to what comes to your mind and heart. Repeat this process several times over the course of the half-an-hour long prayer session. Don’t forget to use your journal if it helps you.

---Q3: How to live your Confirmation now?
First, watch these videos together (parent and child) – Estimated time for completion – 20 minutes:
Video on Practicing Catholic: What Constitutes A Practicing Catholic? - Ascension Press Media
Video on Mercy: What Is Mercy? - YouTube
Second, read these talking points together (parent and child) and as you engage this material, be free to share your own experience – Estimated time for completion – 20 minutes:

1. The Graces of Confirmation. When you are confirmed in the Catholic faith, you are strengthened to live life as a child of God, to be holy and to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ as a disciple with the way you think, the way you speak, the way you act; truly with our entire life. Being confirmed allows us to live the faith and speak to the presence of God in each moment of our life. Confirmation strengthens the graces given to us at baptism, but we must respond and use those graces or else we risk becoming like the fig tree that Jesus condemns because it bore no fruit.
2. Fulfilling our obligations. God expects us to fulfill our obligations as Catholics—at a minimum! Being confirmed means that we are living out our commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church to be strengthened in the faith. How this looks begins with the following foundation, known as The Precepts of the Church:

 

• • Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation (Many parishes have daily Mass that anyone may attend. The Church encourages all to do so).
  • Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year (The Church recommends monthly confession. Just as we would become pretty stinky if we only showered once a year, our soul becomes pretty smelly if we don’t purify it regularly through Reconciliation. The rule of thumb is that you go anytime you need to. If you are in a state of mortal sin, you should go at your earliest opportunity, as dying in a state of mortal sin cuts us off from salvation.)
  • Receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist (i.e. Holy Communion) at least once a year during the Easter season, but every Sunday preferably (and daily if possible! There is a difference between the obligation to attend Mass and the obligation to receive Holy Communion. The obligation to attend Mass is weekly on Sundays and Holy Days. The obligation to receive Holy Communion is at least once a year at Easter, which means you must be properly disposed at that time to do so, which implies you should receive Sacramental Confession beforehand).
  • Observe the days of fasting and abstinence from meat as set forth by the Church (fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstaining from meat on Fridays especially during Lent. Few realize that abstaining on Fridays or at least substituting a penance for eating meat on Fridays remains an obligation for all Catholics. However, no substitution of penance for meat is allowed on Lenten Fridays. The Lenten obligation binds on pain of mortal sin.)
  • Provide for the needs of the Church through your time, talent, and treasure. (Just like your household, each parish has bills to pay: utilities, phones, workers to pay, all the things used for Mass, etc. Beeswax candles and liturgical supplies don’t come cheap! There is no magical source of money that floats down from Heaven or the Vatican or the Bishop of the diocese. Each parish is utterly dependent on its parishioners to keep their parish’s books in the black. In Luke 10:7, Jesus said, “The laborer is worth his wage”. This precept reminds us that as God gives to us our talents, abilities, and permitted the circumstances into which we were born and in which live, in justice to God, so must we return a portion of our gifts. Doing so willingly with a joyful heart was the difference between God’s being pleased with Abel’s offering of the best 10% of his flock of sheep, and Cain’s begrudging sacrifice of some of his wheat harvest. We cannot outgive God in generosity. Along those same lines, we are asked to use our abilities and talents in the service of God. For example, the parish is dependent upon its parishioners to serve as lectors, acolytes, Eucharistic ministers, catechists, parish council members, etc. If we have organizational and administrative skills, perhaps we can set up a soup kitchen or shelter for the poor.)
  • Participate in the Church’s mission to evangelize all people. (The last thing Jesus told his disciples before he ascended into Heaven was to “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe and carry out all that I have commanded you” -Mt 28:19:20a.) This was a command, not a plea, not a suggestion, not an encouragement, not an option. If we expect God to hear us and desire that he answers our prayers, it is only common courtesy, let alone right and just, that we listen to and obey God.  Evangelization can be done in many ways. The most effective way is being a good Christian example of love of God and neighbor. And doing good things for others through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy (see above.))

 

3. “Pray without Ceasing”. While the above list is very important, we need to remember that our quest to master a life centered in God needs to have prayer as a constant that seeks to grow in relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and seeks to love our neighbor as ourselves. St. Paul teaches us to, “Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). -Jesus gives us a template to pray with the Our Father, but how do we “pray without ceasing”? We can do so by starting our day by signing ourselves with the Sign of the Cross, and praying any number of versions of The Morning Offering. This simple, little prayer makes our entire day a prayer by offering our “every work, joy, and suffering” of the day to God, through the priestly ministry of Jesus Christ in the sacrifice of the Masses said around the world each day. Furthermore, our “prayer without ceasing” occurs when we make God our reference point in every decision, thought, and action of each day. When we need assistance, we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, as is His function (see John 16:13). This is all in addition to what should be our daily routine of formal prayers, such as The Angelus said at 9 a.m, Noon, and 6 p.m., a daily five decade Rosary, nightly Act of Contrition, Chaplet of Divine Mercy  said at Three o'Clock p.m. in honor of the death of Our Lord, etc. A list of basic prayers every Catholic should know and say regularly, here. It is not necessary that all these prayers are said daily, but every Catholic should pick at least a few of these prayers, and say them as part of their daily prayer routine. 
4. We must do the works of Mercy. Doing Works of Mercy (a complete list with a description of the Corporal Works of Mercy can be found here and a complete list with a description of the Spiritual Works of Mercy can be found here) for the praise and worship of God and for the recognition of the other as a brother and sister worthy of love and dignity helps us to step outside of our self and to see the presence of the living God active in the world around us.

Discuss these questions together (parent to share while child shares and records on the completion sheet) – Estimated time for completion – 30 minutes:

1. How do we know that we are living out our Confirmation? Share ways that you, both parent and child, are still living out your Confirmation today. What are the ways that others can see Jesus Christ alive in you? Consider some ways in your own life that could benefit from the presence of Jesus Christ being intentionally invited into your life. Take some time to discuss this together as a family.
2. Of the 6 Precepts listed above in B, which of these are most challenging to you? Which of the 6 listed could you personally or together as a family take on to grow in your commitment to Jesus Christ and the Church? Mindful of God’s great generosity to us, how can we better respond to the grace of God’s generosity to us? In what different ways?
3. Spend some time with your confirmandi child to make a list of prayers you will commit to saying daily to help you “pray without ceasing”. Hold each other accountable by asking each other, “Did you remember to say your prayers daily today?”
4. Look over the Works of Mercy. As a family, draw-up a plan to practice 2, one Corporal and one Spiritual, over this next year. In your plan, set a regular time in which you pray, practice the particular Work of Mercy, discuss how you encountered Jesus through this Work, and close with prayer.
5. Individually, read Matthew 25:31-46. What do you notice about this story? How does this Parable relate to your own life? What scares you about this Parable? After reflecting on these questions by yourself, come together as a family and discuss your answers.

Close in Prayer – Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

DAY 1 - Why a Retreat
 

• Pray – Together, as a family, pray the Our Father
• Read – Luke 6:12-13

In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer^* to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve,^* whom he also named apostles

• Reflect – Notice how this time that Jesus spent in prayer led to the major decision of calling and choosing the Twelve Apostles. When you have a major decision to make, how do you invite Jesus into the situation?
• Discuss – Finding a quiet place to retreat to once and awhile is an important part of being human so that we can refresh and recharge. Jesus was no exception; He needed to find times to slip away from the crowds and from His work so that He could reconnect with God the Father. We go on retreat so that we can come to know God more fully, know ourselves more fully, and to have the strength to carry out what God might be asking of us. Take this time now to discuss as a family:

1. What does it mean to pray? Prayer is a conversation with God, consisting of moments when I share what is on my mind/heart with Him and also to take time to listen to what God might be saying to me. Share with one another some of your own practices and/or ideas for praying.
2. How can we find time to depart from our busy schedules and spend some time in prayer with God, inviting Jesus into our lives? Discuss this as a family. If your family is not in the practice of praying together, start small (for example, have each family member state one thing he/she is thankful for and one thing that is on his/her heart, share a moment of quiet to simply listen, close with an Our Father).
3. God gives us gifts or inspirations in prayer, calling us to action. Discuss a time when you felt God was calling you to do something as a result of prayer.

• Practice – Tonight, as a family, pick a time to retreat together, finding a quiet time to talk to God, listen to God, and discuss what inspirations come forth. For example, it could look like this:
  • 8:00 pm: Gather as a family together in a quiet place, before a Crucifix or piece of sacred art. Sit in the quiet for a moment or two.
  • 8:02 pm: To yourself, talk to God about your day. What happy moments did you have? What sad moments did you have? Did anything make you angry? What brought you joy?
  • 8:05 pm: Remaining in the quiet, ask God to speak to you. Listen; you might get a word, phrase, or inspiration; you might not. Offer the time to God and thank Him for this time.
  • 8:08 pm: Take this time to share with your family. What did you tell God? What did God tell you? What did you think of the quiet?
• Practice makes perfect. Even if this was unbearable, make this a daily practice and keep at it! Graces will flow as we faithfully offer God whatever time we can; remember Jesus needed all night to get 12 names.

DAY 2 - Relationship with Jesus

• Pray – Together, as a family, pray the Our Father
• Read – John 15:7-11

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

 

• Reflect – Notice how relationship with Jesus, being his disciple, is summed up by Jesus as remaining in His love. Being in another’s love is another way of saying that you are united to this other. Think of a time when you felt one with Jesus Christ.
• Discuss – A sure fire way to come to know Jesus Christ is by studying His word in Sacred Scripture. By studying the Bible, and then taking the words we read to prayer, we slowly come to know and fall in love with Jesus. Being a disciple or a follower of Jesus is a little like following your favorite sports role model as a kid; you hold a baseball bat and swing like him, you dribble and mimic basketball moves like him, you try to make ridiculous circus football catches like him. As someone who is in love with Jesus, we try to emulate Him in how we worship God and love our neighbors as ourselves.

1. What does a disciple look like? Together as a family, discuss some characteristics and qualities that you each recognize in someone who is a disciple and is in love with Jesus.
2. What characteristics of discipleship do you see within yourself? Within your family? Within your friends? Discuss these and share why these characteristics point you to and remind you of Jesus.
3. A critical part of forming, maintaining, growing your relationship with Jesus is being united with Him in prayer. Another key element is action, serving God and our fellow man in love. Consider some ways that you and your family have actively served God and neighbor.

• Practice – Tonight, as a family, talk about ways that you can each adopt a characteristic that has been identified as belonging to a disciple. Consider ways that you each can practice your named characteristic and how you hope this will unite you more closely to Jesus Christ.

DAY 3 - Service to Others

• Pray – Together, as a family, pray the Our Father
• Read – Matthew 25:31-40

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous^* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’  And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

• Reflect – In our last mini-retreat, we considered characteristics that point us to women and men who are disciples of Jesus Christ. With our parable from Jesus above, we are given the Corporal Works of Mercy that provide us with concrete examples of a loving relationship with Jesus in motion. What does this parable tell you about serving God?
• Discuss – Jesus, who is the second person of the Trinity, exists in an eternal communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This eternal exchange of loving communion gives life to all of creation. Humanity, for his part, is called to participate in this communion by living and committing loving acts of service to those that we encounter each day and thus bring forth a Trinitarian encounter through our lived example.

1. How is my life a lived example of the Trinity? Put yourself in the scene above: you are before the king and he asks you when did you feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, etc. What could you tell him as answers to these questions?
2. It is common when considering this passage to fall into one of two traps: one is to be overly scared in realizing the number of times we have missed opportunities to serve our least brothers and sisters and worry that the second half of this passage (not listed) is our fate or two, to think that only the holy men and women who are saints are afforded the capacity to live the Corporal Works of Mercy listed. The reality is we each probably have missed chances to serve the poor (and thus serve God) but through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the graces available in the Church, we can avail ourselves to these graces to serve others at the next opportunity. Also, we are all called to holiness, and while we might not have the call to serve the poor in ways that some of the saints have, we are called to consider the poor that we encounter as Jesus Christ before us and desire the good for this particular soul. Together, as a family, discuss how you can better see the other as an encounter with Jesus and how this encounter plays a part in your relationship with the Divine.
3. Consider the Corporal Works of Mercy (feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the prisoners, bury the dead, and give alms to the poor). What ones do you feel strong in? What ones do you feel weak in? Which ones might you be afraid of?

• Practice – Tonight, as a family, pick one of the works of mercy to work on together. Schedule a time in the coming week where you can go and practice this work of mercy as a family. After doing this, go to a restaurant or come home and debrief the experience with these questions:
  • What was this experience like for me?
  • Name the feelings and thoughts I harbored during this experience for the person/people I served.
  • Where did you see Jesus in this experience?
  • How has this changed you?

Day 4 -  Encounter with Jesus Through the Gospel Message

• Pray – Together, as a family, pray the Our Father
• Read – Luke 24:27-32

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.  And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.  With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

• Reflect – Notice how the two along the way, when they hear the word of God proclaimed, their hearts are set ablaze. The Gospel message, or kerygma, tells the truth of God and His love for us. In your encounters with Jesus, think of the times your heart has been set on fire with His love, His peace, His joy.  
• Discuss – It is important for each of us as Catholic Christians to study and know the Gospel message. Much like our relationship with our family members, we don’t come to know them without learning about their personal stories. When we study and learn about God, why we were created, why He saved us, what this means for our lives, etc., we come to know who He is and fall in love with the One who loves us so.

1. Share together as a family your favorite Bible story. How do you see God’s love in this passage? What does this passage tell you about God? What in this passage speaks to you? What in this passage challenges you?
2. Share together with your family a story from your life in which you encountered the love of Jesus. Think of a time when your heart was set aflame with love, peace, joy, happiness and discover Jesus at the center and as the cause of that scene.
3. Consider the 12 Truths (posted on screen here/attached here). The Gospel message lies as the foundation of these Truths and thus these Truths as a skeleton structure of our faith. Discuss these together as a family. Which of these 12 stand out to you? Which of these is most difficult?

• Practice – As a family, pray for the grace to be aware each day of Jesus walking alongside you and to have Him help you realize how Jesus is accompanying you in your day-to-day. Begin the practice of the family, perhaps at dinner time or in your nightly prayers, of sharing how Jesus was made known to you and how you were affected by this encounter. Also, work on knowing the 12 Truths and build-up a practice of incorporating and studying these into your daily life.

Day 5 - Domestic Church

• Pray – Together, as a family, pray the Our Father
• Read – John 19:26-27

When Jesus saw his mother^* and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

• Reflect – Living with Jesus, whether as His mother or as His disciple and friend, draws one into community; a community of persons that reflects the communion of the Trinity. What about this passage is most striking to you?
• Discuss – Our life together as a family should reflect the life and love of the Trinity. The family is to be that safe place for each of us; that place where we can go to experience love and discover who we are called to be, that holy daughter/holy son who has great dignity and was created for a unique purpose by the Creator. With this understanding of family, one can see why the Catholic Church refers to the family as a domestic church, or a church that is to be lived and handed on at home.

1. What does it mean to be a domestic church for your family? How do you practice and hand on the faith to each other in your home?
2. Name some of the struggles you have encountered of being a domestic church. What do you not do well? What don’t you do at all?
3. Consider ways that you can strengthen and grow your domestic church. If you are going to Mass every Sunday together, great! Continue that most important practice and find ways to allow the grace of Mass to be present throughout your days and weeks (discussing something that struck you from the readings, elaborating on a point Father made in his homily, etc.). Perhaps prayer together is not consistent or even nonexistent; consider ways to grow this practice and thus grow in your relationship with Jesus.

• Practice – As a family, choose one thing in your domestic church you wish to strengthen and one thing you wish to add. Be honest and realistic about your situation. If you struggle making it to Mass on a consistent basis, name that and invite Jesus in to provide the grace make this a number one Sunday priority. If you really wish to add a service element to your family, find something that is appropriate in kind and time that your family can do together and make sure to add an element of discussion that connects your service to Jesus Christ. The ideas are many, but through prayer and discussion with the Holy Spirit and knowing your own family, you’ll make the right steps to hand on and grow the faith for those most precious to you.

Note: All content unless otherwise noted is original to Diocese of Kalamazoo