CST With Youth

Please visit this link to download this retreat.

Who and What:
The following is a retreat experience designed for High School-aged youth. It can be easily adapted and used with young adults. This retreat is especially appropriate with groups of Confirmation or R.C.I.A. candidates, or with Religious Education groups. The objectives of the retreat are to:

1. Introduce the participants to some of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as defined by the USCCB
2. Encourage the participants to consider how they are applying or how they can apply the principles to their lives
3. Reinforce the importance of putting Catholic Social Teaching into practice in order to live a Catholic Christian lifestyle

The retreat is best used with groups of 10-25 youth who are put into small discussion groups of 4-5. Mature “table leaders,” whether they are adults or peers, are essential to the retreat experience in order to foster understanding and productive discussions.

Method:
There are four sections in this retreat. Each section is based on a different principle of Catholic Social Teaching:

1. Call to family, community and participation
2. Solidarity
3. Care of creation
4. Life and dignity of the human person

Each principle is introduced to the participants in two ways: first, they are given a Church statement that indicates why the principle is a Catholic teaching; second, various media (ie. a movie clip or story) are used to show that principle being lived (or, conversely, ignored) in pop culture. The participants are then invited to explore what that principle means in their everyday life through small group discussion questions that consider Church teaching and pop culture. Finally, the small group is given an activity to do together that reinforces the concept that has been presented.