Workshop for a new Team - and for others who are just thinking about helping!
The Sacrament of Reconciliation This workshop pattern could also be used in preparation for Confirmation and Eucharist.
A brief introduction to the ideas and methods used in
the Family Faith Programmes A display of the Family Faith material should be available for participants to consider at the workshop. They could previously have received a copy of the Reconciliation Programme magazine for parents, ‘Yours Truly’.
Team preparation 1
Parishioners Helping Parents Welcome
Participants are welcomed individually as they arrive.
Tonight’s workshop might help us ‘tune-in’to parents who may have reservations about coming to their first Family Faith session. Think about how you feel just now. Do you feel relaxed, or not, at this moment? Don’t say your thoughts aloud, yet. Just let yourself become aware of sitting in this room with a group of people, preparing to start working with parents in your parish. Store up those feelings and see if they change as the night goes on. I hope you will take time this evening to say ‘Hello’ to any people in the room that you don’t know at present. Perhaps you could begin by introducing yourself to everyone at your own table. (Give time for people to talk)
Now let’s begin. We need to be aware that many of the ideas parents hand on to their children come, in different ways, from their own experience of childhood. Personal childhood experience, then, is our starting point.
Remembering First Confession
Look back at your own First Confession and try to remember what you felt at that time. Talk to your neighbour about it. Group discussion
Take answers (Chart)
Fear Anxiety Uncertainty Guilt Awe
The Box Dark Waiting Guessing Forgetting
Routine Learning words Regimentation Sin (grades)
Look at all the different feelings you have talked about, both good and bad. Other words on the chart show the importance of the place and the effort of remembering what to do. These practical points often cause children great anxiety. There is not a great deal about God on the chart. What idea did you have about God, at that stage?
Nothing! God as judge Talking to God (priest - representative) Feeling good
Could we sum up what this Sacrament was about for you, as a young child? Routine Awe From bad to good
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Reconciliation Today So far you have been talking about your own experience as a child. Are things different today? (Take some answers)
Both the past and the present appear to have good and bad in them.
One thing that is different now-a-days is the emphasis placed on this sacrament. Then it seemed to be all about breaking rules and commandments. What is important now is‘making-up’ - getting relationships right. Parents today often think along the same lines for the family and try to build up good relationships in the home. This is a very positive move though, if they want the best for their children, they still need to teach them right from wrong. The magazine, Yours Truly, offers discussion points on this moral training in the home. Talk at table about how these family situations relate to the sacrament of Reconciliation as it is presented now. Take answers (Chart)
Reconciliation Owning up Being forgiven Adults can be wrong!
Depending on local circumstances, there may be time to discuss the magazine in some detail. Whether this is possible or not, the final twenty minutes of the workshop should be spent on the Reflection.
Reflection There used to be a television programme which showed some impossible-looking event and asked, ‘How did they do that?’ In a way, that is what this final twenty minutes will be about. Tonight’s event was not difficult, in fact the discussion moved along easily. But that did not just happen. We are going to look back at the the last hour and see the simple things we were doing to keep the session flowing smoothly. As we do this, you might reflect on points you could apply to your leadership in the Family Faith sessions that are soon to start in your parish.
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1. Helping new people relax
To begin with, how do you feel at this moment? Are you quite relaxed? Compare that feeling with the way you felt at the beginning of this evening. Is there a difference? Take some answers
There are probably many reasons for that change. But let’s just look at two of them: a). There was a sense of welcome in the room. - We showed that we were glad you had come. - You spoke to all the people near you. At the first parents’ meeting in your parish, you may be sitting at a table acting as host to the newcomers. Talk at table now about how you might help them relax.
Give a few minutes for talk.
b). Every idea is welcome. Remember the thoughts you offered tonight. Were they accepted? Look at them on the charts. All of those ideas together made up the whole point of the session. It is important that people speak - and that they know there are no wrong answers. We are not looking for brilliant ideas, just what people feel at that moment. They can’t get that wrong! All the answers together bring about the result. So encourage people to talk. Don’t worry if it sounds a bit vague - or even off the point!
2. Moving forward to new ideas
We have spent some time tonight looking back at what we used to think about Confession and what new ideas we want the children to have. How are people helped to let their old ideas go and take on new ones? Lots of people have studied this. Here is one Do and one Don’t from their findings:
Do - make the session enjoyable!
The Magazine, the children’s drawings, and the Paper People are all meant to be enjoyed. You could almost say that, at these sessions, if people don’t laugh - they don’t learn!
Don’t - argue with people or challenge them.
People need time to change; it will not happen right there at the table! Let them disagree, without comment. Stay in charge and move the discussion on gently to the next point.
3. Using Makebelief
Many parents don’t realise what a great influence they have on their children. They can usually think and talk more easily about this idea if it is not made too personal.. That is why we use the Magazine and Paper People. Participants feel free to talk about these ‘made up’ families without feeling ‘got at’. All the activities are designed to let people explore their thoughts and feelings without any pressure or commitment. In the time that is left, you might like to: a) Look at the Family Faith material and consider the possibility of forming a Team to use it with families. b) Set up a timetable of planning sessions in conjunction with the parish programme for parents.
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