Welcome to Life Teen’s newest resource for high school teenagers, Into the Deep. The goal of this resource is to provide the teenagers at your parish with catechesis and spiritual challenges that goes deeper into Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church than that of a normal Life Night. The sessions contained in this resource are more challenging in their teachings and small group questions; all for the teens who are seeking deeper spiritual growth.
This resource is designed to supplement our existing eight-semester curriculum for high school students, which is modeled from the USCCB’s Doctrinal Framework for High School Catechesis. Each four- session Into the Deep resource will cover a specific topic found within the United States Bishops’ framework with a greater depth. This will allow you to take time to really break open topics such as discipleship, Mary, the season of Lent, and pro-life issues.
What to expect
Deeper Theology and Discussion. Every Into the Deep session is structured to be more challenging for the teens that attend. The teaching assumes that teenagers have a basic knowledge of the Catholic faith and the topic being covered; likewise, small group discussion questions are more pointed and encourage honesty. Teens attending these sessions should be challenged both in discussion and in the material presented.
Weekly Challenges. Each session concludes with a “Weekly Challenge.” These challenges are discussed in the following session, so it is very important the teenagers make time to complete each challenge. In addition to providing a starting point for the teaching in the following session, these challenges also provide ways for teens to live out their faith during the week.
Terms and Concepts. At the beginning of the outline, key terms are given for the session along with main concepts to be covered. Many people have a limited vocabulary for religious terms, and we often take this for granted. It is important to define terms rather than assume that teens already know them. You may want to add terms to the list before each session, depending on where your teens are at in their formation. Teens should know the concepts and be able to define the terms at the end of each session.
Prayer. Each session contains an extended period for prayer. Because the goal of Into the Deep is to lead teenagers into a deeper relationship with Christ, prayer is essential.
Into the Deep: Discipleship
This Into the Deep explores the topic of discipleship. Teenagers are often challenged to be leaders in their world, and many times find themselves in positions of leadership, such as a team captain, student council member, or simply organizing a group project for a class. These four sessions will challenge them to understand what it means to be a “disciple leader,” and how following Christ makes us leaders.
These four sessions will challenge teens to understand their baptismal call to discipleship more deeply, recognize the difference between pride and humility, encourage the teens to make time for rest and prayer as well as active service, and, finally, empower them to go forward as evangelists.