"Life Teen is an international Catholic movement that serves the Church by providing resources and faith experiences that help lead teens closer to Christ. This is accomplished through a vibrant Eucharistic spirituality and by creating opportunities for teens to grow in their faith." - from www.lifeteen.com
What is Life Teen?
Life Teen is a Catholic youth ministry program that began in 1985 at St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Mesa, Arizona. There are now over 1,000 parishes around the world that have adopted the Life Teen program, which is geared towards high school teens in grades 9-12.
Life Teen began here at St. Mary's on September 19, 1997 and has continued with great success since then every Sunday night. In the Life Teen philosophy teens are recognized as a sub-culture; the Mass and the entire program are designed to address the specific needs of teens today. This new vision of teen ministry allows the teen to immerse him or herself in the life of the parish and on a larger scale, of the Church. Life Teen provides our teens with a "Catholic Identity".
"Young people of America and the World, listen to what Christ the redeemer, is saying to you."
- Pope John Paul II
Because of our deep Eucharistic devotion, Life Teen has developed a spirituality that is:
* 100% Catholic
* Obedient to the Magisterium
* Centered on the Eucharist
* Scriptural
* Liturgical
* Catechetical
* Sacramental
* Focused on social justice
* Comprehensive
Life Teen began here at St. Mary's on September 19, 1997 and has continued with great success since then every Sunday night. In the Life Teen philosophy teens are recognized as a sub-culture; the Mass and the entire program are designed to address the specific needs of teens today. This new vision of teen ministry allows the teen to immerse him or herself in the life of the parish and on a larger scale, of the Church. Life Teen provides our teens with a "Catholic Identity".
"Young people of America and the World, listen to what Christ the redeemer, is saying to you."
- Pope John Paul II
Because of our deep Eucharistic devotion, Life Teen has developed a spirituality that is:
* 100% Catholic
* Obedient to the Magisterium
* Centered on the Eucharist
* Scriptural
* Liturgical
* Catechetical
* Sacramental
* Focused on social justice
* Comprehensive
Life Teen Mass
The Life Teen Mass that takes place every Sunday at 6:00pm is the core of the program providing teens and their families with a liturgy geared toward their spiritual needs. The Life Teen Mass requires a "full and active participation of the entire community". The Mass, homily and music are specifically directed to the teens and they have responded wholeheartedly. The teens also take an active role in the ministries at the Mass specifically, Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Sacristans and Hospitality. There are many other elements of the liturgy that speak to teens on their emotional level found mostly in the unconditional love of Christ and of that same sharing in the community.
Life Nights
Life Nights follow the Life Teen Mass every Sunday night and provide an opportunity for teens to go deeper in their faith, share their faith with their peers through witness talks and interactive discussion and learn more about issues facing teens today and how to deal with them. These nights are presented by our Core team made up of young adults from the parish under the direction of Fr. Bill Lohan and our Youth Minister, Jason Deramo. Topics for these nights come from the National Life Teen office, from the Core team's own ideas, and ideas suggested by teens. Our Life Nights end with singing "Hail Mary, Gentle Woman," a prayerful song to Our Lady. This Marian Devotion is held by all Life Teen programs - for Mary is the patroness of Life Teen.
Pizza & Prayer
As with the Mass, our prayer nights are held weekly. We gather each Monday night at 6:00pm to pray as a Life Teen community for our intentions and for any issues confronting our teens. In an informal way we further our relationship with Jesus and experience His unconditional love by praying as a community, with and for one another. Once a month, we offer our teens the opportunity to approach Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. The tradition of Eucharistic Adoration is enhanced by Life Teen prayers and music. These nights always prove to be a powerful experience for everyone in attendance.
Retreats
Our teens are given several opportunities to be on retreat. Typically, we hold the following retreats:
* Fall Retreat (Thursday & Friday after Thanksgiving)
* Spring Retreat (Monday through Wednesday of April school vacation)
* CIA Service retreat (a weekend in February)
* Welcome to Life Retreat (a 2-day retreat run by our juniors for our incoming freshman)
* Boys & Girls Retreats (summertime)
* Senior Retreat (September)
We also hold retreat weekends for our Core team and the parents of our teens. These retreats have given us a very special opportunity and setting for the sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration.
* Fall Retreat (Thursday & Friday after Thanksgiving)
* Spring Retreat (Monday through Wednesday of April school vacation)
* CIA Service retreat (a weekend in February)
* Welcome to Life Retreat (a 2-day retreat run by our juniors for our incoming freshman)
* Boys & Girls Retreats (summertime)
* Senior Retreat (September)
We also hold retreat weekends for our Core team and the parents of our teens. These retreats have given us a very special opportunity and setting for the sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration.
Homework Days
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, our Life House is open from 2:30-5:00pm and provides a place for our middle school and high school teens to go to after school. Here they can have a safe place to go, be with friends, play some basketball or other activities, grab a soda, and do some homework. Any young person from grades 6-12 are invited to Homework Days whenever they can come down.
C.I.A. (Service Days)
We serve because of our love for the Eucharist. Our Catholics in Action (C.I.A) service program consists of Random Acts of Kindness days where on certain days our teens may visit an elderly parishioner, drop off food to needy families, or clean up a person's yard. We also hold a CIA Retreat, where our teens spend a weekend giving their time to people in the greater Boston area by visiting homeless shelters, distributing food, clothing, and medical supplies to the homeless in the Boston Common, serving at our senior citizen resident homes, and painting and cleaning up youth centers and buildings. These service days and retreats have provided our teens to live out the Gospel message of "whatever you have done for the least of my brothers, you have done for me." (Matthew 25:31)
Pancakes & Prayer
One Saturday a month, our teens join the 8:00am Mass with our parish in our Chapel followed by a prayer opportunity or service component before enjoying some homemade pancakes in the Lifehouse. This recent addition to our prayer schedule was made by one of our teens, which allow our teens to attend Daily Mass and be seen with the rest of our parish too.
Can of Worms
Twice a month (typically the 1st and 3rd Thursday) our teens gather for a discussion group called "Can of Worms." This program allows our teens a place to bring questions to the table that can be discussed with our teens and young adults. Questions take all forms, from issues on church, faith, family, school, and friends.
Trips & Socials
We hold many trips and social events for our teens throughout the year. During the summer we have our "Summer O' Fun" program where there is a trip nearly every day of the week and during the school vacation week in December we have our "Winter O' Wonder" program where there is a trip every day of vacation. These trips as well as trips throughout the year consist of laser tag, paintball, mall trips, beach days, get to know parts of Boston, movie nights, apple picking, snow tubing, ski trips, and much more!
We also hold an annual Valentine's Stag Semi dance as well as Pumpkin Ball in October and Spring Fling in May.
We also hold an annual Valentine's Stag Semi dance as well as Pumpkin Ball in October and Spring Fling in May.
Adult Ministry
Fr. Bill Williams, as pastor is the head of Life Teen here at St. Mary's. Fr. Bill Lohan is the Priest Director and works in collaboration with Jason Deramo, our Youth Minister and Jon Niven, our Music Director. Together these four make up our leadership team and oversee our Adult Ministers. Our Adult Ministry consists of two separate groups, our Life Guards and our Core Team.
Our Life Guards are adult volunteers including many of the teens' parents. They are responsible for setting up and cleaning up the church before and after Mass and providing refreshments following the Life Nights. Our Life Guards have taken great responsibility for providing hospitality at the Mass as well as helping out anywhere else that's needed.
The Core Team is made up of young adults who are more intricately involved in the lives of our teens. Their job is to be mentors to the teens in the presenting of Life Nights and most especially being present in the teens everyday lives. This includes the Mass, Life Nights, prayer nights, retreats and social outreach - chaperoning trips or attending events important to the teens.
Our Life Guards are adult volunteers including many of the teens' parents. They are responsible for setting up and cleaning up the church before and after Mass and providing refreshments following the Life Nights. Our Life Guards have taken great responsibility for providing hospitality at the Mass as well as helping out anywhere else that's needed.
The Core Team is made up of young adults who are more intricately involved in the lives of our teens. Their job is to be mentors to the teens in the presenting of Life Nights and most especially being present in the teens everyday lives. This includes the Mass, Life Nights, prayer nights, retreats and social outreach - chaperoning trips or attending events important to the teens.
The Edge
As a result of the success of LIFE TEEN, in the fall of 2004 we started The EDGE program - Life Teen's religious education program for 6th - 8th graders. This program has become a huge success with 200 teens attending on a weekly basis. The EDGE core team is made up of parents, college students and high school juniors and seniors.
Visit the Edge Program @ www.stmarysedge.com
World Youth Day
Every few years, the Holy Father calls all the young people from around the world to gather at a central location. WYD consists of millions of Christians united under one faith and includes music, talks, and Mass with the Pope. We have been to World Youth Days in Paris (1997), Rome (2000), Toronto (2002), Germany (2005), and Sydney, Australia (2008). The next WYD will be held in Madrid, Spain in August 2011. For the blog from WYD Sydney, please click here.
