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CLEVELAND — St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Parish sponsored an afternoon of reflection on prayer for teens. The Lenten activity, held at the Crystal Chalet March 18, drew about 30 teens, aged 12-17, from the parish and surrounding area.
The three-hour program began with some snacks and an icebreaker, followed by videos and discussion. Kim Kocuba, the parish youth coordinator, led the program, with the spiritual guidance of Father Marek Visnovsky, the pastor, and Subdeacon Bryan Scotton.
The teens watched videos from the Orthodox YouTube series “Be the Bee,” by Y2AM, narrated by Steve Christoforou.
The videos focus on prayer in several unique and practical ways, and include inspiring stories and reflections. The group discussions that followed the videos offered the teens a chance to explore and share experiences with each other.
The teens then read an excerpt from the homily of St. Basil on unceasing prayer, as well as three Gospel passages in which Jesus speaks about prayer.
They discussed the readings and easy ways to insert prayer into daily life.
Participants wrote down a personal pact as a reminder of how they can make more time for God in prayer.
They received handouts to help them with prayer. One handout summarized the main points of the day: pray that God’s will be done; pray simply and silently; pray in every moment; offer up your whole life for God’s glory; pray with your whole body; be silent and put your earthly cares aside; prayer is not just words, it’s a relationship; prayer can happen anytime, anywhere; focus on God and fix yours eyes on Christ; love is action; “be the bee” and look for the good in the world.
The teens concluded the day by praying Ninth Hour.
Since the event, the expression, “Be the bee,” has been repeated among many of the participants as a greeting; other participants said they were so inspired by the event that they shared the experience with their peers.
For other youth events at the parish, go to: http://stmarybyz.com.
Caption: Poster paper from the teen retreat summarizes some of the main ideas shared with participants March 18. (Photo: Kim Kocuba)
As published in Horizons, May 6, 2018.
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