Publications
Lesson Plans Online
Youth ministry access
Sister Kieran Sawyer is a regular contributor to Youth Ministry Access,
an on-line publication of the Center for Ministry Development.
Titles and synopses of her lesson plans are listed below.
Scrolling down you will find:
- Middle School Lessons on various topics
- Middle School Series on Sacraments
- High School Sessions, many based on the "Curriculum Framework"
- Fifth Night Sessions -- for youth with parents
For full access to the YMA lessons, subscribe to Youth Ministry Access.
MIDDLE SCHOOL SESSIONS
Bee-Attitudes (2011) Participants talk about the positive attitudes, character traits, and virtues that characterize a "good person" and examine how these are (or are not) manifested in their daily lives.
Belonging and Being Myself (2010) Participants reflect on the challenge of balancing three primary human needs: the need to belong in a family, the need to belong in a group of friends, and the need to be independent.
Celebrating Discipleship (2013) This session helps middle school youth understand discipleship by exploring God's plan for us and their role as young followers of Jesus.
Character and Chastity, middle school (2012) Partiipants are taught a simple explanation of character development. Chastity is presented as the character strength (virtue) that helps them to control and channel their sexual desires. (FREE ACCESS: Click to download PDF file Click to download Word file. Click to download PowerPoint)
Character and Chastity, high school (see HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS below)
Church: Building a Caring Community (2011) Participants are helped to understand that they are church and that they share in the responsibility for building the caring community called "church" in their family, friendship group, and world.
Do I Hafta? (2011) Particpants are helped to examine the motivation that gudes their daily choices and are encouraged to make personal decisions based on positive character-based values and virtues. (Click here for FREE ACCESS to this session.)
Emmanuel: God is with Us (2009) Particpants come to a deeper understanding of the mystery of God's presence in their everyday worlds.
God's DO and DON'T List (2010) Participants are helped to see the role the Ten Commnandments ought to play in their everyday lives.
Gold Stars and Gray Dots -- a one-day retreat (2011) Based on the storyYou Are Special by Max Lucado, the retreat is designed to help young people to analyze the positive and negative feedback the receive from (and give to) their peers, and to realize that what really matters is how special each person is in the eyes of God.
The Great Commandments (2010) Participants discover the Great Commandments in both the Old and New Testaments, and are encouraged to see this teaching as the basic guide for their lives.
Growing in Faith / Three Circles (2013) This one-day retreat helps middle schoolers understand the change that entry into adolescence has on their understanding of themselves, their relationships with their family, their role in their friendship groups, and their personal relationship with God. (Click here for FREE ACCESS to this session.)
Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships (2010) Participants are guided to see their own responsibility in developing positive, loving relationship in their families and friendship groups.
I Know Your Father (2011) Based on a clip from The Lion King, particpants reflect on their call to live as children of a loving God.
Magic and Miracles (2011) Particpants are helped to understand the difference between magic and miracles, and to become more familiar with the miracles of Jesus.
My Friendship Quotient (2009) Participants examine the important role that friendship plays in their lives and analyze how well they are developing the qualities of a good friend.
Peer Power (2010) Participants are guided to understand the positive role of social pressure in their lives and are encouraged to use their personal power to have a positive influence on their peers.
Put Ups / Put Downs (2012) Participants are helped to become aware of the use of put downs in their peer groups, to realize their negative impact, and to practice using put us -- words and actions that show acceptance and affirmation of one another.
Text Messages to God (2011) Participants learn the four purposes of prayer: thanksgiving, contrition, petition, and praise/adoration, and explore these themes in the psalms.
Virtue: Making One Good Choice After Another (2016) This session helps middle school youth to understand virtue as the power of an individual to make good choices. Each person is created with the two great human powers of intellect and free will, each of which must be developed as the child matures. Just as developing the intellect leads to knowledge; so developing the will leads to virtue. See also Chastity lesson below.
The Virtue of Chastity and God's Gift of Sexuality (2016) Designed to follow the session above, this session guides the participants in valuing God's gift of sexuality and in understanding how the virtue of chastity honors and safeguards that gift.
Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? (2010) Partipants read and tell the story of Jesus' passion and death as it is presented in the four Gospels.
We Are Easter People (2010) Participants read and tell the story of the Resurrection as it is presented in the four Gospels.
We Celebrate Discipleship (2013) This session helps middle school youth to understand discipleship by exploring God's plan for us and their role as young followers of Jesus.
We Celebrate Mission, Ministry, and Life-Style (2015) This session introduces the concepts surrounding mission, ministry, and life-style, including both marriage and the religious consecration of priests, sisters, and brothers. The lesson can also be used as a presentation on vocations.
For full access to the YMA lessons, subscribe to Youth Ministry Access.
MIDDLE SCHOOL SERIES ON SACRAMENTS
Sacraments: Catholics Celebrate God's Loving Presence (2012) This session is an introduction to a series of lessons designed to help middle school students to appreciate the importance of sacraments in their lives as Catholic Christians. This first session reviews the meaning of sacrament, the names of the seven sacraments, and some basic details about each. Lessons on each sacrament are in preparation.
Baptism: We Celebrate New Life (2012) This session helps middle school youth appreciate life as a precious gift from God, and to understand sin as a misuse of God's gifts. It then looks at Jesus as God's answer to the "mess" caused by the misuse of human freedom. It presents Baptism as the sacrament that celebrates the new life of grace that Jesus gives to those who believe in him and follow his teachings.
Confirmation (See: We Celebrate Discipleship above)
Holy Eucharist: We Celebrate the Living Presence of Jesus (2013) This session helps middle school youth to deepen their understanding and appreciation of the central Christian sacrament--the Holy Eucharist. The session focuses on the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: "Do this to remember me," and encourages the participants to truly remember Jesus whenever they celebrate Eucharist as well as in their daily lives. (FREE ACCESS: Click to download PDF file Click to download Word file. Click to download PowerPoint)
Reconciliation: We Celebrate Repentance and Forgiveness (2014) This session helps middle school youth to deepen their awareness of God as their loving Creator and of God's gift of freedom which allows them to choose between good and evil. The session helps them see that sin is the misuse or abuse of the gift of freedom, and presents the Sacrament of Reconciliation as the presence of Jesus calling them to repentance and offering them mercy and forgiveness. The lesson includes a guide to the individual celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Anointing of the Sick: We Celebrate Health, Healing, and Heaven (2014) This session helps middle school youth to understand the Catholic mysteries surrounding life and death issues, sickness and suffering, and the sacramental role of Anointing the Sick.
Matrimony: We Celebrate Married Love and Family (2014) This session is designed to help middle school youth to understand the intimate connection between family love and the sacrament of Matrimony. It is through th sacrament of matrimony that God provides the spiritual energy a family needs to keep growing in love day by day and year by year.
Holy Orders: We Celebrate Mission, Ministry, and Life-Style (2015) This session introduces the concepts surrounding mission, ministry, and life-style, including both marriage and the religious consecration of priests, sisters, and brothers. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is presented in this context.
For full access to the YMA lessons, subscribe to Youth Ministry Access.
HIGH SCHOOL SESSIONS
Baptism: Reject Satan, Choose Jesus (2012) Seeing baptism as a fundamental choice between good and evil. Understanding the annual renewal of the baptismal vows.
Character and Chastity, high school (2012) Chastity is presented as the character strength that helps the participants make personal choices that channel their sexual desires toward authentic love and away from using others. (FREE ACCESS: Click to download PDF file. Click to download Word file. Click to download Power Point.)
Consecrated Life (2015) This special session responds to the call by Pope Francis for a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the life and ministry of consecrated religious. (FREE ACCESS: Click here to download Word file. Click to download accompanying Power Point.)
Covenant (2012) Covenant is a central concept in the story of God's relationship with his people. Participants follow the history of covenant through the Old Testament into the New.
Do This To Remember Me (2012) Participants look with fresh eyes at the sacrament of Eucharist, focusing on what it is and what it dos.
In the Image of God (2011) On the very first page of Holy Scripture we are told that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. This session helps youth to see how those words apply to their lives.
(Click here for a new powerpoint that can be used as a subsitute for the opening activity of this lesson.)
Sin and Reconciliation (2013) This session defines sin as a personal choice that weakens or breaks our relationship with God, and presents Reconciliation as the process of restoring the relationship.
Virtue and The Virtue of Chastity (2016) See the Middle School Sessions above for these two lessons, which can easily be adapted to use with high school youth.
Visible Signs: Hidden Mysteries (2012) This session helps youth understand the concept of "sacrament" and come to a deeper awareness of the loving presence of God--in all of creation, in human persons, in Jesus, in the Church, and in the Sacred Seven.
Who is This Man? (2011) Participants reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation and ask themselves "Who do YOU say that I am?"
World Religions (2013) A session designed to help teens consider the role of religion in human life and to understand Christianity in relation to the other religions of the world. They are encouraged both to value the special features of Christianity and to respect what is of God in the other religions.
FIFTH NIGHT SESSIONS for youth with parents
Sacraments and Our Love Relationship with God (2011) Parents and youth grow in their understanding of the role sacraments play in deepening their love relationship with God.