Avoiding Obstacles

The obstacle course was set when the youth from the Amigos de Jesus youth group arrived for their regular session on Friday, July 30 at Annunciation Church. Before attempting the challenge, the youth began as usual with the recitation of the Rosary. This time, Brother walked them through the process of meditating on a particular mystery.

Following the prayers, the youth were numbered off into groups of three. One member of each team was blindfolded. The other two members were to serve as guides who could shout directions from either end of the obstacle course. The field was strewn with cones, ropes, a "mind field" of water containers, and more. If any youth ran into an obstacle, they had to go back to the beginning and start again. Each member of the team go to try a hand at shouting directions and walking the course blindfolded. The youth had a lot of fun with this activity.

Afterward, Brother asked they saw this relating to their life. Many times, we lose our way, we become like blind people who can no longer see in the darkness of our pain or sin. We can then run into dangerous obstacles on the path of life. We need people to help guide us. One powerful moment was when the Veronica was last on the obstacle course. Everyone was yelling to her. Most were yelling false directions to trip her up, but her team was trying to shout the right directions. Veronica said afterward, that it was difficult to discern her team's directions. How did she do it? She recognized the sound of their voices. It is the same way with God. If we are familiar with his voice, we can allow him to guide us safely through the paths of life.

Following the obstacle course, the youth broke up into small groups to discuss the Sunday Gospel reading on greed. After half an hour, they got back together to share their reflections. The session ended at 8:00 pm following brownies. Below is a slide show presentation of images from the session.

Br. Joseph