Dear Parents and Family,
This week at Edge, we began with a small group game where the youth listed some of their favorite things and took turns guessing whose list was whose. The teaching discussed the difficulties of unanswered prayers, especially in the midst of serious illness, explaining to the youth that suffering is real but our God is still loving. Your child then had an opportunity to travel to different stations to learn about a few saints who struggled with illness and seemingly unanswered prayers, but persisted to sainthood nonetheless. The Edge Night ended with a short small group discussion about the saints they learned about and a prayer for times of suffering.
Check out our Parent Life website at ltparentlife.com for resources on how to guide your teen in a faith-filled way through modern day culture!
Main Ideas:
- God loves us and only wants the best for us, which is being in a relationship with Him.
- Because of our fallen state, we all suffer, experience illness, and eventually die.
- It can be hard to pray in the face of illness, especially when it seems like God is not answering our prayers, but God is always with us and always tries to bring us closer to Him, even in the midst of suffering.
Catechism Reference:
“God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? ‘I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution,’ said St. Augustine, and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For ‘the mystery of lawlessness’ is clarified only in the light of the ‘mystery of our religion.’ The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.” (CCC 385)
“God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? ‘I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution,’ said St. Augustine, and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For ‘the mystery of lawlessness’ is clarified only in the light of the ‘mystery of our religion.’ The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.” (CCC 385)
Scripture Reference:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Family Reflection Questions:
- What is one thing you learned at Edge this week that surprised you?
- Do you ever feel like God is not answering your prayers for healing? Why or why not?
- Which saint’s story stood out to you the most? Why?