Shining Today and Tomorrow
A Retreat for Catholic 8th Graders

The 8th Grade Shine Retreat inspires students to see God in their lives and encourages them to shine by making “Godly” decisions when faced with temptations. The retreat helps students reflect on significant school experiences and prepare their faith for high school. The following are descriptions of the different sessions included in our 8th Grade Shine Retreat. You can pick sessions from the retreat, have us modify sessions, or create new sessions based on the needs of your group.

Recognizing God in Our Lives (1 hour)
Shine Goal: This session helps students identify the various ways they experience and see God present in their lives and consider the moments when they feel most connected with God.
Activity: Individuals create a God Collage that represents how they see God in their lives.
Process: Small Group Sharing

Shining Through Temptations (1 hour)
Shine Goal: There are many temptations that students face as they enter high school. This session helps students identify the various temptations they face as young people and discover how their Catholic values can help them overcome times of temptation as they grow in faith.
Activity: Students participate in a race across the “River of Temptations” using their “Footsteps of Faith”
Process: Large group discussion

Making Godly Decisions (45 min)
Shine Goal: Students make many decisions everyday. This session helps students consider the decisions they are making and whether they reflect our Catholic beliefs. Students consider how they can make decisions out of love as Jesus did.
Activity: Students participate in a game called Devils, Saints, and Sinners which looks at the situational decisions they make. Students experience a Guided Meditation, allowing them to look back over their years in school along with decisions and people that have affected them.
Process: Small group discussion

Letting Our Faith Shine Today and Tomorrow (1 hour)
Shine Goal: The challenge for many students is to incorporate their retreat experience into their everyday life. This session will help students put their Catholic values & beliefs into action, so they are prepared to live out their Catholic faith in high school.
Activity: Groups create skits in which they act out typical high school scenes, demonstrating two different outcomes: 1) How a Catholic living their faith would react and 2) How someone might respond if they are not living out their Catholic faith.
Process: Large group discussion