Become a Super Hero

BECOME A SUPER HERO
This lesson is created to encourage our students to become the best version of themselves.

Activity I
Bored Cowboys Skit
You will need five “actors”, five cowboy hats and five chairs. This is a really simple skit requiring very little practice. I would suggest that you use your students as the actors.
The scene opens with all 5 cowboys sitting in chairs facing the group. The chairs are in a straight line. All of the cowboys have their right leg crossed over their left leg. Every cowboy has a cowboy hat on that is pulled down over their eyes a bit, as though they were resting. Arrange the cowboys from smallest (1) to biggest (5). Cowboy #1: (to cowboy #2) Is it time yet?Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #3) Is it time yet?Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #4) Is it time yet?Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #5) Is it time yet?Cowboy #5: (lifts the bill of his cowboy hat to look up at the sun and says to cowboy #4) Naw.Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #3) Naw.Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #2) Naw. Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #1) Naw.Cowboy #1: (clearly unhappy with the answer he has received from cowboy #5. He drums his fingers on his knees for a few seconds, shifts a little in his chair and says to cowboy #2) How bout now?Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #3) How bout now?Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #4) How bout now?Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #5) How bout now?Cowboy #5: (looks at a watch he pulls from his pocket and says to cowboy #4) Nope.Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #3) Nope.Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #2) Nope. Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #1) Nope.Cowboy #1: (gets incredibly antsy in his seat. he shifts around, squirms, drums his fingers some more, huffs a little bit, and is obviously upset with the decision from cowboy #5 again. after a moment, he leans over and asks cowboy #2) Now!? Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #3) Now!?Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #4) Now!?Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #5) Now!?Cowboy #5: (looks around, and down the line of cowboys to cowboy #1 and says to cowboy #4) I reckon. Cowboy #4: (to cowboy #3) I reckon.Cowboy #3: (to cowboy #2) I reckon. Cowboy #2: (to cowboy #1) I reckon.Cowboy #1: Yee Haw! (when he says this, ALL 5 cowboys slowly and dramatically lift their right leg off their left leg and put it on the floor, then they slowly and dramatically lift their left leg and cross it over their right leg. the slower and more dramatic this maneuver is, the funnier it will be. Then all 5 cowboys resume their restful, satisfied look from the beginning of the skit)
Note: Encourage the other teens to all clap when the skit is finished and let your “cowboys” be seated.Lesson I
How many of you here tonight want to live your life like those cowboys; always waiting for someone else to tell you when, what and how to make your next move?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who grow up to find themselves in jobs or lives just as mundane and boring as the lives those cowboys portrayed.
Tonight’s lesson is going to be about Heroes.
1) Who does the world consider to be as heroes?
2) Who do you know that you would consider as a hero?
3) Who does the Church think of as heroes?
We live in a unique period of history. Raise your hand if you agree with these statements about our civilization: a) A dramatic increase in sexual promiscuity? b) Political undermining and disintegration of family values? c) The cultural destruction of the family unit? d) The killing of the innocent? e) A radical increase in non warfare violence?
According to the best selling Catholic author, Matthew Kelly, the five things I just addressed are the five signs of a declining civilization. That statement isn’t a prophecy, or a prediction, it’s a reality set in the past. A lesson, we as humans continually fail to remember and learn from.
Think about history. Remember the Roman empire of Jesus day? It was mighty…it was forceful….no one ever thought the Roman Empire would end…but it did. The Roman Empire was thrown over and gave way to the middle ages. It was a time in history when we progressed and grew spiritually, economically, socially, and politically in leaps and bounds.
The twentieth century has been marked by amazing advances on every level. Think about this: 600 years passed between the invention of the plow and the invention of the automobile. Only 60 years passed between the inventions of the automobile to the space age.
We are on the threshold of amazing yet frightening scientific advances.
It won’t be my generation that takes these amazing advances and decides what to do with them. It will be yours.
When you think about it, there are basically two types of people. A) The complainers or critics. These are the people who sit back and gripe about everything. They complain about the way things were and the way things are and the way things are headed. But they don’t ever do a single thing about it. B) The second group of people are those who rise up to become leaders…to become heroes…to work at making their lives holy. These people learn to ignore chaos, confusion and trouble. They have the ability to dream of how the future could be…and they strive to live their own lives that way and they work to make their vision a reality. These people are leaders!
Which group of people do you want to belong to?
Do you have enough courage…enough of what it takes to be a hero…to be a leader?
Think you might not have what it takes? Listen to this list of people who were thought to be failures and try to guess who they are.
a) This woman was dismissed from drama school with a note that read: “To shy to put her best foot forward.” Answer: Lucille Ball
b) Turned down by a recording studio who said, “We don’t like their sound and guitar music is on the way out? Answer: The Beatles
c) A failed farmer, soldier, and real estate agent. At 38 years old he went to work for his father as a handyman. Answer: Ulyssis S. Grant.
d) Cut from the hs bball team…he went home, locked himself in his room and cried. Answer: Michael Jordan
e) Told by his teacher that he was too stupid to learn and he should try to find a field where he would succeed by virtue of his pleasant personality. Answer: Thomas Edison.
f) Fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas? Answer: Walt Disney.
g) Fiancé died, had a nervous breakdown and was Defeated in 8 elections? Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
We’re counting on you…God is counting on you and me to be the very best people we can be. The first thing we need to do is to balance our lives. Leading a balanced life will allow the grace of God to flow smoother within us. A balanced life that leads us to the sacred, gives you courage, strength and confidence.
My perception of a balanced life is this:
1) Get enough sleep…it’s the foundation of energy. It’s the way that God intended us to energize our bodies.
2) Identify with your spirit. People tend to eliminate this important piece from their lives the minute they get too busy…and they throw themselves into chaos and wonder why. Rest in God…through church…grows in God through Youth group….Be with God in prayer. Embrace the spiritual; it will lead you toward peace.
3) Take time to rest…God tells us to take Sunday as a day of rest and yet we ignore His advice. When we fail to step back from the business of life and reprioritize we fail to determine what’s important and what isn’t.
4) Physical fitness….not to the level of extreme, but to a balanced level for your health.
· Don’t live your life like a bulldozer chasing butterflies.
· Maybe the world will never recognize you a hero. But perhaps you will have children and if you teach them about God and give them a healthy happy life, you’d be a hero to them. Perhaps you will marry someday. Remaining faithful to your husband or wife will make you a hero in the eyes of many. Perhaps you will become a Priest or a religious sister, what an amazing hero that could make you. Perhaps you will leave a mark on history; maybe even one that will be recorded in the history books.
· I want to warn you though, what I’ve laid out for you is countercultural. It isn’t popular. Most people rush through life chasing a paycheck that never seems to be enough. Don’t be afraid to be different…don’t be afraid to be a hero…don’t be afraid to follow Christ and become the very best person He created you to be.
Biblical and CCC References:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
CCC 1803 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good. It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to give the best of himself. The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions.
The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God.

CCC 2550 On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears to perfect communion with God: There will true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery; true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or others. God himself will be virtue's reward; he gives virtue and has promised to give himself as the best and greatest reward that could exist. . . . "I shall be their God and they will be my people. . . . " This is also the meaning of the Apostle's words: "So that God may be all in all." God himself will be the goal of our desires; we shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will assuredly be common to all.

CCC 2194 The institution of Sunday helps all "to be allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their animal, cultural, social, and religious lives".


Small Group Sharing
Take time now to separate into small groups and let the students share or create some dreams.
Questions:
1) Name some ways you can be a hero in your teenage years?
2) Name some ways you can be a hero to younger children?
3) Name some ways you can be a hero when you are an adult?



Songs
For lyrics and/or to listen to these songs, go to K-Love Christian Music then to the Music/On Air link. Click on lyrics

“I Want To Be Just Like You” by Phillips Craig & Dean

“I Smile” by Russ Lee

“Deep Enough To Dream” by Chris Rice

“Take Me To The Cross” by Brothers Keeper