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Being an adolescent has NEVER been easy! Even Jesus confused HIS parents when He was 12!

We could spend our whole lives learning about our faith- and how it is a gift.

I don’t know about you, but I had a LOT of questions when I was in elementary school (back then it was 1st through 8th grade).

I wondered what I was supposed to think about when I prayed; what did Jesus expect from me; what did it mean for me to “be yourself”.

As years past, I came to realize that simply putting God first and trusting Him even when it didn’t make sense to me was exactly what God wanted from me.

Still, I wish I had known or heard some advice sooner.

Here’s some advice that could help your tween today (and tomorrow)!

5 Words of Advice Your Catholic Tween Needs to Hear

1. God does not want you to be stressed out.

Be still. We hear that Scripture verse often.

I have not heard the Scripture passage that reads “hustle until you completely burn out.” Have you?

Our children are searching for their gifts and talents.

That can be exhausting.

And even once they find their talents, those gifts are there so that they can strive for Sainthood in a unique and unrepeatable way. Once those gifts and talents become heavy and burdensome, Our Lord Jesus has very specific instructions:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,^* and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Mother Teresa said “Never worry about numbers, help one person at a time and start with the person closest to you.”

Saint Katharine Drexel advised, “peacefully do at each moment what needs to be done.”

When stress comes, our children need to remember that they are loved more than they can imagine, simply because God made her His daughter (or made him His son).

Let’s make sure we are sending that message. Grades and success have their place, but we must love God with all our soul, all our heart and all our mind – that is what is most important.

Trust in the Lord.

2. One of your greatest and most important responsibilities is to avoid sin.

Saint Maria Goretti’s mother taught her to avoid sin at all costs. She knew that sin is so bad for us!

It’s common to speak about what foods are healthy and unhealthy in our culture. We are very aware that there are things that are “good for us” and things that are “bad for us”. But this is not just true for our bodies, it’s also true when it comes to our souls.

Sin is bad for you. Sin is bad for all of us.

As parents, we stress that choices are important. We may say, don’t do that – it’s hurtful to others or it offends God. But sin is also, simply put, bad for us too.

3. You are not meant to be friends with everyone.

Saint Francis de Sales gives this advice:

“Love everyone with a deep love based on charity,… but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you.”

C.S. Lewis wrote a book titled The Four Loves. In it, he names and describes 4 types of love (affection, friendship, eros and charity). Of friendship, he says this:

“our ancestors regarded friendship as something that raised us almost above humanity. . . . It is the sort of love one can imagine between angels.”

His words are in agreement with Saint Francis with DeSales. C.S. Lewis describes:

“the little pockets of early Christians survived because they cared exclusively for the love of ‘the brethren’ and stopped their ears to the opinion of Pagan society all round them. But a circle of criminals, cranks or perverts survives in just the same way; by becoming deaf to the opinion of the outer world . . .”

Recommended books for tween and young teen boys: Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys and books from Voyage Comics and Publishing.

4. You need to be intentional about thanking God often.

“In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

We tell our children to “say thank you” all.the.time! But most of the time, it’s to another person.

A wise friend once shared a practice he had with me. He told me, “before I get out of bed in the morning, I thank God for my spouse” … something like that. After he told me that, I decided that I was going to make that a practice of mine too.

More about that conversation in the post 3 Ways to Awaken the Saint Within You

Obviously, your tween doesn’t have a spouse. But I also got some great wisdom once from Gianna Emmanuela Mola (Saint Gianna’s daughter).

I had the opportunity to speak with her after a talk she gave at a local parish. I could not believe how much her father suffered – even after the death of her “Saint mother” as she calls her. Did you know shortly after Gianna’s death, her 6 year old daughter also passed away? My heart ached when I heard that. Yet, Gianna Emmanuela’s talk spoke of how her father taught her to always be so grateful to God.

I asked, “How?, How after all that, can you still be grateful in those moments of such anguish”?

She took a deep breath (the kind people take when they are shocked you just said that out loud) and responded, “I THANK GOD FOR EVERY BREATH I TAKE!”

(read more about this at 5 Lessons I Learned from the Daughter of a Saint)

5. Believe in miracles. Believe in the power of prayer. Never give up on hope.

One quote that I made sure was in both the boy’s and girl’s Be Yourself Journals was this one:

“I plead with you–never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”

Saint Pope John Paul II

We know that life often has disappointments. A tween or young teen is still new to all types of rejection.

Encountering heartache and failure is a normal part of life – but our kids need to learn how to cope with it when it comes along.

This is where faith is truly a gift.

When she doesn’t get a part in the play or he doesn’t make the team, we need to help them practice positive “self-talk”. We need to encourage them to pray about what is on their minds and hearts. We want them to look forward with hope and not to fall into despair. This is so important and needs to be taught over and over again. I love the wisdom attributed to Saint Teresa Avila:

“We pay God a compliment when we ask big things of Him.”

When our children are struggling with math or lost the past 5 wrestling or tennis matches, it is a great gift to encourage them to go to God with this suffering. The more our children go to God in prayer, the stronger their faith will grow. As adults, this faith will be priceless.

These words of advice are from the Be Yourself Journals!

Do you want your tween to hear these words over and over again? Share them and give them a copy of Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Girls or Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys.

The post 5 Words of Advice Your Catholic Tween Needs to Hear appeared first on Prayer Wine Chocolate.

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Now that we finally have a Boy’s version of the Be Yourself Journal, it can be a great tool in a Catholic school classroom or in a religious education program!

As a 7th and 8th grade teacher, I used journal prompts in the morning to start the day and our religion classes.

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, curriculum guidelines for each grade level (from grade 1 to grade 8) included “Journal keeping”. I imagine many other diocese include this same guide or at least recommendation.

The following is an excerpt from the course guidelines:

Journal Keeping
This prayer form (tool) enables a student to reflect on the goals and directions of his/her life, and
to appreciate and deepen a personal relationship with a loving Father. It provides a method to
assess these experiences.

The document then continues with many examples of techniques that could be used:

Some examples include: journaling may be in the form of an informal letter; reflecting on personal talents and gifts; responding to Scripture passages and inspirational quotes, etc.

All of these techniques and more are within both the Boy and Girl Be Yourself Journals!

Here are some ideas on how and when to incorporate the journal into your daily lesson plans.

First act of the day

You can.not.escape.the paperwork.

You have to take roll; collect permission slips, notes, and whatever the main office needs from you.

Journaling is a great activity for the students while you are doing those monotonous tasks.

When I taught, I would write a journal prompt on the board before the students were in the classroom for the day. When they came in and we began our day, I had to take roll and often do other things like collect permission slips, absentee notes and other paperwork that had to be done but did not allow my attention to be on my students but instead paperwork.

This was the perfect time for journaling.

Have the students choose what to do within a certain section or guide them more with directives like:

Today choose a coloring page to color.

Today, do something within the prayer section of the book.

Today, fill out one of the first 5 pages.

At the end of each marking period, I would call each student up and have them stand next to me as I quickly flipped through the book. I wanted to make sure the student had worked on the journal as instructed, but I didn’t read or stare at any page for more than a second, that way each student’s privacy was respected. I wanted them to feel like they could truly use it. It was an easy way to get a good grade and often brought up the student’s average.

Use as an anticipatory set

Is that a flashback from college? I can’t believe I remember that term from “How to write a lesson plan 101”, but, I do.

Some teachers call it a warm up or a “hook”; but to remind you what this is, here is the definition from cultofpedagogy.com:

ANTICIPATORY SET

(noun) A brief portion of a lesson given at the very beginning to get students’ attention, activate prior knowledge, and prepare them for the day’s learning. Also known as advance organizer, hook, or set induction. 

The point of the anticipatory set is to get students curious, wake up their brains, and give them a taste of what they are about to learn.

Talking about God’s creation or gratitude in prayer?

Play “Would You Rather”?

Discussing Jesus’ Miracles? There’s a great page on that in the Boy’s Journal.

This is also a great opportunity to use activities that are only in one journal. Use the girls and the boys to get ideas on how to start discussing Jesus’ miracles; how to be a peacemaker; ways to live the faith when busy, etc.

Take activities out of the book and create life size group projects.

Virtue Graffiti Wall

Got a chalkboard or white board – hand it over to the students.

(see Boy’s Journal)

Create a Billboard

Roll out the butcher paper and take out the poster boards.

(see Boy’s Journal)

Create a prayer corner in the classroom.

(See Girl’s Journal – what’s your prayer style and decorate a prayer room)

Hope News Report.

(See Boy’s Journal)

Writing in the Sand Slide Show.

From the Boy’s Journal: Live near a beach or a playground with a sandbox? Send students out for a homework assignment. Read John 8:3-0. Discuss how it feels when you are “ganged up on”. Ask students to think abnd pray about what Jesus would say to bullies today. Direct them to write this message in the sand and take a picture of what they wrote. Put all the pictures in a slide show and watch together as a class!

Bonus idea: Take the students to Eucharistic Adoration with their journals! It can be very difficult to quiet the mind; these journals guide the reader to turn their thoughts toward God.

Are you located “across the pond” in the United Kingdom? If so, great news! You can purchase the Be Yourself Journal in the U.K. through the Catholic Mothers website!

Got more ideas??? Share them in the comments!

Want to hear more ways to use this journal? Sign up for my email list here so will get the next post!

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This post contains affiliate or associate links with several businesses (which means if you shop through the links, I earn a small commission). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When I got my first teaching job, at the age of 21, I taught 7th and 8th grade in a Catholic school. I remember two of my students (boys) asked if they could put a quote or a random fact on the board every day.  I said yes.  They loved it and so did I.

For most of my adult life, before becoming a mother of two boys and a girl, I worked with tweens and teens.  Both young men and young women.

I learned a lot about what makes them tick.

With that knowledge, I give you this list of suggestions.  I hope your son finds a few that resonate with him, and allow him to grow in faith and know that he can always pray to Our Lord whenever he feels the need.

23 Ways Boys Can Honor Lent

Prayer: Learning about God and Saints, Talking to Jesus and Nourishing Faith

1. Go to your room, close the door and sincerely spend 10 minutes in prayer. Here are two ways to do that: Say an Act of Contrition slowly and with all your heart or; make the sign of the cross, pray “Come Holy Spirit” and start (or continue) reading one of the Gospels in the Bible.

2. Start or write in a prayer journal. 

Two simple prompts are

* Write a letter to Jesus and

**Tell the Lord what you are most thankful for from yesterday or this week.

3.Watch a Catholic Youtube video.  I recommend Father Kyle Manno or Father Mike Schmitz

4. Read a Catholic Comic Book

5. Combine exercise with prayer.  Instead of going for a run with an ipod, pray on the uphills, take a break from prayer on the downhills.  Or shoot some hoops, each time you miss the basket, pray a Glory be to the Father . . .; no matter what sport your playing, each time you stop to sip water, say an Our Father too.

6. Create a quote board for the family.  Each day on a white board or chalkboard, post a Scripture quote, Saint quote or a short prayer.

7. Take the How to Be A Good Catholic on Social Media Course.

8. Create a meme or graphic that encourages followers to pray or read Scripture (perhaps post what you wrote on the quote of the day board)

9. Play some Matt Maher music while you clean your room.

10. Take a Virtual Tour of a church, Cathedral (you make need Flash Player for this)12 Amazing Virtual Tours of Spectacular Churches

11. Pray a Rosary (or at least one decade).  Remember, at Fatima, Our Lady is reported stating that if Francisco “prayed many rosaries,” he would go to heaven when he died. 

12. Draw or sketch:

what heaven might look like;

 a picture of Jesus’s Sacred Heart;

or

one of the Stations of the Cross.

13. Spiritually adopt an unborn baby

14. Spend 15 minutes reading a Catholic book.  (recommended: Saint Francis of the Seven Seas 

and Blessed Pier Giorgio: Journey to the Summit

Almsgiving: Service

15. Create a Youtube video about the Mass readings for this Sunday

16. Read a Faith based book to a younger sibling (Angels)

17. Donate old or unused Legos to The Lego Project

18. Bake Crown of Thorns Bread for your family

19.  Offer to organize a game with younger siblings.  

20.  Do an extra chore without being asked.

Fasting

21.  Don’t eat any snacks for one day

22. Pick a day to only drink water

23. Fast from playing video games or looking at your phone for a day (or more).

Want more ideas for Lent?  Check out

39 Ways to Keep Lent Holy (without giving up sweets)

Looking for a resource for your son or Godson?  You can now pre-order the Boy’s Be Yourself Journal!!!!

Keep up to date with the Boy’s Journal and get more blog posts that include ideas for growing your faith as well as your sons and daughters by subscribing here!

Subscribe to Prayer Wine Chocolate

Have a tween daughter?  Get her Be Yourself: A Journal for Catholic Girls today!

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