School Lenten retreats for children and youth

Abstract

School Lenten retreats have been successfully used in pastoral ministry for children and youthfor years. However, in order to bear fruit, they need to be carefully planned, prepared and carried out. According to the school curriculum, a Lenten retreat is supposed to last for three days. The Year of Faith showed us that faith is a gift, but also a task. The programme containsa proposal of the spiritual path that leads to the baptismal covenant, to placing God at the center of our lives and to bearing witness to the faith. It is important that we follow this path in our families, communities, parishes, and especially in relations with our sisters and brotherswho already live as if God did not exist. It is advisable to first evangelize ourselves and be willing to convert. But we also want to reach out with the Good News to those who - as the Pope Francis says - "live on the periphery"