Service Learning Guide
But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:43-45
The primary goal of youth ministry is to help young people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. At St. Margaret Mary, high school youth are expected to cultivate a commitment to a lifetime of service. We hope that our youth will understand the difference between volunteering vs. service as ministry to others. Freshmen and Sophomore participants are expected to serve at least 20 hours each year to develop the habit and practice of ministering to others. This could be a long term commitment to help establish a relationship with an organization. Hours should be submitted below on our website.
The best way to determine if you are doing the kind of service we are looking for is to ask yourself, "Am I continuing the ministry of Jesus"?
Examples of quality service opportunities:
volunteering at your former school; outreach work through your parish
volunteering at places such as a pet shelter, hospital, or clinic
volunteering at a community organization (i.e. senior living, food pantry, homeless shelter)
service trips or retreats
regular tutoring, mentoring, or assisting youth in need
Questionable service opportunities:
normal participation in parish events (i.e. attending liturgy, faith formation, etc.)
the act of a good neighbor (cutting the lawn or shoveling the snow “for free”, donating items, helping move)
the act of a good family member (babysitting, doing chores “for free”, visiting grandparents)
providing any service that you are normally paid for and not getting paid
fundraising or fundraising events without contact with those in need
helping with your sports team (keeping score, timing, working concessions, etc.)
Theological Reflection Guidelines
In order to help them integrate the learning from their service work, they should incorporate theological reflection into the process. Each sophomore must submit a two page theological reflection paper based on a teaching of the Catholic tradition and their experience of service. All service hours and reflections will be turned into the Youth Ministry Office for review before interviews sophomore year.
Step 1: Describe what your service experience was like.
How did you feel doing it?
Did you learn anything about yourself?
About the organizations you worked with?
Step 2: Choose a source from our tradition that relates to the service work that you have done. This can be from Scripture, doctrine, the catechism, or catholic social teaching.
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/epub/index.cfm
http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/
Step 3: Draw correlations between the work that you were doing and our tradition.
What does my faith say about this situation? How do I judge this situation in the context of my faith?
What do the principles of Catholic Social Teaching have to say about these structures? The gospel and other parts of scripture?
How do I think God views this situation? What do I imagine God feels about the people who are suffering? What might God want to happen?
Step 4: How are you going to use what you have learned to live as a disciple in a particular vocation/career?
In light of my analysis and reflection on faith experiences, what is God calling me to do as a vocation or career later on in life?
What are concrete possibilities of action for me -- short term and long term; individual and system-wide that will lead to this vocation?
Instead of asking what do I want to be when I grow up, what does God want you to do as a vocation or career when you grow up?
Writing Guidelines:
Theological Reflection Outline
Mark 10:43-45
The primary goal of youth ministry is to help young people to become disciples of Jesus Christ. At St. Margaret Mary, high school youth are expected to cultivate a commitment to a lifetime of service. We hope that our youth will understand the difference between volunteering vs. service as ministry to others. Freshmen and Sophomore participants are expected to serve at least 20 hours each year to develop the habit and practice of ministering to others. This could be a long term commitment to help establish a relationship with an organization. Hours should be submitted below on our website.
The best way to determine if you are doing the kind of service we are looking for is to ask yourself, "Am I continuing the ministry of Jesus"?
Examples of quality service opportunities:
volunteering at your former school; outreach work through your parish
volunteering at places such as a pet shelter, hospital, or clinic
volunteering at a community organization (i.e. senior living, food pantry, homeless shelter)
service trips or retreats
regular tutoring, mentoring, or assisting youth in need
Questionable service opportunities:
normal participation in parish events (i.e. attending liturgy, faith formation, etc.)
the act of a good neighbor (cutting the lawn or shoveling the snow “for free”, donating items, helping move)
the act of a good family member (babysitting, doing chores “for free”, visiting grandparents)
providing any service that you are normally paid for and not getting paid
fundraising or fundraising events without contact with those in need
helping with your sports team (keeping score, timing, working concessions, etc.)
Theological Reflection Guidelines
In order to help them integrate the learning from their service work, they should incorporate theological reflection into the process. Each sophomore must submit a two page theological reflection paper based on a teaching of the Catholic tradition and their experience of service. All service hours and reflections will be turned into the Youth Ministry Office for review before interviews sophomore year.
Step 1: Describe what your service experience was like.
How did you feel doing it?
Did you learn anything about yourself?
About the organizations you worked with?
Step 2: Choose a source from our tradition that relates to the service work that you have done. This can be from Scripture, doctrine, the catechism, or catholic social teaching.
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm
http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/epub/index.cfm
http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/
Step 3: Draw correlations between the work that you were doing and our tradition.
What does my faith say about this situation? How do I judge this situation in the context of my faith?
What do the principles of Catholic Social Teaching have to say about these structures? The gospel and other parts of scripture?
How do I think God views this situation? What do I imagine God feels about the people who are suffering? What might God want to happen?
Step 4: How are you going to use what you have learned to live as a disciple in a particular vocation/career?
In light of my analysis and reflection on faith experiences, what is God calling me to do as a vocation or career later on in life?
What are concrete possibilities of action for me -- short term and long term; individual and system-wide that will lead to this vocation?
Instead of asking what do I want to be when I grow up, what does God want you to do as a vocation or career when you grow up?
Writing Guidelines:
- MLA Formatting
- 1 inch margins
- Size 12 pt. font
- Font: Times New Roman
- Double-spaced (with the exception of the header)
- Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin.
- Indent the first line of a paragraph one-half inch (five spaces or press tab once) from the left margin.
- Do not make a title
- In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name and the date.
- Citations should be included in parenthesis.
- Bible: Include name of book chapter number and verse(s) For example: (Matthew 25:35-45).
- Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC followed by paragraph number. For example (CCC 813).
- Plagiarism - We take plagiarism very seriously and trust that you do too. Should we find that something has been plagiarized, we will ask you to rewrite your document. We are confident that this will not be a problem and that you will write with integrity.
Theological Reflection Outline