Materials needed: cardstock, colored pencils or markers
Instructions:
1. Distribute art materials to students.
2. Read the following quote by J.R.R. Tolkien to your students: “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. . . . There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death.”
This exercise will allow students to meditate on this quote through sketching.
3. At the bottom of the cardstock, have students draw an image of darkness (e.g. a stormy sea) and write down any darkness and frustration that they are currently facing in their lives.
4. Next, have students draw a monstrance in the center of the page, above the darkness. Read the following words, one at a time: romance; glory; honor; fidelity; death to life; healing; surrender. Pause between reading each word to have the students write the word on the rays of the monstrance. Before going on, ask he corresponding question for general class discussion, partner discussion, or journal writing:
- Romance: How is the Eucharist a romance?
- Glory: What is the glory Jesus destines you for?
- Honor: How can you honor Jesus in the Eucharist? How does Jesus honor you in the Eucharist?
- Fidelity: How is Jesus faithful to you in the Eucharist? How does he teach you fidelity?
- Death to life: How is Jesus in the Eucharist calling you to die to sin and selfishness? Is your faith in the Eucharist more alive or more dead?
- Healing: When you receive Jesus in the Eucharist, what healing do you need to ask for him to give you?
- Surrender: What is one situation in your life that Jesus is inviting you to completely surrender to him, trusting that he will take care of everything?
5. On the stem of the monstrance, have the students write True Love. Beneath the monstrance, have them write down the people who they love and who they want to surrender to Jesus, as well as ways that Christ is calling them to love these people.
Display the finished artwork in the classroom.
Materials needed: cardstock, colored pencils or markers
Instructions:
1. Distribute art materials to students.
2. Read the following quote by J.R.R. Tolkien to your students: “Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. . . . There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death.”
This exercise will allow students to meditate on this quote through sketching.
3. At the bottom of the cardstock, have students draw an image of darkness (e.g. a stormy sea) and write down any darkness and frustration that they are currently facing in their lives.
4. Next, have students draw a monstrance in the center of the page, above the darkness. Read the following words, one at a time: romance; glory; honor; fidelity; death to life; healing; surrender. Pause between reading each word to have the students write the word on the rays of the monstrance. Before going on, ask he corresponding question for general class discussion, partner discussion, or journal writing:
- Romance: How is the Eucharist a romance?
- Glory: What is the glory Jesus destines you for?
- Honor: How can you honor Jesus in the Eucharist? How does Jesus honor you in the Eucharist?
- Fidelity: How is Jesus faithful to you in the Eucharist? How does he teach you fidelity?
- Death to life: How is Jesus in the Eucharist calling you to die to sin and selfishness? Is your faith in the Eucharist more alive or more dead?
- Healing: When you receive Jesus in the Eucharist, what healing do you need to ask for him to give you?
- Surrender: What is one situation in your life that Jesus is inviting you to completely surrender to him, trusting that he will take care of everything?
5. On the stem of the monstrance, have the students write True Love. Beneath the monstrance, have them write down the people who they love and who they want to surrender to Jesus, as well as ways that Christ is calling them to love these people.
Display the finished artwork in the classroom.
Author: Larisa Tuttle is a senior English and Theology major at the University of Dallas.