Friend Me

Introduction & Welcome (1 min.)

I. Opening Prayer (5 min.)

Grace:  To encounter God through friendship.

Use the grace and the suggested scripture above to create your own prayer, or use CLC Opening Prayer.

II. Check-In (5 min.)

• • What were some of your high and low points of the week?

III.  Focus Exercise (40 min.)

Materials Needed:  laptop (video clips below), CLC supply box (CLC journal booklets, papers, pens, etc.)

Introduction

How do we come to know God? We think that prayer, going to church, and reading Scripture are the answers. But, what if we could also come to know God through the kindness of the grocery store clerk, the compassion of a professor when we’re late with a paper, and the understanding of a classmate when we need a listening ear?

This meeting invites us to use our experience of friendship in CLC and applying those values to the other relationships in our lives. Together, we explore the ideals and components of relationships that are important and that help us discern how God is at work in our lives through our relationships.

Exercise 1: Friendship Algorithm

Watch the Friendship Algorithm Video together, then discuss it.

• • What’s your number one friendship algorithm factor?  What are you looking for in a friend?

  • Do you feel you have friendships stuck in the “infinite loop”?

  • Is it okay to settle with the LOA?

  • One of our CLC pillars is Community.  We strive to build a community of Friends in the Lord.

    • 1. What have you experienced of friendship in CLC so far?

      2. How do we build a stronger a community of friendship in the Lord?

Exercise 2: A Community of Kinship

Watch this video together from Fr. Greg Boyle on a community of kinship, and discuss it.

• • What strikes you about this video?  Does anything resonate with how you see relationships?  Does anything seem off base?

  • Mother Teresa once said, “The problem of the world is that we’ve forgotten that we belong to each other.”  What do you think about her statement?  Do you feel you belong to this CLC community?

  • Fr. Greg said, “If kinship was our goal we would no longer be promoting justice, we would be celebrating it.”  What do you think about his statement?  Do you experience kinship in CLC?

Listening Deeper

Suggested questions to deepen awareness of inner movements and further conversation

• • Where have you seen God active in or revealed through relationships in your life?

  • Some relationships help us grow closer to God while others pull us away from God.  Are there any relationships or aspects of your relationship that help you grow closer to God?  pull you away from God?

  • Are there other relationships missing in your life?  Where might you be called to be more expansive in your circle of relationships?

  • How do we share or apply our CLC values to other relationship in our lives?

IV.  Moving Forward (5 min.)

• Action:  

  • Pray with Awareness Examen:  focus on friendship and family.

    1. Which relationship or aspects of relationship help you grow closer to God?  Pull you away from God?

    2. Write a letter to a friend or family member whose relationship revealed something about God’s love to you and thank them for their presence in your life.

  • Prayer Partner:  Get together one-on-one with another community member this week for coffee, a shared meal, or a long conversation and be present to one another in that experience.

• Announcement:  Topic for next meeting and upcoming CLC events

V.  Closing Prayer (5 min.)

Pray in gratitude for people who have been important in your lives.  Invite the group to say their names in the prayer.

If helpful, end the prayer with a song, “Faces of Our Friends” by Sarah Hart