During this Edge session, we discussed Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture as the two ways that God reveals Himself to us. For many of us, we understand Sacred Scripture (Bible) is the Word of God and helps us to understand God – His goodness, love, and mercy. Sacred Tradition, however, is often not as clear. Sacred Tradition (spelled with a capital “T”) refers to what the apostles and disciples (eyewitnesses) taught and wrote and thus passed down. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles and disciples did not begin writing the books or letters we now know as the Bible because they believed that Jesus was going to be coming back soon. Therefore, the apostles were teaching and preaching and instructing people how to live their lives according to Jesus’ words/way of life. This is where we get our Sacred Traditions. As Catholics, we believe the two go together to reveal what God has said and done. As an aside, we also talked about some of our small “t” traditions – often these are local customs or family traditions (what you do together on holidays or when you set up and decorate your tree at Christmas). The large group was encouraged to establish a tradition that might either be carried out as a group or during the week when the youth are not at Edge.
Here are some questions to help start a conversation with your youth about what he/she learned during Edge:
1. What are examples of how God reveals Himself to us?
2. What is Sacred Tradition?
3. How are Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture related?
4. What is the difference between a small “t” tradition and capital “T” Tradition?
Your Youth's Challenge: Remember…
1. God is always revealing Himself to us.
2. Eyewitness accounts of who God is and how he has acted throughout history is called Tradition.
3. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition go together to reveal what God is doing.
4. This week, we challenge you to remember your small group tradition and to take some time to read Scripture and to experience our Sacred Traditions by attending Mass.