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The Search
1) Create an account at formed.org. All Lourdes parishioners are able to access formed for free. When you arrive at their home page, click “Register as a Parishioner.” You’ll then type in “Our Lady of Lourdes.” Click on our parish and you’ll now have access to the entire Formed library of videos, movies, books, and more.
2) Parents are encouraged to watch “The Search” either on their own or with their children who are preparing for the sacraments. This will give parents an opportunity to talk about their faith with their children and play a larger role in their catechesis. After each episode, there are questions you can talk about as a family or reflect on your own.
Episode 1: What Do You Seek
“In Episode 1, we open hearts with a look at the question “what do you seek?” What is that deep longing in our hearts all about? We’re all living for something, and we all strive for that something out there that is ultimately going to make us happy. But what is it? For some, this question is on their minds every day. For others, life goes by in a flash without even asking the question.”
Follow up questions:
1) What did you find interesting or learn from episode one?
2) Where do you think people look for happiness in their lives today?
3) What do you think influences the pursuit of happiness for people?
4) Jesus first words in the Gospel of John are “What are you looking for?” How would you respond to that question from Jesus?
Episode 3: Why a God?
“Today we seem to think we’ve moved beyond the idea of God, but this secular view of life is a very new and unusual idea to humanity. All through human history man has looked to something outside himself for the answers to life. Why have we given up on God? Do we think science has disproven Him? Do we think society is better off without him? We talk with astrophysicists, chemists, Harvard professors, and more to make the case that it’s not only reasonable to believe in God, it’s essential if you want to have a truly amazing life.”
Follow up questions:
1) What did you find interesting or learn from episode three?
2) What was your understanding of the Church’s relationship with science? Has this episode help give you a fuller understanding?
3)Why is it reasonable to believe in the existence of God?
4) If God is real and is responsible for our very existence, what does that mean about our lives?
Episode 4: What’s Our Story
“Your life is a story. And it’s caught up in the great story of humanity. This great story, as we see it in the Scriptures, shows us the amazing love story that is God’s pursuit of man. The God that is love created so we can ultimately be with his love. We were made to be with God. Union with God is so central to the purpose of life, we even see the afterlife in these terms. Our definition of Heaven is union with God, and hell is absence of Him.Your life has a plot. Your life has purpose. Your life has value. We need to see how we fit into this big love story to begin to know why we exist. And that love of God isn’t abstract. It has a face and name: Jesus.”
Follow up questions:
1) What did you find interesting or learn from episode four?
2) How can we support one another to live out our purpose to know, love, and serve God?
3) John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” How does that verse impact our understanding of who God is and His love for us? What does it mean for my daily life?
4) What is the difference bewteen understanding God's love as a general kind of "God loves everyone" vs. "God loves you personally"?
Episode 5: Who Is Jesus
“The most beautiful part of this story is that we can know God's love, personally. This is the person of Jesus. But how did this seemingly insignificant carpenter born into poverty in a dusty corner of the Roman Empire become the most pivotal figure in all of history? Christianity isn’t simply a philosophy for life – the center of Christianity is a person. We look at the life of Jesus and what he came to do. Ultimately, we need to decide if Jesus really was who he said he was. We can’t sit on the fence. Because if Jesus really was who he said he was, we need to make him the Lord of our lives, and everything changes.”
Follow up questions:
1) What did you find interesting or learn from episode five?
2) Jesus turns to his disciples and say, “Who do you say that I am?” How would you answer that question?
3) What is your reaction to C.S. Lewis’s statement that Jesus was either “Lord, liar, or lunatic”?
4) Why do you think Jesus chose unqualified men to be his apostles? What does that mean about God’s ability to work through us?
Episode 6: Am I Saved?
“What Jesus did for us through his life, death and resurrection was the greatest act of love in history. He saved us. He did this for each one of us. Personally. But some might feel unworthy of this gift of love. We may feel we have too much baggage. We may feel unlovable. But God didn’t come to reveal himself to us on a pedestal, he came to enter into our messy human condition. To fix us from within. To transform us from the inside out. Some might be surprised by how generous the love of God really is. We don’t deserve God’s love, but that’s the amazing reality of God’s mercy."
Follow up questions:
1) What did you find interesting or learn from episode six?
2) How is our understanding of the 10 Commandments impacted by knowing that God gave them to us out of love for us?
3) How does the father’s love after the earthquake in Armenia compare to God’s love for us?
4) Spend a few minutes looking at a crucifix. What does God reveal about His love for you?