TGIMMAugust18

August 18
[media presentation below] GospelThink Monday, August 18 MATTHEW 19:16-22 I call you to be as close to perfect as you can be by giving. Prayerthoughts a. In my opinion, what is most important for me to gain eternal life? b. Jesus points out that “good” is an attribute of God. Do I look at the present direction of my life as “good”? c. Can I reply with the young man that I have kept all of those commandments since I was very young? d. What is apparent to me as I study my income and giving to others, especially the poor? Should I make some adjustments? e. As the young man, I have many possessions. Obviously, the Lord wants me to look at my “possessions.” Do I have too much? Should I make give some of my “stuff” away? f. The young man left his relationship with the Lord. I have not left since I am thinking of this Gospel passage, but are there some things that are keeping me back from a relationship with the Lord? g. My prayerthoughts… Today, I will read Judges 2:11-19 and write an important thought from it.
Some Thoughts On The Liturgy SELL, GIVE AND FOLLOW + The Gospel is one of the primary statements of the type of people who will make up the Kingdom that Jesus is preaching about - it will be made up of people in two stages of spiritual perfection - the first are the people who keep the commandments - Jesus mentions a couple of Moses’ commandments and one of his own - the “further” stage are the people who learn to do three things on behalf of God: the operating words: sell, give and follow + Supposedly, we are trying to keep that first stage, the stage of obeying the commandments as best we can - perhaps we should concentrate on that further stage, what might be called a deeper stage of spirituality 1 – sell what you have - there are some things that one cannot do away with obviously - but the gist of the passage is not to have excess, more than we need - that is, to have enough to live, but only enough to live - saving and investing can be done if it stays within the guidelines of having enough and only enough 2 – give to the poor - not only does Jesus go directly against our best financial advice - he even directs that we give away the earnings that we make, the earnings that we do not need - the Christian will give to those who need 3 – follow Jesus - only when other things do not get in the way can we follow Jesus, that is, accept what he says and does - this idea of getting material things out of our way is a common theme throughout the New Testament + The book of Judges in the first reading is a statement that the lure of the Baals, that is, other gods is very strong - in the case of the Gospel, they are the gods of possessions, money and selfishness - they continually call out to us to adore them - but Jesus words say it well: in order to be more spiritual people, we have to understand what selling our possessions, giving to the poor, and following Jesus really means.
MEDIA PRESENTATION Movie: "The Young Messiah" -- beginning session JESUS THE HEALER

The Gospel

LUKE 2:22-34a

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, … and to offer the sacrifice. … Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God saying: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them.

Gospelthink: Simeon prophesied about the type of person I would be--a person to being about salvation. Do I show the Lord in my actions and words in my life?

The intriguing idea behind the movie "The Young Messiah" is: what was Jesus like when he was seven years old? The movie presents him as a ordinary child with an extraordinary love and care for all. He could heal a bird; he could give a blind man his sight; he could even bring a man back to life. He cared for people who were killed; he did not want birds to be sacrificed, even in the temple. He corrected the rabbi and scribes; he cared very much about God. Most of all, perhaps he wanted people to be good, even evil people like Roman centurions. But he did not know why he had those powers and concerns. It became a searing question in his young mind. One thing was for certain, however: evil could not stand up against this child as the movie portrays, and his compassion for others was able to be a cure for the people who desired it.

One of the characteristics of the young Jesus in the movie "The Young Messiah" was his care for the animals and people who were hurting for some reason. One can argue that such a care was evident from Jesus's life from the very beginning. Simeon the holy man looked upon him and said to his mother and father that his eyes had seen "salvation," that is, he had seen a person who would truly care for the people of the world.

One of the facts of human growth and development is that when we are young, we begin to manifest some characteristics that will become our way of acting when we are older. Arguably, the focal point of Jesus's ministry was that he cared for people. He wanted to establish a kingdom of harmony in which everyone was important and everyone was destined for eternal life with God. Therefore, it stands to reason that Jesus would first of all care for people.

Since we are followers of the Messiah, one of our roles in life should be one of care and concern for others. People should be able to look on us and see "salvation." Not in the sense of a redeemer as Jesus was, but in the sense of a person who has understood what our Messiah wishes of us. We are called to be people who recognize that other people live in our world and are just as important as we are. In a matter of speaking, they should see in us the face of healing kindness and love.

People were healed when they saw the face of Jesus. People should be "healed" by our kindness and concern.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, Your Son showed care and concern for people from the very beginning of his life. May I learn that lesson and truly treat others the way you want them to be treated. Be with us, we pray.

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GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: We are healed when we gaze on the face of God.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(session: approximately 51 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking? Why?
2. The presenter may want to give the students the laws for purification at the time of Jesus, and explain how the Holy Family was observing the law.
3. The presenter may also want to go through the infancy sections of Matthew and Luke and show their difference. Why do you think that they are so different?
4. Why is Jesus as a seven year old a good topic to understand how he felt?
5. In your opinion, what does "salvation" mean?
6. In your opinion, do you think that Jesus went through the process of being a "normal boy" as he grew? Yes or no and why?
7 Do you believe that Christians are convinced that everyone in our world is just as important and every one else? Why or Why not?
8. Given a school situation, in what ways do we show kindness the most?.